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
Train Railings Turn To Lightsabers in Japan September 26, 2011To promote the September 16th Blu-ray release of Star Wars: The Complete Saga in Japan, 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment Japan turned handrails of trains in Tokyo into lightsabers. According to Japan Trends, this is the first time the handrails have ever been used for advertising. See another photo after… Read More
District 9: New clips and early reviews August 11, 2009August 12, 2009There’s only one word to describe the excitement that District 9 has created over the last week: amazing. This movie has gone from nothing to one of the most anticipated movies of the summer. But now for the news. RottenTomatoes.com “T-Meter,” which takes into account all the positive and negative… Read More
ARGs & Campaigns Sons of Anarchy Celebrates Season 6 With Jax Daniels Whiskey November 6, 2014November 8, 2014That’s right, there are limited bottles of Sons of Anarchy JAX Daniel’s Editions of Gentleman Jack Tennessee Whiskey floating around for a campaign celebrating Season 6 out now DVD and Blu-Ray. These detailed beauties have etched on them some pretty snazzy homages the show and came encased in a SOA coffin. Take a… Read More