Go elf yourself

Last week in a post I wrote about some YouTube viral campaigns I highlighted the "Holiday Wishcast" from Coke. In the article I mentioned how I didn't like that Coke was using actual Coke commercials and I didn't think it would have success because of the blatant promotion of Coke. Today I came across another holiday campaign from OfficeMax called "Elfyourself". The purpose is to paste your picture on the body of the elf; the elf will then dance around and sing. You can then send it off to your family or friends.

officemax cameron

This is a great viral campaign. Why? Because it's all about you and not all about OfficeMax's brand. I actually spent quite a bit of time this morning playing around with Elfyourself. I had the whole family huddled around my laptop taking turns with each of our faces pasted on the elf. We pretty much laughed the whole time and ended up sending several of them out to family and friends. If you're interested you can watch my little clip.

Update: It's not a bad piece of linkbait either, over 183,000 links to date.

[via: Steve Rubel]

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Reader Comments (4)

Sujan Patel, December 19, 2006

Didn't I see you do this dance at pubcon

Cameron Olthuis, December 20, 2006

I'm sure you did :)

Rhea, December 22, 2006

A week ago I received my stepfather's dancing elf and was really amused, but I didn't even notice the affiliation. Have you seen Popular Front's "Flak-a-thon" for the Salvation Army? I think Lisa Barone originally posted about this and I've been hooked ever since. It's the perfect mix of creativity, fun and quiet branding. And on a weird note, have you seen Spring Hill Suite's (Marriott) "Room to Move" vanity site? http://moreroomtomove.com/ - I still can't tell if I think it's funny or just incredibly embarassing. Happy Holidays!

Gloria, December 24, 2006

Yeah. I've been trying to send an elfgram for the last 2 hours. I've had no problems creating it but sending it is another thing. What gives?