Short Films & A Mariachi Band: The Week's Best Viral Videos & Marketing Lessons

It's that time once again, as Friday finally arrives and pretty much everyone's ready for the weekend to start immediately. Most of us have to find a way to grind it out through one more work day. And for those people, we created this round up of viral videos, to provide some online video entertainment to help kick off your day.

We've got a lot to get to this week, so let's not waste any more time.

Oddities

Sometimes in life you just luck out and end up seeing something completely strange and random. If you're really lucky... you'll have your video camera handy when that happens, so that you can capture the weird event to share with the rest of the world.

Online video audiences love to see odd things... things they haven't ever seen before. Like, for instance, a full mariachi band serenading a whale:

That video would be plenty entertaining just because of the mariachi band, but what really sells it is how much the whale seems to be enjoying the music.

Another odd video I saw this week involved a cat, which is nothing new. Cats have been acting strangely since the dawn of time. But in the Internet video age, we can finally all share in the laughter at something as unexpected and weird as this:

Seriously, if you have any idea what that cat is doing--or how he does it--let me know... because it sure looks like he gets up on his back legs, shrugs, and walks away. Strange indeed.

But maybe not as strange as watching a man grow a crazy beard really quickly. The video is called "Reverse Shaving," and it's short, clever, and odd:

Sometimes the odd event captured on film is a natural phenomenon. For example, I'm not sure they're used to it raining this much in Paris:

When you can show audiences something bizarre... something out of the ordinary, or even extraordinary, you will stand a much better chance of seeing those viewers get social around your video, propelling it to viral greatness.

Music & Video

Music videos are still huge in the world of online video. Some of the videos with the highest view-counts are music videos. So it should come as no surprise that video creators and artists are still shooting for viral gold with music-related online video.

Like Cee-Lo Green. No stranger to viral video success, Green released another new song this week, called "Cry Baby," and the music video starring Urkel from Family Matters has already gone viral itself:

We've talked about the "2 Cellos" guys in this column before, when they covered a Guns & Roses song. Now they're back, with an equally impressive cover of Nirvana's biggest hit. Check it out:

One of my favorite videos of the entire week is this next clip, which uses an insanely clever way for one rapper to chastise other rappers for their priorities:

We also saw an interesting take on Michael Jackson's Billie Jean this week from YouTube star Christina Grimmie:

Break.com brought us a pretty funny (and popular) Google Plus song, which I just know the world was waiting for:

Remember the goofy NASCAR prayer from a couple weeks ago? Well, the Gregory Brothers do, because they've autotuned it in their signature style. And as usual... it's pretty great:

Short Films Playing With Time

I'm a sucker for videos that mess with time. Specifically, I'm a big fan of slow-motion video, time-lapse, and other cool techniques. I recognize that once enough people start doing these techniques, they'll lose some of their appeal. But I'm nowhere near there yet.

Take this stop-motion Street Fighter homage, which is mind-blowing when you consider what it must have taken to create it:

One Day In California is a great little short film on Vimeo that uses tilt-shift and time-lapse together to highlight some of the diverse landscapes of the state. It's fantastic:

Another Vimeo masterpiece this week is Move, from Rick Mereki. It cuts together footage from an 11-country trip that spanned 44 days and the result is just... very cool. (Be sure to check out Learn and Eat, the other two films these guys made on their trip). Here's Move:

When you take one of these camera techniques, like time-lapse, and apply it to a news event, you end up with a very unique--almost chilling--experience. Like this time-lapse clip of the UK riots in Tottenham:

While technically this last clip that plays with time isn't a short film or anything, it's still really cool. It's a high-speed capture of an owl flying straight toward the camera:

Grab Bag

Not all of my favorite videos of the week fit neatly into categories. So Grab Bag is a place for me to toss in a handful of other great clips that sort of defied my organization system this week.

Like the "Cutest Bear Attack," in which a man is attacked by a bear cub. It's really more like a hug than an attack:

Last week we featured a video of NBA star Kevin Durant in a playground game in Harlem. This week, it's Brandon Jennings turn to do something extraordinary in a street game:

What happens when you take some of the themes from Inception and blend it with every day doodling? You end up with "Squiggles," a video that is charming, confusing, and fun:

Honorable Mention

For you video junkies who can't get enough, here are a few more gems from this week in viral video:

• Freddie Wong gave us Duct Hunt
• Here's a video that tells you how not to run
• Here's a fun blooper video of a MLB team's grounds crew
• Hacker group Anonymous has released a video announcing that they will attack Facebook on November 5.