The Wired headline is what attracted me: Physicist Debunks Cellphone Viral Popcorn Videos.

The latest consensus from the myth-busting Snopes.com and others is that the video apparently showing popcorn popping when placed on a table with three mobiles around it is probably an attempt at viral marketing from a cellphone manufacturer. If so, what it reinforced in my mind is that you can only really viral market if you pretend you are not viral marketing. If that's the case, the deceit goes on.

Also, if it is indeed guerilla marketing, then it highlights how inverted the new marketing is compared with the existing marketing principles most still work to: you have to not look as if you are pointing at your brand; and highlighting the one thing the mobile phone industry doesn't like being highlighted - the argument about whether mobiles fry brains - is exactly what is highlighted here. So, if it is marketing is it anti-marketing using reverse psychology? Who knows...It's beyond me.

Reminds me of some work on subliminal marketing I did for the New Statesman a few years ago, which I will dig out and look at again and, if it's relevant and still interesting, will post here. Anyway, here's the possibly viral marketing campaign for a cellphone. Hey, I'm passing it on. Must work after all. That's me hoisted with my own petard, then (whatever that actually means)...I would think it's just a prank, but they look and sound to me like ad agency people acting.