101 Uses for Youtube, #47: Promote Questionable Fiction

Joseph Laszlo | March 28, 2007, 03:49 PM

Amusing piece in the Journal about Harper-Perennial's use of the YouTube to promote The Average American Male, an over the top raunchy, possibly parodic look at, well, what the title says.

When Penthouse calls your book "appalling," (they also said they "couldn't put [it] down"), you know you're onto something that maybe requires offbeat marketing tactics, and Harper's risen to the occasion, spending $10,000 to produce 3 one-minute clips.

I'm not gonna embed any of the videos Harper came up with here, they're a little edgy for that (but funny), but here's a link, you've been warned.

The videos are a viral hit (a million views in 2 weeks, embeds in ideal spots like FHM.com and Heavy), though as the Journal points out, whether video views translate into book sales is as yet undecided. It sounds like it's selling better than expected though.

Overall it reads like a case study in how to use YouTube well: Harper and the book are getting free publicity, and gaining insights from who's picking the video up, and who's commenting on it.