Here we present one of the few cases in which we can see the complete creation process of a viral video for YouTube, and the most specific explanation about how to make a viral video. There is a controversy about if it is possible to produce virality, or, on the contrary, it is something more related to luck and public reception. We believe there are many ways to promote virality, working with the content as well as articulating a strategy. The following video demonstrates that, since it has been thought as a viral from the beginning.
It is “Pig rescues baby goat”, a recording that at this moment has more than 8 million views, and that shows how a pig rescues a goat that is supposedly drowning in a lake. This viral video not only had a huge reception from YouTube users, but also has been widely commented by the press, not only in the U.S.
Actually, this viral has been created by “Nathan for you”, a program from The Comedy Show, and it is intented to be an advertising campaign for a zoo. In the following two videos we can see the complicated production process, in the humorous tone that characterizes the show. For the filming they used a trained pig, and the work of several professionals. Here we can also see how was the reception.
It should be said that one of the reasons that explains the success of this video is that it shows a fact that is apparently real and surprising, and that it was captured by a camera by chance. The amateur-video style (with cam movement and low sound and image quality) produce as effect the idea that we are in front of a testimony, a real fact without editing, not in front of a clip that has been staged and produced. If the viral had included any advertising content, the press reception would have been more difficult, and there would have been a lot of suspicion about its autenticity.