MagiChatroulette
As we outlined in an earlier post, marketers are looking at Chatroulette and trying to determine if there is a smart way to take advantage of the phenomenon. With the exception of a few bands that have released new material through the platform, I haven’t seen anyone develop a viable approach. Today however, in true Chatroulette fashion, I stumbled upon a clever parody of the site.
Initially I was looking for some creative inspiration related to the number nine because this year is the ninth anniversary of an event my friends organize each year. I decided to search Bing and check out the logo for Magic Hat #9 beer. The first link was the Magic Hat corporate site, but when I clicked through I found MagiChatroulette.
For a second I thought this was actually their new Web site (similar to the way Modernista decided to ditch their traditional home page in favor a “siteless site”), but when I looked at the URL (http://www.magichat.net/fool/) I soon realized this was an April Fools’ Day stunt.
It’s easy to find links to the “real” Magic Hat site, but if you stick around for a few minutes there are some fairly entertaining videos in the chat window (these are taped, not live). My favorite is the Magic Hat employee singing along to the Fresh Prince of Bel Air theme song.
The Google/Topeka April Fools’ Day campaign is getting a lot of attention, but have you found any others? Do you think these campaigns are worth the investment from a marketing perspective?
Tags: April Fools' Day, Chatroulette, GY&K, MagiChatroulette, Marketing Innovation
