The most successful professionally filmed viral videos, in our humble opinion, are available on the Old Spice YouTube channel, courtesy of the Old Spice Guy. Performed by Isaiah Mustafa (this one is my favorite), they took the Internet by storm this past summer and quickly racked up millions and millions of views. Mustafa hasn't done an Old Spice commercial in a while, but he recently appeared in what appears to be an ad that only Microsoft could have paid for (as first posted on istartedsomething).
We asked Microsoft if the company hired Isaiah Mustafa, also know as the Old Spice Guy, to promote Windows Phone 7. "Yes. Isaiah Mustafa is coming to Australia for the launch of Windows Phone 7 at retail," a Microsoft spokesperson told TechSpot. "He will be involved in a mix of broadcast, radio, print and digital outreach while down under." The fact that the videos will be centered in Australia should not matter if the videos go viral like most of Mustafa's Old Spice content. Watch the promotional ad below:
Windows Phone 7 isn't mentioned in the spot. Neither is Windows, Microsoft, Zune, Bing, or anything else related to the company. The ad is obscure, but it does center on "communication" and most importantly, Mustafa winks when he says the word "window" at the same time as we hear a *ding* sound. We're in for an epic video series.
This is not be first time Microsoft has dabbled in viral video ads. The company recently managed to get the "double rainbow guy" to promote its Windows Live Photo Gallery application.