Men in Black III: Bugeyes in Weekly World News, Plus Arianna Huffington is an Alien Dan Koelsch, May 13, 2012May 13, 2012 When we last gave an update on the Men in Black III viral campaign, our friend Bugeyes had learned of a tattoo parlor that was giving away a mysterious cake. Since then, the conspiracy theorist has been pretty busy. Get the details after the break. Bugeyes is the name of the kid who runs TheMeninBlackSuitsAreReal.com, and looks for both proof of aliens on earth and the MIB themselves. After discovering Clive’s Tattoo Parlor, he went through their dumpster, as you can see in the video below.After finding a copy of the Weekly World News in the dumpster, Bugeyes called them up and ended up writing an article for them, which is featured on their cover. The tabloid then did an article that featured Wu’s Chinese Restaurant. Bugeyes also claims Arianna Huffington is an alien on her own news website, to which Ms. Huffington replied via video. While cross promotion in web campaigns is not unusual, Sony takes it to another level with Men in Black III. While others, like Marvel, have done this lately, it is usually very contained and never tries to pass itself off as a viral campaign or ARG. However, the brand integration in “The Men in Black Suits Are Real Experience” is so blatant that it’s hard to want to follow along. Baskin Robbins plays a key part of this “pink cake” storyline, and the Huffington Post even has sponsored posts that aren’t directly related to the campaign (though Bugeyes makes sure to link to them). Don’t even get me started on that Sony VAIO sitting on the desk in the video above. At least the Weekly World News has a history with the franchise, as K (Tommy Lee Jones) claims in the first film that the MIB use the tabloid for leads.What do you guys think? Are you following the campaign at all? If so, does the cross promotion bother you? Let us know in the comments below. Follow the campaign on our Men in Black III Viral Hub, and catch the film when it opens in 3D on May 25th. ARGs & Campaigns Viral Marketing Viral Videos Men in Black 3
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I don’t really mind the cross promotion too much. Yeah it’s a bit annoying and blatent but it gives it a sense of realism, as if it’s actually taking place in the real world. Plus the Weekly World News one was just awesome.
I don’t mind the cross promotion either, with the exception of the whole “pink cake” thing. A lot of people went out of their way to find these because they thought there was something special about them, and so far nothing at all.