9. Candid Camera

Wanted (2008)

In 2008, a grainy, black-and-white video popped up on the web.

Within weeks it had been watched millions of time, spreading via email links and word of mouth.

In it, a stressed office worker suddenly flips out: wrecking his cubicle, throwing computer monitors across the room and smashing up a photocopier.

You've probably seen it. But maybe you still don't know it was meant as a viral video for comic-book actioner Wanted, filmed by director Timur Bekmambetov.

Viral Links: Check out the video below.

Infectious? Unsurprisingly, it wasn’t. Someone forgot to tell Timur that viral vids only work if people have a vague idea what they’re advertising. Nice idea, but a total Stealth Marketing Fail. A tease needs a pay-off.

10. Be In The Film

Watchmen (2009)

The long-awaited comic-book adap went viral with an online version of fictional tabloid rag The New Frontiersman, offering alt-world videos and articles as ‘declassified documents’.

But the real ace up Watchmen’s sleeve was its YouTube competition, in which director Zack Snyder invited fans to upload their own ’80s-style commercials for a range of products from Veidt Enterprises.

Viral Links: thenewfrontiersman.net

Infectious? Too soon to tell, but fan-made homages, spoofs and trailers have been a staple of YouTube for years (see the Be Kind Rewind sweding phenomenon).

So there’s a huge creative community out there who are up for the challenge...

Next: District 9, Iron Man 2