ADGULLY EXCLUSIVE| media2win's latest viral: After sex comes the abuse; and people want more!

Before you get to relish the dénouement of media2win's latest viral, which commends Tata Indicom for being India's least congested network, you will be ridiculed as "boring" and will even be asked to "get lost". It is this brave impudence of www.pagelostintransit.com that seduces the curious to commit to an uncertain journey from the first page, on which a dialogue box blithely announces that the site cannot be displayed. Along the way, people will be called lazy and be dared to show their temper. And later, even as the dialogue box (still set on the background of an "unloaded" page) continues to jeer, it will issue the first hint of the reason for its taunts. "See what congested networks do to you!"

At that stage, the plot is poised to leap towards an appeasing resolution. The climax is a page featuring the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India's endorsement of Tata Indicom as a network that suffers the least from the chaos of congestion. The message is suddenly not only conciliatory but also ingratiating: "We wish you a lifetime of trouble-free conversations!"

The text suggests that the exasperation brought on by an obstinately unresponsive page is nothing compared to the anxiety, frustration, and rage that a congested network can trigger in users. It is a message you will take seriously, even as you laugh aloud.

media2win last twisted a tale with daring flourish in its viral for Tata Sky Active Darshan. Alarmed excitement, curiosity, and an agreeable sheepishness were the sentiments that provoked people to click on www.adultdost.com. But instead of finding a partner willing to enjoy sex stripped of all complications, the eager clickers were cornered by an exaggeratedly coy young man proclaiming the familiar message: "Dude, yeh paap hai!"

The adultdost won media2win the Abby Gold at Goafest 2009, and the page attracted legions of admirers. As for pagelostintransit.com, Krishna Kumar, the founder and CEO of the company, expects internet users who encounter the page to enjoy its intrigue as well as its wit.

Speaking exclusively to Adgully, Krishna Kumar said, "A viral acquires "legs' after those who are initially exposed to the work recommend it to their colleagues or friends." He said that since virals, more often than not, functioned as announcements it was important that the message was terse as well as engaging. "Once people like it, they work as marketers for the announcement and enthusiastically pass it on. In fact, after we run a viral, we do not have to do much," he said. "Adultdost is a case in point. People found it funny, but when they shared it with others, they had to say, "come on, try it'. So they actually worked to spread the message further."

Krishna Kumar said that though the internet was a niche constituency, its population was uniquely equipped to appreciate the nuanced creativity of a viral. "Because the audience is sophisticated, it is able to enjoy irony and plot twists," Krishna Kumar told Adgully. "That is why virals work even though the conventional media's reach is much more extensive than that of the digital space."