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
Piranha 3D Sequel To Let Fans Choose a Celebrity To Get Eaten September 3, 2010Let’s get your first question out of the way. Yes, there will be a Piranha 3D sequel (Piranha 3D2?). Sure, the horror comedy has only made $20 million going into its third weekend in theaters, but that’s almost the film’s production cost, so the Weinstein Company must see potential for… Read More
“Parks and Recreation” Wants You to Vote Yes For Knope February 19, 2012With Community off the air and The Office laboring to expel any remaining humor it has left, Parks and Recreation has become the unquestioned top comedy at NBC. With the network’s history of offering great viral websites in conjunction with their comedies’ storylines, it is no surprise Parks and Recreation… Read More
Help Fund “Showrunners”, A Documentary Featuring Joss Whedon, Damon Lindelof, and More December 6, 2012Des Doyle has worked in the Irish film industry for over 15 years, and he is a big fan of television. His interest in the Showrunner position has lead him to make a documentary that has been two years in the making. See the trailer for Showrunners: A Documentary Film… Read More