June 22, 2008

Who is "Fred"? the LA Times found out and NewTeeVee snags interview

A couple of days ago, NewTeeVee posted an article about a puzzling video sensation on YouTube called "Fred", attracting a total of more than 12.7 million views, with four of Fred''s videos in the top 20 this month.

Anyone over 12 wonders why such a success and who is behind it. Is Fred really a lone teenage filmmaker or a viral marketing ploy by fredonzipit.com, a link in Fred's description box.

The LA Times came up with the answer. Turns out Fred is a mixture of both.

As it turns out, Fred—whose real name is Lucas Cruikshank—has been making amateur videos for some time, many of them with his two cousins. Cruikshank was scouted by an L.A.-based ad firm looking for the next tween thing to anchor the launch of the Zipit product. “Fred’s huge online following among teens and tweens, and their passion for the character, was just the magic bullet we were looking for in creating a new campaign for Zipit,” said David Abehsera, the President of WOO Agency, in a statement.

Update June24 : NewTeeVee snags an interview with Fred. One smart kid.

emily | 11:05 AM | YouTube | Add this this entry to your del.icio.us bookmarks. Digg This Technorati search results for this Entry
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