An Icy Commercial Gone Viral

At any given local television market, we are often entertained by commercials representing the region's market. In particular, we love commercials for automobile dealerships.

Here in the Twin Cities, our local automotive dealerships can get really creative – with a local focus, of course. We are Minnesotans – all year round. We support our sports franchises and communities – through thick and thin.

You have been introduced to a friend on here several years ago by the name of Richard Herod III. He is the General Manager of White Bear Mitsubishi in White Bear Lake. Having worked with him on several projects over the years, I know of his wit and his personality. His shtick is a mascot of a cute white bear – taller than Herod's frame, round and fun-loving. The mascot appears on every marketing material inside and beyond the dealership property.

With help from White Bear Mitsubishi's advertising and marketing agencies, they will do localized commercials, including touting their sponsorships of community and sports entities. A recent commercial was shot at Mariucci Arena, where the University of Minnesota men's hockey team plays. It features, Herod, the White Bear mascot and the U of M’s mascot Goldy Gopher. They were to show off a 2017 Mitsubishi Outlander and Outlander Sport on the ice as part of a combined marketing push to sell the brand's SUV lineup and to sponsorship of the university's men's hockey team.

The commercial was successful, but it is the outtake reel that has been getting all of the attention. We know working on icy surfaces is not stable. In the video posted above, you will see why.

The story is not about the outtake reel, as it is what happened after it was posted on the dealership's social media channels. It began with a few customers and friends…and friends of friends…sharing the video on their social media channels. It began to trend. It trended enough to capture the attention of ABC's "Good Morning America" and NBC's "Today" shows. We also learned that it has appeared on a couple of networks in the U.K. and Sweden, along with various website around the world.

As of going to press, it was seen over 428,000 times directly on YouTube, while it also garnered over 2.5 million views via White Bear Mitsubishi’s Facebook page. Who knows how many more views it would get between the two channels as the viral momentum continues?

I hope that bear is OK…

Photo courtesy of White Bear Mitsubishi