That's Not Fake
That’s Not Fake is a viral ad taking the form of a fake TV show, created to convince viewers that Trident Gum strengthens teeth to superhuman levels.
Description
The advert consists of a series of videos purporting to be clips from a TV show called That's not fake, with a similar format to popular show Mythbusters. In the clips, the host of the show, Martin Mull attempts to debunk a video that supposedly shows two brothers, with one testing the strength of the other's teeth by repeatedly hitting them with heavy objects. The video is determined to be a fraud on the basis that the brother with the strong teeth had been using Trident Gum to strengthen them.
According to a fake Wikipedia article the show "premieres as a syndicated weekly show throughout North American markets on February 2, 2009," and was a "playful but honest response to the increasing dissemination of doctored, re-touched, forged, and faked photos and video via the internet."
Reception
Despite the success of many viral campaigns recently, Trident had difficulty establishing this campaign. Commentators suggested that one possible cause of the lack of success was the method Trident used to initially promote the campaign, e-mailing details to dental hygienists and Martin Mull fans, whereas a more appropriate approach would have been to contact people with a high Social Networking Potential in the first instance.
External links
- Official" That’s Not Fake website
- Martin Mull on the Internet Movie Database
- Jerry Tucker’s Online Videos on YouTube