Posted by: FrankandRob on May 31st, 2011
"Opulence, I has it."
Companies are always looking for the best way to advertise their products. One marketing effort that is taking the viral world by storm is Ivanka, the “petite giraffe” featured in DIRECTV commercials and online. The little fictitious animal has created quite the marketing campaign for DIRECTV. So, why is the viral campaign led by a petite giraffe brilliant?
It makes people wonder
Inventing an animal and going to great lengths to make it look real creates an excellent way to earn attention without having to spend any more money on advertising efforts. Bloggers—Ian Dennis Miller specifically—have written stories about whether petite lap giraffes are real or not. The story gained even more attention when a local newspaper released its own version of Miller’s blog post without giving him credit for the information he found. Controversies like this act as even greater advertising for DIRECTV.
It gives people something to fantasize about
Even though petite giraffes like the one featured in DIRECTV commercials are fictitious, the campaign indulges people’s fantasy of actually owning such an animal. If you want to get your hands on your own petite giraffe, you’ll have to “sign up” on the farm’s “waiting list,” which currently has over 1 million people already signed up, though a majority hopefully understands the fictitious nature of the waiting list. This increases the viral marketing efforts of DIRECTV even more because you can “share the greatest news” with your friends and family on Facebook or Twitter after joining the waiting list. In the meantime, you are left to enjoy watching the petite giraffe on DIRECTV commercials.
The rich Russian is given the most screen time in the most recent DIRECTV commercials, but the real star is the petite giraffe. There is even an entire website devoted to showing footage of petite giraffes on Sokoblovsky Farms, “the only and best breeder of Pete Lap Giraffes.” The supposedly live footage of the animals is quite convincing to people who are already prone to believe in the fictitious animal until you refresh the page and see inconsistencies. Still, it’s quite a genius move.
So, you may not need a petite giraffe, but if you’re interested in getting satellite TV in Arizona, contact us to get the best satellite service in Arizona!
Also, be sure to check us out on Facebook and Twitter!
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