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
“We Are What We Are” Interactive Gif Introduces You To The Parker Sisters September 30, 2013September 30, 2013If you haven’t heard of Jim Mickle‘s We Are What We Are, which debuted earlier this year at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival and was in the Directors’ Fortnight section at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, don’t worry not too many people have. The film is actually remake of the… Read More
SNL Takes On Dolphins, Seinfeld, and The Kardashians November 6, 2011Last night on NBC’s Saturday Night Live, actor Charlie Day hosted with Maroon 5 as the musical guest. There were three movie/TV-related skits, including Day making a dolphin movie, Day as a cop who doesn’t watch television, and of course a Kim Kardashian divorce special. Watch all the videos after… Read More
DC Comics Uses Match.com to Promote Superman-Wonder Woman Pairing August 28, 2012The comic book world was shaken briefly last week when Entertainment Weekly’s Shelf Life blog revealed DC Comics’ cover to Justice League #12, which featured Superman and Wonder Woman locking lips in a heroically intimate embrace. Comic fans have speculated the extent of their relationship, which is expected to be… Read More