Comedian uses 'guerrilla marketing' to promote Lending Club video

It's no surprise to learn that Sean Orndorff is a comedian. His 14 second video uses humor to convey a short but powerful message. As we watch a man wreck himself at the bottom of some steps after losing control of his skateboard, subtitles scroll...

"You can't erase the past. But with Lending Club, you can refinance old debt.

To buy a new stakeboard...or pay off medical bills."

Sean has opened up a narrow lead in the Lending Club video contest which ends Friday. The winner, as measured by the video with the most views on YouTube, will receive $5,000. Right now Sean has 13,475 views while movie director Chris Barrett has 13,327 views and Steve Dinelli, who we featured yesterday, has 12,649 views. Thousands of viewers have found Sean's video embedded on MySpace and social broadcasting site NowLive.

Although his video has been widely popular, it has also drawn some criticism. An anonymous reader left a comment on this post accused Sean of copyright violations, "[The video] uses copyrighted music from Pink Floyd, and someone else's video, i've seen it on online before many times." Sean responds, "people have to understand that viral videos and guerrilla marketing is the present. Remixing old and new themes is what keeps things fresh." Sean shared those thoughts and others as he told us about his video.

How did you hear about the Lending Club video contest?

I heard about the Lending Club contest because I participated in another contest to get the most people to join a Facebook group (I placed 7th).

Where did you get the idea to create this video?

I wanted to create a truly viral video. One that people would want to send each other because of its content. I have ADD at times, so it's nice to be able to create a video which is short, to the point, and entertaining.

Tell us about how you made the video.

I made the video using Adobe Premiere, taking the intro from Pink Floyd's "Money" and a skateboard crash.

Have you used Lending Club or heard about it before this contest?

I have not used Lending Club, but I plan to when I have enough disposable income to invest.

What do you plan to do with the $5,000 if you win?

I plan to use the money to put a down payment on my first car. I've been working all summer, so it would be nice to have some income to supplement.

Tell us about yourself (work/school).

I'm a third year at USC entering my first semester of film school. I also do stand-up comedy part-time and am looking to make a career out of it.

Anything else you would like to add?

I know there has been some concern about copyright issues as well as marketing tactics, but people have to understand that viral videos and guerrilla marketing is the present. Remixing old and new themes is what keeps things fresh.

About the video on Myspace: Often times we watch sporting events, television, movies, etc. and view ads, either through product placement or sponsorship (i.e. Nascar). Myspace and Facebook embed ads for viewers to see. The next logical step is for the users themselves to place ads on their own pages to generate revenue.



Good luck Sean and thanks for sharing your video with us!

Be sure to come back as we feature one of the top Lending Club videos each day this week. Vote for your favorite video here.