‘Bike Hero’ Viral Video a Fake, Designed By Ad Agency Droga5

Thu, Nov 20, 2008

Earlier this evening, we pointed out that a YouTube user going by the pseudonym "Madflux" had won at least one internet since the debut of his ridiculously awesome "Bike Hero" video yesterday evening. But thanks to an astute commenter, we have recently learned that information was incorrect.

"Madflux," as many of you surmised, does not exist.

According to Creativity Online, it was ad agency Droga5 and a production company named Smuggler who won that internet instead -- and on Activision's behalf. A quick check of Droga5's client list confirms that Guitar Hero World Tour is among those brands the firm services, and the video's credits include a CG artist, a CG supervisor, and an Animation supervisor in addition to several visual effect specialists.

The question is, does it matter? If a company produces a legitimately awesome piece of art in the vein of user generated content, does its less-than-humble origin detract from its value? Are any of you angry or disappointed that there isn't really a part-time McDonalds employee and his friends behind the production -- or perhaps that Droga5 tried to make you think that there were?

Personally, I think the video isn't quite as cool as when it was first shown to me; but perhaps that's because I've now watched it half-a-dozen times.

Thanks to Shawn Butler for the find.

Droga5, fake, Guitar Hero, viral marketing, YouTube

This post was written by:

Sean Hollister - who has written 825 posts on GameCyte.

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12 Comments For This Post

Brendon Lindsey Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 2:26 am
The whole thing looked fake (ie not just some fans making a fun home movie) from the beginning.

Doesn't make it any less deserving of my prestigious Two Internets award, though.
nerds unite Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 9:14 am
the bike here has got to be the lamest video I have seen this year. It had zero creativity and now that they have been caught makes it very clear why it lacked tru creativity.
That guy Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 10:53 am
How is this not creative? Yes, there are a couple moments where I could tell it wasn't real which led me to believe it was a viral video, but that by no means make it less awesome. Very cool video IMO. Nothing like this has ever been done before.
Seaniccus Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 11:18 am
I was wondering about that - still, I wonder how it was done. Blake (at infendo.com) thought that the notes were super-imposed, but I'm still not sure - the notes reacted to lighting changes, imposing that many things in post with that kind of light reaction would be very expensive, and very time consuming. It may actually be easier to just do the stunt.

Good digging guys.
PN04 Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 1:19 pm
You know it dosen't matter really since it's still not making me like Guitar Hero more than RockBand. But seriously if they pulled this off in real time it's still pretty darn amazing.

and imagine how many people are going to go out now and try to imitate it that aren't an ad agency.
obo Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 3:40 pm
"If a company produces a legitimately awesome piece of art in the vein of user generated content, does its less-than-humble origin detract from its value?"

It's creative, but in the vein of big-budget, CG-enhanced marketing, it's just above average.

The conceit was the idea that anyone with a camera, skill and friends could've done it - something not remotely true. It takes a large budget, CG-effects and professionals.

It was awesome only because we thought there were creative kids doing this in their free time. Now, it's just a good commercial.

How anyone - especially in the games media - fell for this is beyond me.
Kyle Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
Viral or not, they put a lot of effort into this to create a brilliant video. I love it.
Alexandar Tzanov Says:
November 21st, 2008 at 7:33 am
Good job on the video, but who the hell names their company drug 5. Droga translates into drug. Unless they are looking at viral and drug as synonyms.
movie fan Says:
November 21st, 2008 at 7:22 pm
That video is great... how'd they do it?
mutantarachnid Says:
December 22nd, 2008 at 9:45 am
I don't think it's the fact that it was made by a company, it was the fact that they lied about what it seemed to be.
I am sure if they showed it as an advert it being a supposed fan film people wouldn't be as pissed.
blahgirl38 Says:
January 25th, 2009 at 8:07 pm
actually, droga is the last name of the man who founded the agency a few years ago. he is awesome and is from australia. so no they did not name the agency "drug", it's named after the founder. do your homework.
Frehley Fox Says:
July 29th, 2009 at 7:18 pm
hey i saw Gene Simmons LOL (03:18)

this vid made me laugh. especially since i recently discovered how addictive GH can be.

fake or not, i don't care coz it's pretty damn brilliant

19 Trackbacks For This Post

Bike Hero video is a commercial, yet still kind of cool… | Sarcastic Gamer Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 11:06 am
[...] Gamecyte, a friend of Sarcasticgamer.com sent us this little ditty. I’m sure you may have heard about the kick ass video of a dude riding a bike down a trail of Guitar Hero notes in perfect tune to the song “Prisoner of Society” by the Living End, an Austrialian pop-punk band and a dark horse fave of mine. [...]
GOMA DE MASCAR.net | bike hero bike hero Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
[...] fui enganado de novo, malditos publicitários! como o Delfinio informou nos comentários, é um viral criado pela agência Droga5. [...]
Bike Hero Video Is Viral Ad Made For Activision « Xboxpress’s Weblog Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 5:54 pm
[...] Source [...]
Derek Powazek - Ethics in Online Advertising Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
[...] YouTube showing someone “playing” the game while riding a bike. Today a videogame blog found out that that the video was produced by an ad [...]
Real World Guitar Hero Riding A Bicycle | Laughing Squid Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 7:41 pm
[...] GameCyte has confirmed that this is in fact a viral video created by the ad agency Droga5 to promote Guitar Hero World [...]
NEWS: Bike Hero a Fraud! | BeatCrave - Passionate about Music Says:
November 20th, 2008 at 8:40 pm
[...] just some amazing teen-genius, but actually the genius product of Guitar Hero World Tour. Gamecyte.com [...]
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November 20th, 2008 at 10:21 pm
[...] Hero video where a guy plays through a song from Guitar Hero in the real world on a bicycle. As it turns out, this video is indeed a Viral Ad for Guitar Hero World Tour. But do you really care? This video is, [...]
Infovore » Bike Hero-gate Says:
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Alt-Strum Says:
November 21st, 2008 at 6:59 am
[...] Bought and paid for by Neversoft, this is no fan production it [...]
Alexandar Tzanov ~ The Titan » Blog Archive » ‘Bike Hero’ viral video not a dud, but not a hero either thanks to ad agency Droga5 Says:
November 21st, 2008 at 8:13 am
[...] but not a hero either thanks to ad agency Droga5 on behalf of Activision. A coworker pointed me to an article on Game Cyte giving some background on the video below. Good job on the video, but who the hell names their [...]
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November 21st, 2008 at 10:04 am
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November 22nd, 2008 at 2:53 am
[...] 這支影片短短五天內在Youtube上已經吸引超過112萬人次觀賞，隨即被踢爆，這根本是遊戲的病毒式行銷：由一家名為Droga5的廣告公司和Smuggler製作公司所作。其實之前你推我報曾提過Samsung Omnia的開箱文，也是近期著名病毒式行銷案例(其實還有Wii Fit Girl好像也是，但沒有人出來承認)。 [...]
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December 6th, 2008 at 1:47 am
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FireBlogz Gaming News » Blog Archive » The Best Thing You’ll See Today: Bike Hero Says:
December 11th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
[...] is it really made by some kid and his friends with wayyyy too much spare time and not a well-funded ad agency? Well, no. But let’s all just pretend so we can keep enjoying ourselves. Agreed? [...]
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December 12th, 2008 at 10:25 am
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