That Ridiculous East Hills Mall Ad Now Has Over 2 Million Views

The Dubai Mall claims to hold the title of the world’s most visited shopping mall, having attracted more than 75 million visitors in 2013. But what about the world’s most viewed shopping mall ad? While we can’t locate hard data on that metric, we can say that East Hills Mall video that went viral last week just might capture the record.

The ad, for East Hills Mall in St. Joseph, Missouri, has amassed over 2 million views since launch last week. But it’s bad — really, really bad — which only goes to prove, once again, that there’s really no way to predict whether or not your marketing will go viral.

The ad was created by local area producer Chris Fleck who told AdWeek, “The whole time we pitched this idea, we said, ‘Maybe it would go viral.’ Boy, it did.” And of his approach to advertising, he added, “If you can entertain, and then slide the message in, you’ve accomplished your goal. I just love that it’s getting this much response. That’s what commercials do, you get response.”

While we’re not so sure Fleck’s ad truly is entertaining, we will give him props for his no-shame approach to getting the job done. Whatever the case may be, the ad is fueling a lot of chat with thousands of comments on YouTube and thousands more over at Reddit.

And in the ultimate stamp of approval, the ad’s already been spoofed. There’s a version of the ad with Houston Astros pitchers Dallas Keuchel and Collin McHugh lampooning the spot to hype their own team’s branded wares.

Who says millions of dollars and hundreds of man hours have to be spent on your marketing when cheesy will do just fine?