(If you haven't seen it, the BMW ad is on YouTube, of course). The Wall Street Journal reports today of the growing web phenomenon – a combination of the utterly banal and the crassly commercial – of videos that show people opening up various boxes with goodies inside. With little irony, the Journal notes that a video of a man unboxing his coveted PlayStation 3 videogame console has been seen more than 71,000 times. (It's now already up to 72,308.)

Watching the unveiling of the latest high-tech gadgets -- from camcorders, monitors and cellphones to need-to-have items, such as the Microsoft Zune and Nintendo Wii game player -- is not surprisingly the hottest trend among the Internet faithful. Box-opening video blogs also have popped up, including unbox.it and unboxing.com, which promises "vicarious thrills from opening new gear."

Called "geek porn," the videos are popular, say some observers, because they offer viewers a glimpse of what they often can't have, a stripping of outer layers to reveal the precious object of desire inside the wrapping.

Detroit high-school senior Nick Bailey clicked on several unboxing videos when he was looking to find a store that had the Wii in stock, reports the Journal. "They just get you excited, thinking 'Oh, this is going to happen to me,' " he said. After waiting nine hours at a Toys 'R Us store, the 17-year-old took his Wii home, then made his own unboxing video, and posted it on video. Porn or exhibitionism? You decide.