Robbie Williams: Reality Killed the Video Star

Many of us in the UK have now heard Robbie Williams‘ new single, Bodies, from the forthcoming album Reality Killed the Video Star.

If you haven’t heard it, then here’s a clip, prior to the full version being released on Wednesday 09.09.09 (and it’s already been viewed by almost 400,000 people in 4 days):

The singer/songwriter joined forces with the producer Trevor Horn (Paul McCartney, Seal, Pet Shop Boys, Cher) to record and mix Reality Killed the Video Star in London this summer.

Robbie Williams seems to have made it his mission to beat records for album and ticket sales. He’s in the Guinness Book of Records for selling 1.6 million tickets in a single day for his 2006 tour, which played to 3.7 million people all in all.

In 2003, he beat the record for the biggest live music event in UK history, playing to 365,000 people in 3 nights at Knebworth.

With more Brit Awards than anyone else and 3 Ivor Novello awards, Robbie Williams also holds the UK record for the fastest-selling Greatest Hits album in history – that album reached number 1 in 18 countries.

So, will Reality Killed the Video Star reach number 1 on first attempt?

Emirates aren’t the only carrier to trash luggage and not care

Our own story starts in Dubai – the overnight stop between our Mauritius honeymoon and London Heathrow.

Both pieces of our luggage were destroyed by Emirates, including an ‘indestructible’ Samsonite case, which was broken so badly that many of the items within were also broken or had fallen out. We were offered replacements (each worth a fraction of the replacement value), but had to fight to keep our damaged luggage.

On leaving Dubai with all four cases, the ground staff were mostly polite, except, sadly, the supervisor, who refused to be of any help, insisting that we should pay around £300 for going overweight (the weight only of the new cases, of course). We had to leave one of the cases behind.

Speaking to baggage crews at Heathrow, it seems that Dubai is well known for wrecking luggage and is not subject to the same camera surveillance of most international airports.

Three months later and there is still no sign of our bags, compensation or even any correspondence from Emirates, despite continued attempts to contact the airline. And we’re still around £800 out of pocket.

But, we’re not alone!

Here’s a song, posted on YouTube about a similar incident involving United Airlines and a guitar worth $3,500. This video became an overnight hit and United’s share price fell by 15% almost instantly.

Great Viral Ads no. 24: Heineken Walk-in Wardrobes

This Heineken ad from Holland’s been all over the Internet for several weeks, notching up tens of thousands of views on YouTube.

This is a far less popular, but much better quality version of the same thing.

Great Viral Ads no. 23: Bond Wins It All in Casino Royale

Spot the Tell Poker logo – inserted into this scene of Casino Royale for viral distribution on YouTube.

(Don’t bother watching to the end – Tell Poker ruin it with less subliminal marketing in the last few seconds).

Great Viral Ads no. 22: Guy Catches Laptop With His Butt

Thank you mashable for bringing this MSI Computers viral ad to the world’s attention, through the power of Twitter…

So far, it has accrued more than 75,000 views in just a few days… but then again, the title is too good to pass over without clicking

Great Viral Ads no. 21: Project Natal (new Microsoft Xbox 360)

Project Natal really is the future of gaming. Think Wii, without the controller.

And there’s more – the platform is even richer than gaming and entertainment. Developers Lionhead Studios claim that personal relationships can be formed through the Xbox 360. Here’s a demonstration of the character ‘Milo’ interacting with the real world.

Great Viral Ads no. 20: Muslim Demographics – the changing face of Europe

With 10-million views in 4 months, Muslim Demographics, posted on YouTube by friendofmuslim is a classic example of a viral video. Searching on YouTube for videos with keywords like ‘Muslim Europeans’ and ‘future of Europe’ doesn’t reveal this particular video on page one of YouTube search results, suggesting that the web address itself has been emailed, or the video has been embedded time and time again.

As it happens, the facts are not accurate: while there may be 2.5m muslims in the UK now, the increase in population hasn’t been quite so explosive as the video suggests: According to Dr Andrew Hinde, a demographer at Southampton University, from the 1981 census, those born in Pakistan and Bangladesh in the UK alone numbered 300,000.

25% of the Belgian population isn’t muslim – the actual figure is more like 6%.

And to suggest that muslim women produce 8.1 offspring is hokum – according to 2008 UN figures, the average for Moroccan and Algerian muslims is much lower, at 2.38.

But the real issue is why this video has been distributed and subsequently viewed 10m times. It’s inaccurate, it’s inflammatory and doesn’t it remind you just a little bit of anti-Semitic propaganda in the 1930s?

More here: More Or Less, Muslim Demographics on BBC Radio 4, 8pm Sunday or online

Great Viral Ads no. 18: Evian Rollerbabies

Only a month old, and 8m views already. From the Evian Live Young Campaign, the Evian Rollerbabies, obviously.

And here’s the ‘Making Of’ film…

Great Viral Ads no. 17: Noah takes a photo of himself every day for 6 years

Of course, this isn’t an ad but it is viral in the truest sense.

Noah K took a picture of himself in his flat every day for 6 years, from 11th January 2000.

The video is three years old in August 2009 – and the now bearded Noah is still taking pictures, with a 10-year edition not far off.

Sick: Video of Indian man who electrocutes himself and dies

Unfortunately, many videos that become ‘viral’ aren’t to everyone’s taste.

Instead of emailing large files, many ‘Generation Y’ web users find the video on YouTube and forward or embed the hyperlink, reducing bandwidth consumption and improving speed, reliability and compatibility.

That’s why every example of viral advertising so far on this blog is hosted on YouTube. This one, however, would most likely never get onto the video sharing site, because of its content.

Watch it only if you’re not about to eat and WITH CAUTION… Indian Man Electrocuted to Death