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Such as the apocalypse. That’s right… brands want to destroy the world-at least if they can get some good PR out of it.

Mutltiple brands and video creators have found ways to take something as potentially-frightening as the end of the world, and use it to drive awareness in their brand. For instance, Epipheo found viral success and social buzz with their video last week entitled How To Survive A Robot Uprising. It’s tongue-in-cheek, and mostly for fun, but has some legitimate logic behind its reasoning.

Just last month, filmmaker Vedran Marjanovic Wekster tapped into the same audience with a humorous instructional video on surviving the zombie apocalypse:

CGP Grey has built their online video legacy with graphics-based explanation videos, and one of their most-watched videos ever is about… you guessed it… the apocalypse–specifically, the Mayan/2012 apocalypse:

That same channel also scored 150,000 views with a humorous shortened version of their thoughts on the Mayan apocalypse:

This trend toward apocalyptic videos isn’t anything new–it’s just something new for brands. As much as five years ago, the online video world flocked in droves to a simple CGI rendering of an Earth-destroying meteor set to the music of Pink Floyd:

Like Skateboarding. A number of branded videos have recently leveraged the high public interest in the sport to help grow their online presence. Like the Guinness World Records organization, who chose to feature the youngest X Games gold medal winner, Tom Schaar, who recently set a record by landing the world’s first 1080 degree spin:

The skate park featured in the video–The Skate Lab–is probably not too upset about the free publicity from this video either.

Oh, and that 1080 jump Schaar completed two months ago, which they reference in the Guinness video above? That jump was filmed by Red Bull, for their own online video efforts:

You might expect that online video marketing leader, Go Pro, has tapped into this growing demand for cool skateboarding videos, and you’d be absolutely right. Once again, they provide that unique viewpoint that only their camera can provide:

Branded video trends tend to run parallel to those in popular non-branded videos as well, and there’s plenty of evidence that skateboarding appeals to video viewers regardless of who the creator is. Videographer Russell Houghten put up this great high-definition skateboarding video this week, and saw the Vimeo version surge to over 160,000 views:

But all this time, all they really had to do to succeed with online video was to create a Rube Goldberg machine.

Just a few days ago, design studio Hey Hey Hey became just the latest brand to find viral success with a Rube Goldberg machine. It’s called Mini Melvin, and it fits inside a couple of suitcases and travels the globe:

Just last month, Purdue University (and the World Records Academy) gained attention with their videotaped attempt at setting a new world recored for the largest Rube Goldberg machine:

Let’s be clear here… this isn’t a new phenomenon. Rube Goldberg videos, from brands and amateurs, have been delighting audiences for years. Perhaps the most famous (and most-viewed) is the one from viral kings, OK Go:

It’s easy to see the potential of the Rube Goldberg machine to wow, entertain, and inspire–everyone loves them… even future wives:

One of my favorite branded uses of Goldberg silliness came from Honda, maybe even a little ahead of its time. It’s certainly the most gorgeous video of a Rube Goldberg machine ever shot:

I could go on….

Most recently, we have Nerdist, which offers a take on what happens when Chewbacca hires a sexy grooming service–hint: girl fight with lightsabers:

You might say the lightsaber is a natural marketing reference for a laser company to make, specially when the company’s new product is the LaserSaber–an add-on “blade” that turns Wicked Laser products into virual lightsabers:

YouTubers know the power of Star Wars even better than the brands do, and some have used the sci-fi classic to catapult themselves from nobodies to bona fide YouTube stars:

ESPN has a long history of pretty funny workplace-related ads full of cameos, but none of us could have predicted the celebrity combination of Darth Vader and Lennox Lewis:

And lastly, although it’s not branded, this edited version of the “Man vs. Canada Goose” is hilarious….

Dan effectively argues that what is happening in digital advertising today is nothing short of revolutionary.  The new titans of the ad industry – Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, etc, – are determined to create brand experiences with which viewers will choose to engage, going so far as to refuse to accept the heretofore standard banner.  These major players are leveraging their huge audiences to dictate terms which enhance the overall viewer experience.  Advertisers will have no choice but to adapt.  In return advertisers will reach an audience more interested in a brand’s message, breeding a much stronger relationship between brand and consumer.

It’s a win-win-win for brand, publisher and audience alike, and it’s poised to redefine the way advertising is done online.

Since digital advertising began we’ve seen a disconnect between publisher business and revenue models, which has only been exacerbated over time as ads became more interruptive and disconnected from publisher content experiences. A publisher’s business model is to create content that will build loyal, engaged audience, but their revenue model (if they monetize through advertising) has typically been to slap display ads or interruptive pre-roll video on their sites – these two practices are not aligned. This disconnect has kept publishers searching for a better alternative for driving revenue and advertisers hungry for a more engaging to way to connect with consumers.

Native advertising marks one of the first time publishers, technology companies and brands have aligned around a vision of how digital advertising can evolve in a way that benefits all parties. PaidContent’s interview with Buzzfeed’s Jonah Peretti, entitled “Display Dollars Aren’t Coming Back,”  discusses the rise of native advertising and compares online advertising to the paradigm shifts Thomas Kuhn described in his seminal book, “The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.” The article notes, “Everyone works under the same (often wrong) assumption for a long time until a new and better idea emerges; when a tipping point finally arrives, everyone eventually gathers around a new plateau of knowledge.”

Is native advertising completely new? Not exactly. The attributes of native advertising — fluid visual integration, non-interruptive mediums, and content-based experiences — have been employed for decades in different forms of advertising. As StumbleUpon’s Jack Krawczyk notes in his in-depth article on the history of native advertising, native ads have evolved from Jell-O cookbooks to Proctor & Gamble Soap Operas to today’s dominant social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter and StumbleUpon.

Ok, so native advertising formats have been evolving for a while and the big social media platforms are all doubling down on native ads for their monetization strategies. So what next? Well, the big time social media platforms have been the quickest to develop native ad products because they have significant developer resources to build unique ad products that fit well within their  individual site experiences. But it will not end with the heavyweights, social content publishers like The Awl, Gawker and the Cheezburger Network have already rolled out new ad formats that natively integrate brand content into their sites. Content publishers at large will be exploring new native formats as advertisers increase their budgets and interest in native ads and companies like Sharethrough bring the technical resources to create and manage new nativ inventory.

So get ready, the future is looking native. Better set up a new Google Alert.

Red Bull’s latest social video hit is Free Riding In Rio. The Vidigal neighborhood of Rio is known for gorgeous scenic views, but Red Bull wanted to give them amazing views of a different kind:

Nike takes the worlds of soccer and tennis, and smashes them together to create something altogether new:

Remember DCMF Canada’s “Dear 16-year-old Me” ad from last year? Well, the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance takes that concept, and twists the perspective to generate some video buzz with “Dear 40-year-old Me”, a video featuring teenagers offering advice to their older selves:

Every four years, the major presidential candidates in the U.S. election attempt to give you a new perspective on who they are by going on the evening talk shows. Some try to sound smart, while others go for self-effacing humor. But sitting President Barack Obama flips the script by giving you the slow-jam news:

Motor Trend got historical by talking about some classic rocket cars and the ages-old tradition of jet-powered racing in the Bonneville Salt Flats of Utah:

Motel 6 appreciates their roots as well, celebrating 50 years of leaving the light on for us:

An aviation school did what was only natural by giving us an animated history of aviation:

1188 Films in Toronto employed motion graphics and a charming personality in their celebration of Canadian Club Whisky, “A Proud History Of Canadian Whisky”:

This past week, Apple & AT&T unveiled a new campaign aimed at promoting the usefulness of Siri. How useful is the iPhone personal assistant? So useful that even Samuel L. Jackson uses it:

So does Zooey Deschanel:

These are huge stars, for sure, but no one scored a casting coup like Paul McCartney, who landed both Natalie Portman and Johnny Depp to star in his new music video:

Some celebrity pitchmen get to do things they might never have had a chance to do before online video came along. Like survivalist and TV host, Bear Grylls, who got to throw out the first pitch at a baseball game. And because he lit the ball on fire before he pitched it, his brand, as well as Major League Baseball, gained tons of positive buzz as the video went viral:

Some celebrities, however, are finding they’re not even needed anymore, like Michael Jordan, who is probably wondering where his check is for the latest ESPN ad: