Most of us by now have seen the brilliant rendition of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by the Muppets on YouTube which now has over 12 million views.

What most of us didn't know is that the video is part of a social marketing strategy by Disney to revive the Muppets brand, which has been in steady decline since the death of creator Jim Henson.

I recently read this article which explains that the Muppets rights were sold in 2000 to the German company EM.TV & Merchandising AG. It was a waste because the company went into financial decline and ended up selling the rights back to the Hensons three years later.

That's when Disney stepped in and bought the rights from the Hensons a few years later. They produced a few TV specials (Muppets's Wizard of OZ and an Xmas special Letters to Santa).

Late last year, in conjunction with YouTube flipping the switch on full 1080p HD video streaming, the Rhapsody video became an amazing success, and was followed up with a Ringing of the Bells video (Disney also owns the rights to the Queen song).

Personally, I'm glad they are pumping out great content online. Until that video, all I had to watch with the kids were some old, crappy quality videos of the Swedish Chef shooting muffins in the air. It helps revive the brand too, and gives me something to watch with the kids OTHER than Dora (who personally drives me crazy).

Hmmm, maybe this whole social media thing is more than a fad?