The Online Brand Wars

“Fernando Motolese, a creator of viral videos, recently approached French food giant Danone (known as Dannon in the United States) with an unusual proposition. He had filmed a gross-out humor video about the gastrointestinal effects of Danone’s Activia yogurt, and he intended to release it on the Internet. Would Danone pay him a few pennies each time the video got viewed? If not, Motolese said, he might upload an even more offensive spoof. ‘It felt sort of like blackmail,’ says Renato Fischer, Danone account executive with the advertising firm Young & Rubicam, who fielded the offer.”