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
The Office Fanisode Contest In Second Round, Check Out Some of the Submissions June 29, 2010Earlier this month, we told you about NBC’s contest where you can submit your own version of segments from The Office episode “Murder”. The second round has started, so there already some submissions available to view. Check out a few of them below and how they compare to the originals. Read More
Fringe’s “A Demon’s Twist Rusts”: An Anagram, A Countdown and Sam Weiss April 10, 2011Since we last reported on the Fringe 6:02 AM countdown, there have been some developments. Two more videos have appeared online and another is a mysterious anagram. What is the solution to the anagram? What is revealed in the new videos? What is going to happen at 6:02 AM? Hit… Read More
Birdemic: Worst Film Ever? April 15, 2010April 14, 2010One of the things that made last year’s Paranormal Activity a success was viral at it most fundamental: Word of mouth. It is the best form of advertising that a film could wish for. Word of Mouth has been responsible for the success of sleeping blockbusters such as The Blair… 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.