Cracked’s List Shows How A Viral Can Backfire Kris, June 18, 2010 When it comes to alternate reality games, the more believable and interactive, the better. It’s wonderful experience we love, except for when it backfires.I’m not talking about when its structured sloppy, I mean when it is far too real for its own good. Cracked made a list that covers such a topic. The article, “The 6 Most Insanely Misguided Attempts at Viral Marketing“, includes the Splinter Cell bar scene. To sum it up, what was supposed to be a played out as a bar room hold up and rescue got only half way through the 1st act because it was disastrously to convincing. Cops came in, took down the fake criminal, with a fake gun, in a fake hold up. The guy must have been a great actor. Movies have fallen victim to the same problem. Cracked’s list includes the Boston Bomb Scare from the cheap Aqua Teen Hunger Force campaign. Going back to our roots though, The Blair Witch Project viral, the father of all movie ARG advertising campaigns, did pretty gutsy moves. All it took was a website to make the movie convincing enough to be considered as an actual documentary. As a more recent example, Sony Pictures’ 2012 had a very wide and complex campaign. From the Jackson Curtis Facebook Page to Soren Ulfert’s blog and complex messages, it was hard for newcomers to tell if it was true or not. In fact, the marketing company had to explicitly brand their campaign to keep people from thinking the 2012 doomsday myth had been proven real (which some still did). It all comes down to planning, but sometimes even that’s not enough. But keep in mind: do you really want an obvious ARG? Is it better to confirm an ARG? Of course not, it dulls the experience, as we mentioned last year. For all intensive purposes, I say keep it realistic as possible. Not only is it more fun, but you gotta be brave enough to do it. Viral Marketing Viral News 2012Aqua Teen Hunger ForceCartoon NetworkSplinter CellThe Blair Witch Project
Even More LOST LOL Captions February 11, 2010Our partners over at Fused Film have yet again found a hilarious batch of LOST captions, most stemming from the end of last season and this season’s premiere. Check out my favorites after the jump. Read More
District 9: Interview Round-Up August 12, 2009August 12, 2009District 9 opens in just two days, and there is a lot of press to show for it. The past few days have had numerous interviews from the director, Neill Blomkamp, all the way to the composer, Clinton Shorter. Here is a brief rundown of the interviews we’ve caught wind… Read More
2012: New Frost Video, and Remember Those Phones From The Drop Locations? November 10, 2009November 11, 2009Charlie Frost is back with a new video in his latest blog. With the movie coming out in just three days and Frost’s videos coming few and far between, it begs the question: Is this Charlie Frost’s last video? This one is pretty funny, so check it out. In other… Read More