Jennifer Aniston Goes Viral, known also as Jen Aniston's Sex Tape, is a viral video advertisement by Glacéau, starring actress Jennifer Aniston, that promotes the smartwater bottled water brand. [1] [2] The video was uploaded to YouTube on 7 March 2011 and had attracted almost ten and a half million views before it was taken down in February 2012. [3]
The video
The two-minute-and-43-second-long Alek Keshishian-directed video [4] opens with teenage Internet personality Keenan Cahill lip-syncing [5] to Far East Movement's " Like a G6", when Aniston enters the room and asks him whether he knows songs about water. [1] The scene cuts away to Aniston introducing smartwater and explaining that she must make a video that "turns into a virus". [6]
The video proceeds to parody a series of viral tropes, [7] including animals ( golden retriever puppies, [5] a skateboarding dog [7] and a talking parrot that says "Rachel, I love your hair"—a reference to Aniston's character Rachel Green on the television series Friends and the popular Rachel haircut), [6] animated dirty-dancing babies, a double rainbow and a groin kick to a fan "that's worth about 100,000 hits". [1] [8] Then, in slow motion, Aniston swings her hair and drinks seductively from a bottle of smartwater, [6] [5] while " Baker Street" plays in the background.[ citation needed]
The ad closes with Aniston's team of three "Internet boys" suggesting the name "Jen Aniston sex tape" for the video, to which she replies, "I love it!" [6]
Reception
Tom McKendrick, writing for Fairfax Media's Life & Style feature, described the video as "a viral video to kill all viral videos", with the name 'Jennifer Aniston sex tape' "enough to ensure its success". [1] Console Digest characterized the project as combining a viral marketing campaign and "a pretty face" in a way that is "ironic" and "aware", and which demonstrates that "these days it doesn't matter what you're selling as long as the setting is amusing". [8] WENN considered the advertisement to be "cleverly made" and reported, on 10 March 2011, that the video had "gone viral" and "taken the Internet by storm". [7]
The video received mostly positive responses from YouTube users, and activity on the microblogging website Twitter made "Jennifer Aniston" a trending topic. [2]
Sequel
A sequel, The Jennifer Aniston Security Tapes: Secrets Revealed by smartwater, again directed by Keshishian, was uploaded to YouTube on 18 September 2012. [9]
References
- ^ a b c d McKendrick, Tom (8 March 2011). "Jennifer Aniston infects the internet with 'sex tape'". The Sydney Morning Herald. Archived from the original on 11 March 2011.
- ^ a b "Jennifer Aniston's "sex tape" goes viral in marketing campaign". The Independent. 8 March 2011. Archived from the original on 11 March 2011. Retrieved 1 September 2017.
- ^ drinksmartwater (7 March 2011). "jennifer aniston goes viral for smartwater". YouTube. Archived from the original on 14 February 2012.
- ^ "smartwater - Jennifer Aniston 'Sex Tape'". The Webby Awards. 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2018.
- ^ a b c WENN (9 March 2011). "Jennifer Aniston 'Sex Tape' Takes Internet By Storm". Contactmusic.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2011.
- ^ a b c d Weiss, Shari (8 March 2011). "Jennifer Aniston 'sex tape': Actress tries comedy and sex appeal to promote smartwater viral video". Daily News. Archived from the original on 23 March 2011.
- ^ a b c WENN (10 March 2011). "Jennifer Aniston Smartwater Ad Goes Viral". Contactmusic.com. Archived from the original on 14 March 2011.
- ^ a b "Jennifer Anniston's sexy virus". Console Digest. 8 March 2011. Archived from the original on 11 March 2011.
- ^ drinksmartwater (18 September 2012). "the jennifer aniston security tapes: secrets revealed by smartwater". YouTube. Archived from the original on 20 December 2017.