Posts Tagged ‘tron guy’

A quick recap of the best video contest entries of 2011

The phrase "Most Notable" wouldn't fit on the banner so I went with "Best"

Back in December I was planning on doing an article about the “Best Video Contest Entries of 2011.”  I did one in both 2010 and 2009 but I never got around to doing the 2011 list.  The thing is, 2011 wasn’t really a kick ass year for “consumer generated content.” There just weren’t many big stand outs.  So I figured that before we get any deeper into 2012 I’d just do a quick run down of the best video contest entries of the past year.  But here’s the thing; these entries aren’t really “the best.”  Anyone who has entered even a single video contest knows that the “best” entries don’t always win.  So let’s say that these are the most notable contest entries of 2011.  Basically this will be a list of the biggest winners of the past year.

In February, the Crash the Super Bowl finalist aired during the Super Bowl and scored the Million Dollar ad meter bonus.  But you know, I never really liked Pug Attack since it was just kind of a re-do of the CTSB winning ad, . One CTSB spot I did like though was the Pepsi Max commercial, .  That ad also aired during the game and won a $400,000 ad meter bonus.

The spring of 2011 was a very good time for a Lexington, KY man named Walt Arnett.  In March his “” won first place and $10,000 on Cash America’s Cash Rap video contest.  In May won him 1 of the 6 Mini Coopers that Dairy Queen gave away in their Mini Blizzard Treatment video contest.  And then just a week or so later won the $150,000 grand prize in Excedrin’s What’s Your Headache video contest.  Interesting note: All three of these contests used facebook votes to determine the winners.

During the summer, Gain detergent awarded a million dollars to in their Smell Like a Million Bucks video contest.  The winner of that contest was determined by a public vote so of course the winning entry wasn’t that great.

And….that’s it.  Those were all the big contests on 2011.  It used to be that there were several big video contests a year where the grand prize would be at least $25,000.  And as far as I can remember, there weren’t any “make our TV commercial” contests last year either.  I guess that sites like Poptent, Tongal and Mofilm have made those kind of big contests unnecessary. But a few contest entries did make it onto TV in 2011.  In November, Triaminc started airing a Poptent-made ad entitled 102.  And this cool Mofilm-made ad, “” actually aired during the MLB AllStar game.

Now that I mention it, Mofilm ran a ton of huge video contests in 2011.  Each contest was based around a different film festival or arts event and each competition had an over all winner.  You can see all of the top Mofilm winners of 2011 in this convenient youtube playlist: 

Finally, I think I’ll close out this list by naming VCN’s pick for The Best Video Contest Entry of 2011.  This was an easy call.  Top honors go to “Duct Tron” which won first place and $4,750 (?) in Tongal’s Stuck on Duct Tape competition.  Not only is it an amazing on a technical level, it actually has a hilarious surprise ending.  This ad wound up going viral and recived a crazy amount of love from the Internet.  Watch it and you will understand why.
 

 
If I missed any big 2011 contest entries leave a comment and let me know!

Tongal’s amazing “Stuck on Duct Tape” winner

Duct Tape brand Duct Tape?

Sweet jumping Jesus!!  I just randomly checked a random video contest website (Tongal) and randomly picked a random, expired contest (Stuck on Duct Tape) and figured I’d check out the video that came in first. Turns out the ad that won is like one of the greatest freaking video contest entries of all freaking time!  It’s easily the best contest video I’ve seen all year.  It was shot by a filmmaker named David Brashear and I actually recognize his name.  Last year he won a quiznos assignment sponsored by poptent and his commercial was so good the sponsor decided to air it on TV. (Click here to view David’s Quizno’s spot.) Tongal is a little different from most video contest-hosting sites because they run their contests in phases.  In the first phase, people submit ideas and the sponsor picks their favorites.  Then in the second phase, filmmakers go out and shoot the winning ideas.  Technically you can come up with a whole new concept but most people choose to play it safe and shoot the pre-approved ideas.  But in this case, the filmmaker submitted something totally out of left field. Not only is it visually amazing, it has a shocking twist ending.  Watch and be amazed:

First Place Winner.  Prize:  $4,750:
 

 
CAN YOU BELIEVE THAT S&*% OR WHAT?  All I can say is that $4,750 is NOT enough for a video like that!  Couldn’t they at least round the prize up to an even $5K?  The ad is simply amazing but I do have one criticism.  The actress cast to play the wife of the “guy” is way too hot!  The producer should have tried to cast someone that was at least slightly plausible.  Or hey, maybe she’s not supposed to be the “guy’s” wife.  Maybe she’s like his therapist or live in caretaker or something.  He does kind of treat her like he’s a stubborn mental patient and she’s his frustrated nurse.

To see all the winning Duct Tape videos, head here.  But be warned, after seeing that Tron video everything else is going to be a let down:  http://tongal.com/project/ducktape


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