[update: July 2/08. Gatorade says they don't know how The Ball Girl Great Catch video got out. They didn't intend for it to be distributed. But they still are mighty pleased about all the views it is getting. “This has all been a pleasant surprise, so why not let it happen?” spokeswoman Jill Kinney said. Hmmmm...should be believe them?]

The recent videos showing an incredible ball girl catch during a Fresno Grizzlies vs Tacoma Rainiers baseball game are not real but part of a viral video marketing campaign. The video showing a ballgirl jump 6 feet to catch a ball is actually part of a series for Gatorade. The viral video campaign is titled “Ball Girl” and was created by Chicago’s Element 79 Partners ad agency and directed by Baker Smith of harvest, Santa Monica. A lot of advertising agencies are trying to capture the elusive viral video marketing hit. But unfortunately most just look like regular ads slapped onto Youtube. “Ball Girl” looks real - and so has become widely emailed and distributed on the Internet. This makes it a successful viral video marketing campaign. There is even a bit of product placement in the video, if you look close you will see there is a bottle of Gatorade on the ground next to the ball girl’s chair. At this time the creative team from Element 79 responsible for creating the “Ball Girl,” ad and concept was not givent he green light to talk about the project. The “Ball Girl” video was shot on location during and after an actual game between the Fresno Grizzlies and Tacoma Rainiers. The footage was shot on HD and later edited to look like a Grizzlies batter had hit the ball a out past the left field foul line. The shot and catch was completely choreographed with the ball girl played by stuntwoman Phoenix Brown having marks to hit, and the ball being added later in post. The ball girl was attached to wires was pulled up the wall by 2 stuntmen off to the side.
“It was so low-tech,” Smith said of the stunt. “We had her run, and she would jump, and they just gave her a little extra oomph. It was really very, very simple.”
The low tech non-CG effects helped to keep it real looking, and that’s what helped the viral video sell. Other things that help make it look real are the sudden abrupt endings, with the creative team noting that viral videos don’t have the special effects necessary, and the amateurishness is what gves it that pulled-from-TV quality of the video.
The ball girl comes from a real ball girl 20-year old Lindsey Ferris, who in 1996, made not one, but two spectacular catches during a Seattle Mariners - New York Yankees game.
Element 79 Handled the viral video marketing.

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