354 degrees of obfuscation

I don't usually rant about others' creatives. But this is different.

What's different is this Advert- er, excuse me, "Viral" video for Sony. Although, to my mind 'festering online infestation' would be a more apt description.

And if I never buy a Sony product again, this webpage alone may be the reason: www.live6degrees.com

It turns out that all these years, colourful award-winning TVCs notwithstanding, Sony Bravia TVs had a critical flaw. It's picture quality wasn't particularly good - especially if you watched TV sitting upright like an adult human with a normal spine.

Apparently, one had to lean back precisely six degrees at the hip to see a clear picture!

So I'm guessing that when Sony's Senior Management told their Engineering Department that it was time to revitalise the Bravia brand for Q1 2010, those geniuses did the smartest and most cost-efficient thing: They tilted the screen back six degrees and claimed they improved the picture quality significantly on the new Sony Bravia TV!

Not to be outdone, the wizards in their Marketing Department upped the ante with a really hip (no pun intended) way to insult Internet-users in addition to Bravia-buyers. All accomplished using the latest, coolest and most original Social Media tools out there: a FaceBook profile, videos (albeit with incorrect subtitles) on Youtube, Twitter, and Fickr.

Now don't get me wrong... I am all for a bit of mystery, or a dash of drama to raise interest and pique the curiosity of an audience before unveiling a tantalising new product. But with this camapign, I believe Sony has not just pushed the envelope forward, they've flung it off a cliff!

In fact, after subjecting myself to this campaign, I was left with two burning questions on my mind. (To be fair, I cannot say for certain if the burning sensation in my head was caused by the virulent campaign.)

Anyway...

Point No.1
The inanities spewed by their feckless protagonist (or vector, in the viral context), Jürgen Onderzug - including his view that man took 3 billion years to stand erect - do not bother me too much! He is ficticious (I hope). What frightens me is that he has 7220 real people as fans on Facebook! (Those are 7220 more reasons why I'm not signing up on Facebook in a hurry.)

But here's the question I have for the those who unleashed this idea on the world: Have you sold your italicised TV sets to any of Jürgen's 7220 friends yet?

Point No.2
Needless to say, cyberspace will soon be innundated with gushing experts, flash videos, pdfs, and ppts, all pointing out the impressive statistical success of this campaign.

My question is: Does this make it mandatory for Creatives everywhere to inflict a campaign of Social pestilence upon unsuspecting Internet-users, to be considered sufficiently with-it and hip? (There's that word again... Their darn campaign seems to be working!!!)