Disney Makes Theater Stop Unofficial Viral Marketing For Tron Legacy Dan Koelsch, August 30, 2010 Well, you have to give them credit for trying. Yesterday we reported that a movie theater in Ohio (and possibly others) seemed to be part of Disney’s viral marketing campaign for Tron Legacy. However, it turns out that Marcus Crosswoods Cinema had taken it upon themselves to set up their Encom-branded website and the QR Code display that lead people to it. Since it is unofficial, Disney has asked them to take it down. Read the statement on the now defunct site after the break. At the request of Disney, we have had to halt our online marketing for the Tron Legacy motion picture. We will continue to promote the feature in-house in exciting and unique ways. For more information about the Marcus Crosswoods Cinema, please visit www.marcustheatres.com. Although misguided and not even accurate to the ARG, I’m impressed that the theater did this themselves. Management is obviously excited about the film and looking for new ways to draw customers. At a time in which ticket prices are sky high and theaters are getting hit hard by the recovering economy, these drastic measures are almost necessary. What do you think? Thanks to CalebH2010 at Unfiction for the heads up. Viral Marketing DisneyTheaterTron Legacy
Super 8 Viral: Countdown, D. Morris, and Hidden Images in Bootleg Trailer May 9, 2010June 12, 2010On Friday we told you about the viral site called Scariest Thing I Ever Saw for J.J. Abrams’ new mysterious film Super 8. Thanks to some analysis from Unfiction and Super 8 News, we are able to put a few pieces of the puzzle together, at least to lead us… Read More
Become A “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle” By TMNT Yourself July 21, 2014July 21, 2014The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailers stresses that New York City needs heroes. The obvious rise in criminal activity carried out by The Foot Clan is a clear indication of that. So, now is your chance to prove just how heroic you are, by showing your turtle power to the… Read More
25 Historic Moments Changed By Mutants From “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” April 11, 2014It’s still too early to tell if X-Men: Days Of Future Past going to actually be good, but the marketing for this movie is starting to really heat up. We’ve seen some interesting ads with Quicksilver and Mystique, but no real viral activity until now. Playing off the X-Men: First… Read More
kudos to the theater for being that excited by the movie to start their own mini ARG. I thought/wished it was the start of the next phase of the ARG that would lead to sneak previews around the country.
I agree, they deserve a little credit for being innovative. It’s too bad it is not part of the ARG to be honest.
They should have, however, realized that they were using someone else’s property… did they they’d completely get away with that? … *shrug*
They just didn’t think it through. I don’t think they realized it’d hit the web and people like us would pick up on it.
They were excited to market something with the trendy idea of a transmedia/viral/ARG type promotion. Too excited, and thus made some huge mistakes – used someone else’s IP, failed to understand and follow the canon of a franchise, and stepped all over another promotion’s territory.
Couldn’t Disney have been a little forward-thinking & maybe picked up the promo & run with it? Stupid Big Media, always afraid to jump onto something new until it’s too late.