The year is coming to an end, and this means that we need to talk about these viral moments that caught the attention of the entire Internet community and major advertisers.

Storm area 51 

One of the self-reproaching events on social networks was the alleged assault on Area 51. The Facebook page invited everyone to storm the base to find aliens at an American military facility in the Nevada desert. According to most conspiracy theories, it was here in 1947 that an alien ship crashed. At the time the action began on September 20, more than two million Facebook users were about to attend the event. Even though, in reality, there were no more than five thousand participants, commercial companies also decided to participate in the viral event. Bud (the largest beer company) introduced a limited version of its alcoholic drink. The beer label was painted with an alien face. The fast-food chain “Arby” also joined the campaign. The company sent a special food truck to zone 51 and promised to feed all the participants of the action for free.

Family Peloton

The company for the production of a peloton received its share of unexpected popularity. A banal story about a loving husband who gives wives a peloton, and she keeps her video training diary for a year. The frightened face of the main actress and strange music accompanying the story itself are to blame. As a result, the video received hundreds of thousands of dislikes and became the hottest topic in the American segment of facebook and twitter. The negative reaction affected the shares of the sports company. In just several days they fell by 10%. However, not everyone shares this pessimism. Viral advertising made a wide variety of people talk about Pelaton, a product that has never been in the spotlight.

New post

However, nothing can be compared with the appeared image of the egg on Instagram. In less than a month, an ordinary chicken egg managed to collect the largest number of likes during the existence of a social network. The post scored 54 million likes and ten million followers. This format was especially liked by those who attend school. According to statistical studies, the age group from 10-14 years old was the main group that liked the post. The most popular Instagram image reminded itself during an advertising break in the final of the American Superball. The revived egg advised those experiencing stress or depression to seek the help of specialists from the nonprofit organization Mental Health America.

Change the game

Microsoft, together with the creators of advertising from McCann agency, managed to connect the traditional sphere of non-commercial advertising with corporate client work. The new video was called Changing the game. Children with different disabilities became the main characters of the story. The video doesn’t try to focus on their disabilities, but rather show teenagers as new experts in the development of the new technology. Thanks to modern technologies, those children can touch the new interactive world.

Rise of Tik Tok

The 2019 advertising story would be incomplete without mentioning the brightest social network of this year. Already this year, Tik Tok has crossed the line of one billion active users. Big marketers quickly spotted this trend. The new platform allows companies to work differently with young audiences. According to Adam Price (director of the lighthouse media company): You don’t go there to see what your friends are doing — you go there to be entertained. There are a lot fewer creators knowing how to use it because the barrier to entry is higher. One of these examples was chipotle promotion. In May, a Mexican-style restaurant chain launched the #ChipotleLidFlip hashtag on Tic Toc. Anyone who wishes could easily join this promotion. All you have to do is to put the burrito beautifully in a container for food. At the end of the first commercial week, this hashtag received 230 thousand views on the social network.

Some companies do not even need to purchase advertising in Tik Tok. The Home Deport’s fancifully catchy song truly affected the whole TikTok. The company did not pay to promote the hashtag #HomeDeport but still received 62 million views. For the company which usually associated with the older generation, such internet success was a complete surprise.

Streaming Services

This year marked another successful period for streaming services. We are opening a new period where every global company has its resources and several exclusive projects. Broadcast films and television shows are now only secondary proposals, even if streaming services spend millions on obtaining rights to the most famous series (Friends, Office). In 2019, Apple (Apple +) and Disney (Disney+) debuted with their projects. Particularly striking and memorable was the debut of Disney +. Commercial success was due to exclusive and popular products. One of the most memorable is Star Wars Mandolorian, which introduced such a range of colorful characters and quickly become the most successful commercial products.

A variety of viral moments expand the boundaries so that people interact better with each brand. Unexpected popularity on the Internet adds to the company of subscribers, as well as additional coverage that provides further promotion. That is why large companies will continue to use various creative solutions in 2020.