I had a really awesome video to share with you today.

Seriously, it was the greatest version of the greatest song of all time.  A classic and my favorite.  I was really looking forward to sharing it in this space, my blog, where I could provide an introduction about why this song is my all-time favorite track.

But the record label that posted the official video to YouTube disabled embedding.

That means I can TALK about it, but can’t show it to you here.

That’s stupid.

Here’s why diasbling YouTube embedding is stupid:

1) Embeded Views Count – Unless you set the video to Autoplay when a page is loaded, embedded video views count as video views on YouTube.  In fact, YouTube lists embedding as a great way to increase views.

2) Content Delivery – People enjoy having content delivered to them instead of going searching for it.  If someone sees a video on a blog and they enjoy the song or artist, they can then search for more information on it. Embedding allows the content to be served to a target audience on a silver platter.

3) Other Sharing Is Enabled – If you can share a video on Facebook or Twitter (see the screengrab above), you are basically embedding it.  So to disable blog sharing is counterproductive to your own strategy.

4) Not So Viral – I hate the term “viral video.”  It honestly makes me throw up in my mouth a bit.  It’s not a goal, it’s an outcome.  But – how can you achieve peak viral capacity if you make it harder to share the video.

I’m sure the company loses ad revenue (or just benefit from the real estate) if a video is not viewed on YouTube itself.

But is that worth compromising the actual benefit of social media?

If you don’t want it to be shared, don’t put it online.

I really think you would have enjoyed the video.

Not quite.

Just a very funny video from Glaceau’s SmartWater brand.

They incorporated several themes and “celebrities” from the online video world, while positioning the former “Friends” star as a funny, self-aware, down-to-Earth star.

It just went live this afternoon, but initial metrics show a positive response.

My only complaint is that the YouTube name for the video is “jennifer aniston goes viral” which says nothing about the product and is void of the SEO-gold key words “sex tape.”  Why not officially call it a sex tape?  Maybe that would have gone too far for her comfort level. Not that I blame her one bit.

But as a way to make premium water appeal to millennials and way cool people of other demos, this is a home run.

Let’s get this out of the way: soap is not inherently “cool.”

Marketers have been trying to shove personality into stuff that removes body odor and makes you smell vaguely reminiscent of something, be it a river in Ireland or an iceberg in Antarctica.

However, Old Spice hit the jackpot this week with their new series of video responses to Tweets, YouTube comments, articles and blog posts.

Take a look at one:

(You can view the rest on the Old Spice YouTube Channel)

Here are 4 reasons this campaign is brilliant:

1) Character: The star is Isaiah Mustafa, who is also the pitchman in the current TV campaign Old Spice is running.  Having him record these spots shows that this initiative is important to the company.

2) Instant: Each video has the same talent, costume (as it were) and set, with limited props.  They are all also less than :60 each, so incredibly quick to film and turnaround.  Shot with a single camera and no special effects, the only reason they would need multiple takes is if Mustafa busts out laughing on set, which I’m sure happened more than a few times.  With the quick production time, the video can be relevant and timely.

3) Funny: The writing is incredible.  Pitch-perfect for the character…full of wit, double entendres, and complete over-the-top arrogance.

4) Viral: Every video is housed on YouTube and can be instantly shared across multiple platforms.  Users can embed it in blogs (see above!), so the YouTube video gets the views while people share it around the world.  And because they have the TV star in a short, funny manner, people WANT to share it!

Obviously, I’m a fan…but what is your opinion on this campaign?

Before Christian left WWE several years ago for a run with TNA, he had perhaps the sweetest theme song in quite some time, “Just Close Your Eyes” by a small indie band called Waterproof Blonde. Haunting, catchy, just a great, great song.

However, as previously mentioned, Christian left WWE for about 3 years.

When he returned, the song was the same, but the artist was different. Story of the Year got their hands on the song and simply made it better!