Well-known viral video personalities such as Barats & Bereta, Ricky "Lazy Dork" Stern, Gary "Numa Numa" Brolsma, Ben "Obama Girl" Relles, Chad Vader's Matt Sloan & Aaron Yonda and Glenn "lonelygirl15/OpAphid" Rubenstein were brought together and split into two teams to compete in a viral video showdown. Their mission was to create a never before seen viral video that answered Canon's challenge "if the internet were to shutdown next week, what would your last video be?" Viewers can vote for their favorite videos at the following Web site: www.usa.canon.com/videobattle.

Using Canon's HG10 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive camcorder, each team had only three days to shoot and edit their video. The teams, named Team Wolf and Amazing Falcons, took two different approaches to accomplish their tasks; shooting in different locations in and around New York City.

"Web videos are the core element of a new renaissance of self expression," said Yuichi Ishizuka, senior vice president and general manager, Consumer Imaging Group, Canon U.S.A. "So many videos online are shot in a lower resolution, Canon is excited to help capture new and interesting video with high-definition technology and support creative expression that today's Web users demand."

Saving time and resources, Canon's HG10 AVCHD Hard Disk Drive camcorder records footage directly onto a 40 GB internal hard disk drive, which allows users to capture up to 15 hours of video without having to use a mini-DV tape or DVD. Additionally, the HG10 AVCHD HDD camcorders high-definition recording capabilities introduced an unusually sharp look to the web videos.

"Looking at the quality of the video we shot, it's hard to believe that it was straight off the camcorder. Usually I have to use expensive video effects to achieve a similar look and feel," stated Glenn Rubenstein.

Also created was a "making of" video, shot by the Canon XH A1 HD camcorder, which documents the creative process and development of the videos; two "team" videos, which highlight the creative product of the all-star teams; and the contest "trailer" video, which was featured as today's YouTube.com video of the day.

Canon has also launched an aggressive banner advertising campaign and grass roots marketing effort to drive traffic to it's microsite, www.usa.canon.com/videobattle.

Viewers are encouraged to vote for their favorite superstar-team video through November 15, 2007 at the microsite. Winners will be announced on November 16, 2007.

The Battle concept and campaign was developed and produced by Canon's advertising agency, Dentsu America. The agency tapped into the web video community and recruited some of the most viewed online creators to participate. As online videos are the most progressive use of the video medium today, the agency realized that the connection between Canon and the web video community was a natural one.-Canon USA