Pantomime animals simulating sex acts encourage viewers to take the train to reduce climate change

A video of pantomime animals simulating vigorous and varied sex acts is being circulated on the internet in an attempt to boost environmental business for Richard Branson's Virgin Trains.

As part of a new "viral marketing" campaign, bloggers are being offered money to post the unbranded video on their blogs. Called "Sex Party", it features actors dressed up as wildlife complaining that global warming has made species copulate earlier and more often.

The video ends by suggesting that one way to help stop this excess mating is to cut pollution by travelling by train instead of car or plane. But the message could be counterproductive, with one media expert describing it as as "tasteless" and "offensive".

In the 90-second video, an owl, complaining that everyone is "at it", is interrupted by two white birds loudly having sex against a tree. A wildlife inspector talks about "inappropriate pollination" while three sheep and a bumblebee have group sex behind him.

A robin redbreast with an English accent complains about "tourists" flying in and "nicking all our birds". A multicoloured bird with a Scandinavian accent says how wonderful it is.

"I can't get enough of the English tits, they're so randy," he says. Then the action gets even ruder.

According to the company that is marketing the video, Unruly Media, its sponsor is "supposed to be a secret". But the Sunday Herald has established that it is part of the "go greener" advertising campaign launched by Virgin Trains.

Unruly Media is offering environmental bloggers £10 if they "embed" the video on their blogs, plus £25 for every 1000 hits the video gets. The aim is to get it posted on as many as 100 blogs.

Viral marketing is a new and indirect way of promoting commercial products via the internet. The hope is that the video clips will catch on, and news of their existence will be spread via online social networking sites and email, thereby boosting brand awareness.

But Virgin's foray into the viral underworld has prompted very mixed reactions. "This is primarily a tasteless and not very funny advert," said Sonia Livingstone, a professor of social psychology at the London School of Economics and Political Science.

"I don't think it has the wit or quality to become a successful fad circulated widely, and so would be inclined to disregard it as of minor interest."

Colin Howden, from the sustainable transport campaign TRANSform Scotland, was less negative. "Some people might think this comes close to the bounds of taste," he said, "but if it gets Daily Sport readers interested in climate change then that's OK with me."

The video was defended by Virgin Trains, however, as a "humorous campaign with a serious message".

"This is a new style of campaign using the internet to target the computer-literate generation," a spokesman said. "It is aimed at getting the message across to young adults who may not otherwise see it." The spokesman suggested that the antics shouldn't be taken too seriously. "We haven't had any complaints about it so far," he said.

A series of other online videos featuring the same collection of pantomime animals are available on Virgin Trains' website. But none of them is nearly as explicit as the unbranded video.