Brand success PSY-style? Cut and paste

It’s only been 36 hours since PSY’s latest video, "Gentlemen", and the anticipated follow up has already received 4.4 million views and is nudging the top of the iTunes charts.Taking his goofy antics from the elevator crotch-dance to butt scratching, wiping his hand across a girl’s nose and undoing a sunbathing girl’s bikini strap, the music video, of course, sports PSY’s comical dance moves that got the likes of artist Ai Wei Wei and Madonna going ga-ga.But it’s all something Brent Horner, creative director for Grey Group Hong Kong, calls “a safe move”.“It’s definitely as crazy as the first one; it’s pretty funny but it’s clear that he has copied the same formula again. He sports similar antics, the beat is more or less the same, he’s frolicking around the city,” he said.“There’s a slight twist on the dance moves, but it’s still very much the same. It’s not better than the first one, but it’s still benefitting from the echo that Gangnam Style made.”For Francis Lam, creative director of JWT Hong Kong, the viral factor will continue, just at a smaller capacity than the initial video.“The surprise is gone. You can say it’s a lazier way to go because the similarities are obviously riding on Gangnam Style,” he said, adding that the initial music video only climbed to the top because it was something completely new.“Gangnam Style was catchy; it was ridiculous and it resonated with what young people want nowadays. But with Gentleman, those have been kicked down a few notches.”