Why did this mini-video fail to go viral?

Question

Why did this mini-video fail to go viral?
I created this short motion graphics project in AE and PR Pro for my hearing protection client in Switzerland for their "Sleep Plugs" product. She asked for a European look and feel, where tasteful nudity is common in advertising. Our target demographic is males, aged 18-35. The client posted it at her Zurich-based company’s website and hoped it would spread virally. We believed there was actually a good chance of that happening since we have three main elements of a viral video: sexiness, surprise, and humor. However, the number of views was much lower than we had hoped.
Please watch the video (it's just 30 seconds) before reading my comments and questions below so that I don't influence your first impression. 
https://vimeo.com/63794871
Password: GUNN
Please give me your thoughts on these questions: 
1. It was my intention to set the viewer up to expect that the couple was going to have sex, then to provide some unexpected humor when she goes to sleep and snores instead. Did you think that was funny?
2. In an ideal world, this would have been live video, but, for budget constraints, and since there would've been very little movement in a video anyway, we went for a graphic approach, basically a pan across a wide, horizontal photo, with music bed and voiceovers, and logo/tagline at the end. Do you think this was an acceptable compromise?
3. With the outtake-style photos at the end, It was my intention to add a touch of silliness and show that we are not taking ourselves too seriously. Do you think that worked?
4. What do you think of the voiceovers?
5. What do you think of the choice of music? (I wish we could have had Marvin Gaye's "Let's Get It On"! altho, not sure how big that is with 18-35 year old males in Switzerland.)
6. These next two may be the most important questions: the context the video was presented in. My intention was to have the viewer sucked in by the sexy partial image and want to know more, thinking "What is this? . . . a  joke? . . . porn?!?" (remember, they are 18-35 yr old males!) and watch it long enough to get to the joke and the appearance of the product. (I know I have watched several videos that turned out to be ads, but they were so entertaining and well done, I did not mind. In fact, I admired how they sucked me in!)
My client posted the link to the video on her company Facebook page, with the comment "Check out our new video." The link led to her company's official website and the video appeared on a page surrounded by other text, photos, and the company's name. It is my opinion that this took away some of the incentive to watch the video, since now the viewer already knows it is going to be an advertisement. Would you agree?
7. I feel the video should've been presented "in a vacuum", so the viewer would have no fore-knowledge of what it was or why their buddy forwarded it to them. I think links to most viral videos lead to YouTube or Vimeo (not to a company website.)  What do you think would be the best method of distribution for this little video?
And, if you have any other thoughts, please let me know.
Thank you for your time and consideration,
--Carol Carol Gunn
Gunn Graphics
Austin, TX
www.gunngraphics.biz
www.linkedin.com/in/carolgunn 

Answer 1

Hi Carol,
I have to agree with Jim.  A still image screams 'cheap'.  If I didn't watch the video with the intention of providing feedback, I would have tuned out after about 5 seconds, before even getting to the 'punch line'.  With so many bad videos on YouTube, people's attention span have been reduced to mere seconds.  If we don't like what we see in the first few seconds, we tune out and click on another link.  I imagine many people who watch this video never get to the end since the moment they see it's a still image that probably won't change to live action, they think 'cheap' and tune out.
For a video to go viral, people have to want to pass it on to all of their contacts.  For this to happen, they have to imagine that others will thank them for sharing the video, not roll their eyes and ask 'Why are you wasting my time with this?'  "sexiness, surprise, and humor" are not enough for a video to go viral.  You also need great execution.
3. Didn't work for me.  It makes it look like the commercial and product are a joke, especially hearing the guy's laughter in the background.  First the commercial would have to sell us on why the product is worthwhile/needed, which is doesn't.
4. The girl's voice is sexy, but it does not match the visuals, thus it ends up sounding fake and unnatural.
The guy's tatoo is a huge distraction.  Is it a human heart?  Why is it there?
Low budget doesn't have to mean a cheap look.  Unfortunately the titles and the transitions (push, ripple dissolve) at the end also scream cheap.  Nobody uses these kinds of effects on TV, so it's best to leave these for home videos and out of any professional work.  Push transitions can work, but usually only if it's a quick transition, around 3-8 frames long.  Slow push transitions scream 'Power Point', which in turn screams 'cheap'.
Hope this helps!
Cheers