Man vs. Food Uses Facebook Ads, Video & Poll to Kick Off New Season

Last week, I wrote about Starbuck's using Facebook Polls and Facebook's Top Pages (both all-time and daily growth). Here is another example of a rich, interactive campaign through Facebook: Travel Channel's Man vs. Food. The new Man vs. Food season begins tonight - and in preparation, the Travel Channel is running a major campaign through Facebook that includes:

- Sponsored ads - RSVPs and calendaring for the season premier - Interactive polls related to the food challenge - High-quality video trailers with in-video ability to "like" I am really impressed by the video quality - which is outstanding and runs smoothly and without any interruption. It is also the first time that I have noticed an ability to "like" from within the video.

Has it worked? The Man vs. Food fan page now has ~60,000 fans and tonight's RSVP has had another ~60,000 responses.

man-vs-food-rsvp

The inclusion of friends' names who also have RSVP'd gives the advertisement a more personal, communal feel.

man-vs-food-poll

Not exactly an impactful, insightful poll (or set of data) - but it is engaging, grabs the eye and led me to play the video.

man-vs-food-video

The video quality is fantastic.

man-vs-food-like-video

And the ability to "like" the video while watching it makes it viral by appears within my news feed.