• by Lydia Loizides , Op-Ed Contributor, August 1, 2008

It is only when I travel I allow myself the guilty pleasure of the morning shows. On this particular Friday, I was locked into the "Today" Show (Sheryl Crow was going to play live) when a now-typical news segment came on about viral video (you have to wonder what has happened with America now that it counts stories about viral video on You Tube as news, but I digress).

So, as Meredith Vieira introduced the piece --  "Are Viral Video Just Ads? -- with commentary by Donny Deutsch, I was mildly intrigued. The crux of the story was the production of viral videos by brands where the brand does not disclose itself in the content, using the tactic of the delayed reveal. Meredith's point -- is this right? Donny's point -- who cares. My point: Are the two of you serious?

Meredith, you are right: the real question is, why? Why not disclose who you are. Now in some cases it is obvious who the brand is, like the Kobe Bryant video where he jumps the car. But where it isn't, like the cell phone and popcorn, the question, is why not reveal. You were right in pointing out that that video caused a fuss with all the other information that is out there about radiation, tumors and cell phones (real or not, the point is that there is enough of the population that believes it to be true).

And Donny, Donny, oh Donny. Have you been mugging for the camera too long? Do you really believe that it doesn't matter if people find out that it is fake? Would you really advise a brand to take the risk of alienating its audience -- over the long term? Do you really believe that teens, if they smell a sham, aren't going to bolt? While you are right, the younger generation doesn't want to be "sold or advertised to," they sure as heck don't want to feel like they were duped, either.

If the mass consumer audience honestly didn't' believe, to a certain extent, the truth in advertising, I would argue that infomercials and products like, well anything that can be bought on AsSeenOnTV.com, would not exist and commercial legends like Tom Wu, TV real estate guru from the '90s, wouldn't have been shut down by the government. (And for those who remember him, the rumor is he is now playing poker semi-professionally.)

Now, don't get me wrong, I know what makes for good TV and good advertisements; but the risk associated with using the delayed reveal doesn't necessarily make for good viral video -- or very good advice for clients.