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Toy Soldiers
Toy Soldiers
Can a kid sell Nerf's "Vulcan Blaster"?
By Bernhard Warner and Matthew Yeomans
Posted Thursday, December 18, 2008 - 11:19am
YouTube BrandWatch invites you to vote on whether Nerf's brand is affected by this affecting testimonial of a child fan:
| Name: | Nerf vulcan, awsome |
| Stats: | Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun have nothing on the Nerf N Strike Vulcan Blaster, a serious dart gun from the Hasbro toy unit, that hit stores earlier this year. Over 750 videos have been posted to YouTube, mostly by enthusiastic teenage boys ready for battle. We chose this video, a prelaunch review from February, from the pack because, as the reviewer explains, it's the most "awsome"—there have been 102,851 views, 458 text comments and 10 video comments. Take that, Ralphie! |
| What You See: | Our young reviewer, apparently broadcasting from his bedroom, leans into the camera and starts: "Hello, YouTube. Right now I'm really excited, and hopefully what I'm about to show you makes you excited," he begins. Cut to a still image of a bizarre plastic creature. Just kidding, he deadpans. Okay, now we see the product, a dart gun. "That," he perks up, "is called the Vulcan something-or-other, which Nerf is making." In the remaining minute our poised reviewer explains to us why this dart gun is worth buying. It holds 25 darts. And they're not streamlined darts either. They're screamer darts! Streamlined darts are lame. They're too light. Everyone knows that, we're reminded. |
| Takeout/Takeaway: | Hasbro has a must-have toy on its hands this Christmas after the tremendous word-of-mouth buzz created by its underaged army of fans. |
| Social Media Effect: | Forget Saturday morning TV spots. YouTube is the place to go for the lowdown on the hottest toys, preferably if it comes in the form of bedroom-produced product reviews from customers who know more about the product than the marketing department. |
YouTube BrandWatch is The Big Money's exploration into how the world's best-known businesses, so adept at managing their images offline, are being perceived online, where control is harder to come by. Every week, The Big Money features a corporate-themed video that's had significant viewership on YouTube: some approved, some unapproved, some mashed-up combinations of the two. And we'll ask our readers to vote on how the video affects the brands. We think the responses will surprise you, and provide a window onto what is fast becoming the most important playground for corporate games. (Note: This feature has no official relationship to YouTube or its owner, Google.)
