Robin Williams makes a surprise (read: planned by an agency) appearance to demo the creature creator aspect of the new game Spore.
For those of you who pay attention to these things, traditional and interactive advertisements have appeared everywhere for Spore. I'm not sure what the total advertising budget was, but it is massive.
This is a great example of how an impromptu appearance and an unscripted, honest presentation about a product by a key influencer combine to form a viral juggernaut. As of this post the video has been viewed on YouTube about 1,000,000 times.
Nicholas Kinports (follow him on Twitter @ADMAVEN) has worked in the interactive technology world for over 15 years. He is the Digital Strategy Lead and founder of Chicago-based digital marketing firm lonelybrand, where he directs the creation and execution of digital marketing programs that generate measurable signups, conversions and sales.
