Chris Marrs Piliero www.marrsentertainment.com

This is fking brilliant! how did this escape the radar? it's a better selling job than that fking M.I.A video.

@ 2:00 - hilarious!

Black Keys: 85,000 views on youtube

MIA: 1.9M views on vimeo, banned on youtube, broadsheet coverage in the UK and US, internet indie geek talking point for week.

I think you mean you like this video more, in terms of press and selling the artist, the gavras/MIA vid is far more successful as a promotional video than this.*

I did see this last week, it's ok, kind of one note and the text just seems to serve to distract you from the average idea.

*but then i don't really think it's fair to really compare the two videos.

Here's the catch there's two types of videos, those that actually interpret the song (and the director's vision) and those that actually sell the song, both two different things. It is RARE when it does work.

M.I.A's got an exploding guy, naked fat people, and persecution of redheads. It's getting attention for Romain more than M.I.A me thinks, because it overshadows the song. And I believe he is super savvy and knows these things will get attention. I'm a purist in saying that a song comes first, because it's the first thing people should respond to. I saw M.I.A's twice and was like, ok enough.

This video does a better job selling the song, band, that the M.I.A did not because it's fun (it is), but because it's gag integrates the marketing into the piece. Hits don't count as much as how successful you promote the bottom line: the song.

They are both diametrically opposed, as one is political this is kitch, but both share the same dilemma: does it actually sell you the song?

With that said, just an opinion, I think Romain Gavras is what I see on M.I.A and his filmmaking instead of an actual music video, which the song serves as a score to the piece more than anything else. Does it make it more less successful? because it's got 1.3 million hits? do you remember the song? at all? I sure do not.

That's the criteria by which I judge a good video. It's a marketing tool as much as art. I really loved this video from a marketing point of view, M.I.A's is clearly a filmmaking point of view.

And a running topic on my posts is how well you sell the thing, rather than your own filmmaking impulses. Which to me is not a good salesman. In other words, build TO the song rather than have it in the background. The song comes first. Throw Gavras a key to make a feature, already. Love it, but don't watch it again.