I wanted to avoid writing the obligatory Top 5 ___ of 2013 blog post, but I just couldn’t help myself. As the year draws to a close, I thought I would take a few moments to acknowledge some of this year’s viral marketing campaigns that thoroughly impressed me.

#3 Ship My Pants – Kmart

Apparently, Kmart is still in business. Seriously, am I the only one that didn’t know this? While on the surface the ad may feel like a bad Adam Sandler movie, it actually proves how powerful a clever play on words can be.

#2 Real Beauty Sketches – Dove

Dove’s #WeAreBeautiful campaign might be the most important campaign of the year. If you aren’t familiar with the video, let me break it down…

Dove hired an FBI-trained sketch artist to draw women based on both their own self-perception and on that of a stranger. The stranger’s descriptions were not only much more attractive, but they better fit the true appearance of the subject. Dove wanted to prove that many women are often too critical of their own appearances and fail to see their true beauty.

#1 Epic Splits – Volvo Trucks

There are only four things I truly love in life: red Starbursts, Meg Ryan (circa 1989), Breaking Bad & Jean-Claude Van Damme movies. So, what I selected as my favorite viral video of 2013 should come as no surprise: Epic Spits!

Volvo was looking to create a video that demonstrated the precision and stability of its dynamic steering system. The result: the Muscles from Brussels performing his famous splits between two moving Volvo trucks.

All three videos are creative and well executed, but that is not what makes them viral. No, what makes them viral is their ability to connect with us on a personal level, emoting something bigger than a brand.