Will Ferrell and Davenport – (Un)intentional Viral Marketing At Its Best

Hollywood comedian Will Ferrell, famous for numerous movies, and his online comedy site Funny or Die, created an interesting series of old-fashioned looking advertisements for Old Milwaukee, a beer from Davenport.

What is amazing about this effort is that supposedly the ads were never made public beyond the local broadcast, but captured by local viewers and published on YouTube. WQAD’s Jason Fechner has a more detailed background story report.

And it certainly works given the amount of videos, some of them simply filmed right from the TV screen. Here are some examples:

Will Ferrell in Davenport – Old Milwaukee Commercial #2

Will Ferrell – Old Milwaukee Commercial in Davenport #3

Will Ferrell Old Milwaukee Best in Terre Haute #1

Will Ferrell Old Milwaukee – Milwaukee WI

Will Ferrell Old Milwaukee Bike Ride

Daren Metropoulos Will Ferrell Funny Old Milwaukee Commercial

Will Ferrell drinks Old Milwaukee in Milwaukee

Will Ferrell Old Milwaukee Best in Terre Haute #2

Will Ferrell Old Milwaukee Commercial Davenport Cedar

It also became Adweek’s Ad of the Day, creating more questions than offering answers.

So, why is Will Ferrell doing local ads for Old Milwaukee? The company says he just loves the brand. “Will approached Old Milwaukee because he’s a big fan of the beer and thought it would be fun to make the commercials, and we couldn’t be more excited that he did,” Bryan Crowley, the CMO of Old Milwaukee parent Pabst Brewing, told the Quad-City Times (which was just as surprised by Ferrell’s move as anyone). But is Crowley being serious? Is Ferrell? Doesn’t it seem possible—perhaps even likely—that this is all just an elaborate joke? (via Adweek)

We might not get all the answers, but the success is measurable. A great validation why understanding viral advertisement is crucial, distribution channels evolve, and social analytics are more than ever relevant to monitor and analyse the impact of social media.