from PhilTube.com
The YouTube meta has gone up a notch with PhilTube, a YouTube spoof featuring video clips (shot in the documentary style of The Office) of a guy called Phil taking on subjects like blogging ("I'm blogging right now...hold all my calls") and — meta alert! — online videography. While they're at it, PhilTube also makes fun of internet phenomena such as the Star Wars Kid and LonelyGirl15 (to the tune of several videos on both counts, actually). There's also Phil-as-internet-Steve-Carrell ordering his employees to videotape random objects to upload to PhilTube, followed up with the actual videos of those actual objects (see "Sharpie"). Once again, meta.
Other than "office" and "YouTube spoof" PhilTube has no real coherent theme, nor does it introduce any sort of plot or message (says one commenter: "I cannot find his purpose of this site"). So, what, exactly, is PhilTube? Well, a little digging reveals that it was created by Hart+Larsson, a New York-based advertising agency which includes, among its other random achievements, some of the most expensive shirts in New York City. If you go to their website, you are informed that they are represented by PGM Artists, that represents production companies to agencies and media companies. The CEO of PGM Artists? One Philip G. McIntyre. Any relation to the Phil of PhilTube? Oh, yes.
Phil is not an aspiring actor looking for his big break, nor is he hoping to fill the void left by Office Pirates. So, wait, what was the point of PhilTube then? Just to use the Internet for its most pure purpose: Advertising and promotion. Phil wanted to put together a bang-up presentation for Boards 
Summit 2006, giant commercial production conference and mecca of the international advertising community, held last Tuesday in New York at the Marriott Marquis. So, pulling something of a Victor Kiam, he hired his own client, Hart + Larsen, to come up with the goods. (I know, when does this stop getting meta?) "They put this thing together in like three weeks," said Phil, with the idea that the project would be "a calling card for us both" (Phil says that they hatched the idea before the Google-YouTube deal was announced.) The site debuted last Tuesday at the conference and online; just over a week later, PhilTube has already gotten rave reviews from GapingVoid, sparked online sleuthery, and gone from a mere 150 Google hits last Thursday to around 33,000 this morning, and counting. Though discussion in America appears to be limited to techfreaks and adgeeks for now, Phil assures ETP that blogs in Germany and Italy had dubbed him "the next David Hasselhoff" (aim high, Phil!).
With a developing viral online presence comes the rumors, specifically that PhilTV may be in the offing. Phil is coy, mostly: "There are several media companies that have approached us that are in discussion of the content of the site," he says, preferring not to go into details other than that he's got "agents and people" at William Morris and Endeavor interested in the PhilTube phenomenon (or, to coin a phrase and take credit for it just in case this thing really takes off, Phil-nomenon). What Phil can tell me is that there was never any plan to keep on adding content, and that this wasn't supposed to be about going viral other than to show that they could. "The whole mission and principle was to highlight the creative thinking and execution of PGM artists and Hart + Larsen," he says (Phil is prone to adspeak; the phrase "vertical integration" was uttered). "But there are subsequent satellites that have been launched that are seeding other developments."
This speaks more to the execution of PhilTube than its content, necessarily: While certainly funny in spots, the notion of, say, the Star Wars 
or LonelyGirl spoof is far from unique, and the "office" motif has, well, been done (twice, actually, but who's counting). Yet this site, which has not yet "broken" in the mainstream press (cue NYT in about two weeks), has already reportedly been fielding offers to drum up content for the brave new world of online TV. So, whether or not you think its funny (and NB, there was lively debate about same between the authors of this piece), the point is that it is notable as a phenomenon and a trend. Phil would be the first to agree: "This thing is taking on such a life of its own - I can't even purport to understand how to manage this."
One thing's for sure, it's certainly timely. Stay tuned to find out whether PhilTube hits the bigtime...or whether it finds itself on the receiving end of a cease-and-desist letter from Google. At this juncture, frankly, both seem likely.
— by Sven Hodges, Rachel Sklar, and Patrick Waldo
