Indicative of the shift from big media “messaging” to the market to the market driving the media, is this Wall Street Journal article which reports on how a six-minute video captured by a bus rider in Hong Kong and publicized by bloggers has led to a global phenom.
Geoffrey Fowler (who BTW wrote about blogs for the WSJ way back in 2002) reports:
While riding public bus 68X on the night of April 29, Elvis Ho tapped the shoulder of a passenger sitting in front of him who was talking on a cellphone. The 23-year-old Mr. Ho asked the man to lower his voice. Mr. Ho called him “uncle,” a familiar way of addressing an elder male in Cantonese.
Instead of complying, the man turned around and berated Mr. Ho for nearly six minutes, peppering his outburst with obscenities.
“I’ve got pressure, you’ve got pressure!” the older man exploded. “Why did you have to provoke me?” A nearby passenger who found the encounter interesting captured most of it on video with his own cellphone, and it was posted on the Web.
“Bus Uncle,” as the older man is now known, has since become a Hong Kong sensation. The video, including subtitled versions, has been downloaded nearly five million times from YouTube.com, a popular Web site for video clips.
The article notes how the ranting “Uncle” in the video has now become a “public-relations representative” for a chain of about 40 Hong Kong steakhouses. Note how citizen media now creates stars that marketing professionals attempt to leverage.
Times have changed from when celebrities such as the Monkees were expensively fabricated by marketing campaigns created by Hollywood executives. It appears that now a $100 cell phone and a 21 year old accountant can create a worldwide media sensation.
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