Opinion

Eight reasons Cadbury’s hip hamster isn’t really on YouTube (and why that doesn’t matter)

YouTube today unveiled what it is proclaiming as its first round video player, featuring a cheery little Cadbury’s hamster running round his wheel. It’s a nifty idea, created in Australia. However, I don’t think it is what it seems.Hip_hamster_cadbury_YouTube_mumbrella

The work of Saatchi & Saatchi Australia, it’s to promote the Cadbury Dairy Milk Rollpack. Hence the round theme. If you go to the home page of YouTube today, you won’t be able to miss the giant ad taking you to the Cadbury’s YouTube channel.

However, I don’t think this is genuinely integrated into YouTube.

Instead, I suspect the Hip Hamster video player is a clever switcheroo. In reality, I think this is effectively a microsite mocked up to look like a YouTube page that has then been placed on a YouTube url (with me so far?)

Here’s the reasons why:

  1. Unlike other YouTube videos, the video player can’t be embedded on external sites.
  2. You can’t navigate to different points in the video, which you you usually can on YouTube.
  3. The four comments below the video haven’t changed in the last two hours. (I tried putting up a comment myself and it’s not appeared).
  4. Although the four comments come from the names of genuine YouTube account holders, none of them have signed in for days or weeks so would have been unable to leave the messages.
  5. The time since posting those comments hasn’t changed, although a few hours have elapsed.
  6. You can’t find the videos via YouTube’s search function
  7. The numbers of views for the videos in the right hand menu aren’t updating.
  8. The slight pixellation on the play, pause and volume buttons suggests they may have been screen grabbed.

Assuming I’m right, this is interesting. For one thing, it indicates that YouTube is willing to be pretty flexible with advertisers, including letting them do far more than simply host video.

But although this is slightly pulling the wool over the eyes of YouTube users – you could argue they’re being fooled into watching an ad – I don’t think it matters. The YouTube experience is so well replicated, that they will enjoy it regardless.

And for the brand, the illusion stands up long enough that the message gets delivered. Many users will, I suspect, go back to the main part of YouTube noen the wiser about what just occurred.

I suspect that the round video player idea came first – and creating it  as a genuine YouTube player proved to be technically too difficult (or expensive). This bit of smoke and mirrors looks to me like a good, pragmatic soultion that allows them to deliver the idea.

Credits:

  • Title: Cadbury Rollpack – Ready to Roll
  • Client: Cadbury Australia
  • Agency: Saatchi & Saatchi Australia
  • Executive Creative Director: Steve Back
  • Digital Creative Directors: Peter Galmes, John Mckelvey
  • Art Director: Peter Galmes
  • Copywriter: John Mckelvey, James Ross-Edwards
  • Director: Scott Pickett, Jungle Boys
  • Producer: Chloe Rickard, Jungle Boys
  • Audio: Nylon Studios
  • Strategic Planner: Sara Bamossy
  • Digital Producer: Susan David
  • Senior Business Director: Chris Yong
  • Senior Business Manager: Elizabeth Bourke
  • Media Agency: Carat Melbourne
Media Agency: Carat Melbourne

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