Whether by design or because it is who you are, creating positive viral content can be exciting. But does it create long-term impact?
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The Zombie Debt Story
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” is a weekly show hosted by John Oliver on HBO. The show brilliantly blends comedy with a style of investigative reporting that seems to dig deeper into relevant topics than most mainstream news agencies.
In his most recent segment (embedded below) the show looks at the shady side of the debt selling and collection industry in the US. The big name lending institutions write off bad debts on a regular basis. When they do this, they get to write off the losses against profits. Because the way the rules are set up, they also get to increase their profits a bit by selling off the debt to other companies.
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But here is the real tragedy and joke. That debt should not have worth anything at all.
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Just like the Lannisters in Game of Thrones, I am a big believer in paying your debts or not borrowing the money in the first place. But sometimes people can’t because it gets too far out of hand or taking on the debt is a life and death choice; as in the case of medical debt.
In many states, the rules on setting up a business focused on buying and collecting on debt are very lax. So the show set up Central Asset Recovery Professionals (or CARP—as in the bottom feeding fish) out of Mississippi.
Soon after, they were offered a database of nearly 9000 people with almost $15 million in unpaid, out-of-statute, medical debt for slightly less than $60,000. This debt is also known as zombie debt because it is supposed to be dead debt. But, just like zombies, it can come back out of the grave and haunt people. If the debt collector takes you to court and you don’t understand your rights, or you fail to show up for court, the court can award the collecting company a settlement, essentially bringing your debt to life.
So the show bought the debt and then forgave all $15 million of it in a big fanfare ending. This beat out Oprah’s eight million dollar car giveaway and John crowned himself the new Queen of daytime talk.
It was the right thing to do.
But here is the real tragedy and joke—that debt should not have worth anything at all. It had all passed the statute of limitations and should have been uncollectible.
Going Viral
The show is popular. Their Facebook page itself has over 1.98 million likes. Their YouTube channel has nearly 3.5 million subscribers.
I think we genuinely crave some good news to balance out the other horrors. So when there is a particularly touching or worthwhile show it is not hard to understand that they have the initial reach to help propel a particular story to viral status. In fact, this episode garnered 3.9 million views on YouTube and another 2.7 million views on Facebook resulting in over 57,000 likes and over 40,000 shares from that page alone. That doesn’t include those who watch it on HBO or via other channels.
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… I think there is something comforting about the fact that stories like this and the one about the giddy Chewbacca mask mom can go viral.
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Honestly, it is great to see content go viral for positive reasons.
You may not have the reach of the media giants, but I think there is something comforting about the fact that stories like this and the one about the giddy Chewbacca mask mom can go viral.
I am tired of hearing marketers and politicians saying there is no such thing as bad publicity, just free publicity. Those living that motto are even worse.
So create great content and tell your story about the good you are doing. It may not go always go viral, but it might generate impact where it matters most.
The Big Problem With Viral
John Oliver and his team research, and then brilliantly cover, worthy topics. They get a solid set of fans coming back for more plus the occasional viral show.
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We become aware of more problems than we can individually fix in a lifetime. So most people will forget about it in a few weeks.
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The problem is that once a week we learn about a new issue, laugh while getting outraged, then wait until next week for the next show rather than fixing anything. We become aware of more problems than we can individually fix in a lifetime. So most people will forget about it in a few weeks.
Is it really making a difference? (Please do a segment on that John!)
And that is what you need to ask when seeking to go viral with your business video or post. How does viral make the lasting impact you want?
Viral is often fleeting. There are plenty of one hit wonders.
Consistent, repeatable results last.
Image Credits: Screen grabs from YouTube