Top 10 Most Shared Puppet Ads

Ford recently put its social media strategy in the hands of an obnoxious, misogynistic and sorry-looking orange puppet called Doug.

At first glance, it may not seem like the most logical step in the world, but then, the car giants are certainly not the first to use puppet power to try and generate interest in their ad campaigns.

Puppets, after all, can get away with things you or I cannot. For example, an obnoxious pig that hits people is not going to charm anyone. But stick a hand up its bum and a give it a blonde wig and you have the much-loved Miss Piggy.

It's the same with the Doug. Ask a male actor to deliver his lines and it would just cause offence. But because it's a puppet calling a female reporter 'Prettypants', it is OK.

In fact, Doug, voiced by comedian Paul F. Tompkins, even has his own YouTube channel, and an army of fans on Twitter and Facebook. Not that you will be seeing him on TV. Doug is intended purely for social video.

“We really developed these videos for the YouTube generation, if you will, that really enjoys entertainment,” says Jon Beebe, digital communications manager at Ford.

“The purpose of the videos is to make people take a left-hand turn from their daily web activities and pay attention to Doug the personality, but also the vehicle that he’s in and discussing.”

Doug is also 'a left-hand turn' for Ford, but - to continue the driving metaphor - it seems the car giants are at least steering in the right direction with this bold approach to social video. After all, social media allows brands to be a little bit more edgy and experimental in their content.

But which have been the most successful? Well, we have compiled a chart of the most shared puppet commercials of all time, based on the number of shares on Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere.

But if you prefer, you can watch the top 10 below.

Is your favourite in there? Let us know.

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Girl Yawns So Hard In School She Can't Close Her Mouth (Genuinely Jaw-Dropping Video)

Beware the next time you feel like yawning - because your face might get stuck.

Or at least that is what happened to this slack-jawed student from London.

No, the wind did not change direction, Hollie Thompson simply yawned so wide while she was in class, she accidentally unhinged her jaw.

If that was not embarassing enough, the BBC cameras were filming in the hospital on the same day she came to A&E, so they could capture the whole ordeal. 

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Top 10 Most Shared Olympic Games Commercials

Athletes will not be the only ones going for gold and glory at the Olympics in London next year.

Today is the 115-year anniversary of the modern Olympics, with organisers this week firing the starting gun on a clash every bit as fierce as any rivalry on the track, pitch, pool or river - the battle for ad space.

Brands desperate to secure their pick of some of the most sought after sites in the UK began bidding on Monday in a £250million eBay-style online auction of outdoor advertising space.

It is the first time in Olympics history that ad space has been allocated this way - a system many believe to be the fairest and most transparent. 

However, for the first two weeks, only official sponsors, such as Coca Cola, McDonalds and adidas, BP, Samsung, Lloyds TSB, BMW and Visa, will be allowed to bid.

Of course, brands battling during the Olympics is nothing new. Brands have been fighting for our attention almost since the rebirth of the modern Olympic movement.

But which Olympic ads have been the most successful online? Well, here at Meme Machine, we have rummaged around in the archives to compile a list of the top 20 most popular Olympic Games commercials ever.

They are ranked according to the number of shares on Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere, and you can watch the top 10 below. Oh, and to make things interesting, we have even included ads from the Winter Olympics too.

Is you favorite ad included?

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Top 10 Most Popular Cat Commercials

Cats hold the power of the internet in their furry little paws. Or in the case of the recent Cravendale ad, under their opposable thumbs. 

That's because our feline 'friends' are the undoubted stars of YouTube. They play with it like it was a ball of wool or a jaded mouse.

So it is no surprise then that non-cat related brands like Skittles and Cravendale have reaped the benefits of kitty power recently.

After all, research I have just made up has found that by simply putting a cat in your video improves your chances of making it go viral by 545%.

In fact, it is a well known fact that the only reason Rebecca Black's musical video Friday racked up so many shares is because she sounds like a cat stuck up a drainpipe.

So it seems all you need to become an internet sensation these days is to put some whiskers on, two pointy ears and a tail. (Unless it is a Skittles ad, in which case you also add a deep sense of forboding). 

But which of these ads are the most popular? Which is the top cat? Well, we have compiled the most popular ads that feature cats, based on the number of shares they attracted on Facebook, Twitter and the blogosphere. We have obviously not included ads for cat food.

Is your favourite in there? Is there any we have missed? Let us know.

*Update - we are currently in the process of updating our chart, so keep an eye out for more ads.

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New Dodge Ad For Fast Five Proves Car Chases Really Do Make Movies Better

Car chases can really make a movie. It's a scientific fact that having a cool car scene will improve the quality of your film by 346%.

It’s like putting four wheels on to a turd and rubbing it with Turtle Wax. And it’s not difficult to work out why – we love cars. Simple. We just can’t get enough of them.

Sure, they may be destroying our planet and cost us a packet to run, but how else are you get from A to B in style? Public transport? Do us a favour. Walking? Get lost!

Besides, everyone knows that owning a cool car makes you 60 times more attractive to the opposite sex. You can’t argue with those odds.

Agency Wieden + Kennedy certainly don't in their hilarious new Dodge commercial. Sure, it isn't as revolutionary as Dodge's patriotic outing last year, but then it does have an "unscrubbed son of a blacksmith's apprentice" smashing his fist through a moving car's windscreen.

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Is Shocking Footage Of Debris Hitting Car Real Or Fake? You Decide

Don't you just hate it when this happens. There you are driving down the road and then boom, there goes your windscreen.

This startling video of a highway accident involving some roadside debris has been racking up the shares over the last 24 hours.

But it is not just the shocking footage that is driving its popularity on YouTube and the Viral Video Chart, it's conversation over whether it is fake or not.

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