At 30 million views, does it matter if it's real? Pepsi MAX's branded viral hit "Test Drive" is set to pass the 30 million mark on YouTube and the brand is beginning to roll out edited versions of the video for TV that will drive back to the longer original online. But at 30 million views, how many who would want to see a disguised Jeff Gordon take a used car salesman for a spin haven't yet seen it?

"Test Drive"—created by the TBWA\Chiat\Day LA agency—is Pepsi MAX's second branded viral to surpass 20 million views on YouTube. Two of the brands other videos are well over 10 million combined—an astonishing record of branded content success. branchannel spoke with the brand and the creator behind Pepsi's other viral hit, Uncle Drew, about branded content and their (secret) next project.Continue reading...

People may seem to do anything they can to avoid commercials but there are some that they actually choose to watch. YouTube has compiled a list of 2012’s Top 20 ads uploaded by brands on its site, and it shows that consumers actually chose to watch a few ads, billions of times, last year.

How YouTube defined most popular: "The 2012 YouTube Ads Leaderboard celebrates the U.S. ads that most moved audiences through a winning combination of promotion (paid ads) and popularity (organic views)." The tally captures data as of Dec. 6th, 2012.

While Nike's Nike Football channel took the top spot with "Nike Football: My Time is Now," Old Spice led the pack with four ads in the top 20. Nike and Volkswagen each had two ads on the list.Continue reading...

Uncle Drew (Cleveland Caveliers' breakout star Kyrie Irving) and Wes (Minnesota Timberwolves' star Kevin Love) are back and on a mission: to go out and get the old team back together. The players and spectators at a Los Angeles basketball court had no idea what was about to happen and were told that they would be filmed for some "basketball B-roll footage" for a local TV station. The resulting video, a mix of product placement and branded entertainment, was uploaded by Pepsi MAX on Oct. 30 and already has more than 1.5 million views. 

The LA crowd is in disbelief when these two old-timers give it a go in the court, and reveal how much better they really are. It's quite a spectacle, the second in the series so far, and a definite win for Pepsi MAX — although surely they can't keep fooling locals with NBA All-Stars in disguise much longer. The PepsiCo-owned brand released the first "Uncle Drew" video with Irving earlier this year, which was then turned into a 30-second commercial that ran during the NBA finals last season. More details in the ESPN interview and behind-the-scenes clips below.Continue reading...

Pepsi appears to be maxing out with a clever five-minute YouTube video sensation that has been re-cut into a 30-second commercial this week on the hottest ticket on television: the NBA Finals.

The original video (produced by Omnicom branded entertainment agency Davie Brown Entertainment) depicts what seems to be an aged gym rat named "Uncle Drew" who wows a pickup basketball game with crossover dribbles, slam dunks and other exploits unheard-of for such a grizzled veteran. And it turns out, in a sort of Candid Camera moment, that Uncle Drew of course isn't who he seems to be. He's NBA Rookie of the Year and Cleveland Cavaliers breakout star Kyrie Irving.Continue reading...