Poukker rips off Twitter but has a far better promo video

There's been a lot of chatter this week about the importance (or unimportance) of PR in Web 2.0. My take on it is that unsolicited pitches can be just as fun as things I discover on my own, including this Spanish start-up called Poukker, which e-mailed to let us know about its launch.

It's a sister service to poker site Pacopoker.com, and is an unadulterated copy of Twitter. It uses fish instead of birds as a mascot and, according to the loose documentation, it was meant to be a place where poker players could announce their victories--or what they're eating for breakfast.

The service itself is actually top-notch. It's simple to navigate, easy to make and follow friends, and writing updates limited to the usual 140 characters is as straightforward as can be. It also has an API and supports two-way IM integration with MSN and Google Talk, so you can write and receive messages without having to fire up your browser. What makes it a standout, however, is this promotional video, which like the film Easy Rider starts out one way and finishes quite another:

If that wasn't clear enough, there's an FAQ on this page. For all I know, it could absolutely blow up in the Catalan market. In the meantime, I think it will be best known for the video which, weirdness aside, actually makes me want to check out the product.