How To Ruin A Viral (Part 2): Mess Up Dan Koelsch, June 3, 2009July 18, 2010 District 9 has a very versatile viral campaign encompassing two opposing forces, four websites, and the social networking world. Despite all this, many have complained about the viral not living up to its potential. Sure, all the pieces are in place, but Sony isn’t playing the game correctly. For instance, they went over 6 months without updating ANY of their viral sites. They set up this vast viral world and then abandon it for half a year. Maybe it was the economy, maybe they thought they started too soon, who knows. What matters is, people weren’t happy. Even when they start their viral campaign back up, Sony can’t win. Sony created a Twitter account on May 11th for the site mnuspreadslies.com. Seems reasonable enough, except that the name for the account holder was ‘Christopher’. The main alien behind the site was named George, so at first I, like many, though Christopher was another staff member (aka an alien) for the site. But as the weeks followed and Christopher tweeted more, it became clear that he was claiming to write blog posts on the site that had George as the author. Then Sony suddenly changed the author on all the posts to Christopher, likely as a way to cover their tracks, but they forgot something…to change the actual posts. Within many of the posts, the author would sign off as George, and that name is still there. The obvious explanation is that Sony has just f*cked up and is poor at covering their tracks. However, there are still questions. Why did Sony change the name? Are they really that careless? One, albeit far-off, explanation is that this is actually part of the viral. Somehow, Multi-National United has planted this “Christopher” to replace George, as a spy or something. It could even be a Marcus Wright (Terminator Salvation) scenario. This seems highly unlikely, as there hasn’t even been a whiff of a hint that this is the case. Just seems like reaching to stay oblivious to the obvious truth: Sony messed up. District 9 releases August 14th. See our District 9 page for more details. Editorials Features Viral Marketing District 9MNU Spreads Lies
Social Media Accounts for March 2012 Films February 29, 2012May 4, 2012Welcome to a (relatively) new monthly feature here on MovieViral. A day or two ahead of time, we’ll list the various social media accounts (specifically Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube for now) for all the major theatrical releases each month. We hope that this allows you to follow your favorite films… Read More
Watson Reviews Violin Online On Behalf of “Sherlock” March 20, 2013The BBC’s Sherlock has had a strong viral presence since debuting in 2010, as we’ve talked about before. The modern day retelling of Sherlock Holmes has a huge fanbase, including on Reddit, where someone recently found a review on the Cardiff Violin website done by John Watson on behave of… Read More
Nickelodeon’s “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” Viral Campaign Asks You To Choose Your Side July 12, 2012With the September 29th premiere of the CG-animated series “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” fast approaching, Nickelodeon has decided that this week’s Comic Con be the best place and time to launch their new viral campaign. For details on the interactive game that puts you fighting with or against the turtles,… Read More