Google’s most recent achievement has nothing to do with web searches or big data. It’s about dogs, deer, an orangutan and a host of other things that make you go “aww.”
A February ad for Google’s Android mobile platform titled “Friends Furever,” featuring clips of interspecies buddies playing, resting and scheming, has racked up the most shares of any video ad around the globe, according to data from London-based video advertising technology company Unruly. The 6.4 million shares the ad collected across Facebook, Twitter and on blogs is the top number for 2015 and the highest number of video ad shares ever, the company says. The original upload to YouTube alone has been viewed more than 20.5 million times.
Google’s minute-long ad, backed by the 1973 Roger Miller song “Oo-De-Lolly,” features unlikely duos like a cat snuggling with baby ducks, a baby elephant frolicking with a sheep and a cockatoo helping a husky sneak food from the stove. The tag line, and only copy before the screen fades to white and the word “android” appears, says, “Be together. Not the same.”
Google’s ode to offbeat friendships easily beat out last year’s top ad and former record-holder, a World Cup ad by yogurt brand Activa and featuring the singer Shakira, which garnered 6.1 million shares. Three other spots — for Kleenex, Budweiser and Purina — on Unruly’s list of the top 10 most shared video ads of 2015 also starred cute animals.
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