WATCH: Rebecca Black & M&M's

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Social media's sharing element is what catapulted Rebecca Black's Friday to become 2011's most popular (or "spreadable" might be a better word) internet meme.

Josi recently shared Vitamin Water's viral meme video. Artists, geneticists & die-hard meme aficionados question  blending "viral" and "meme" into one,  however.

Why? Because there's a difference between memes and viral content:

• A meme is a piece of content or an idea that's passed from person to person, changing and evolving along the way. 
• Viral content is something that's passed from person to person but doesn't evolve or change during the transmission process.

So, a meme must always be viral, but viral content doesn't  have to be a meme. In other words, brands can/should create entertaining content, but they should be cautious if their core objective is to create a viral video meme that will spread.

Like the passing of a gene, memes are unpredictable, and the greater culture adopts memes for completely random reasons.  In fact, the term -- meme -- derives from the  link to genetics & genes, first introduced by Richard Dawkins in his 1976 book, The Selfish Gene. (If you're interested in the art/science of memes, Know Your Meme is a good resource.)  

We covered marketing & memes in Using PR as a Marketing Tool. As part of understanding the connection between brands, memes and viral videos, each person created an original Rebecca Black-inspired project.   

WATCH: Rebecca Black's Friday takes on a whole new life here. Let the video run so that the brand integration happens naturally.

Coupled with the M&M's cast of characters, Friday moves from annoying into the almost-likable/charming category.  Thanks to M&M's, this version of Friday makes me smile vs. cringe. 

How would corporate parent Mars respond? That's a completely different story.