How “The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty’ Viral Campaign Got Turned Upside Down (But All For A Good Cause)

We’ve recently seen how Paramount Pictures has basically changed the way we view viral marketing campaigns when they put Anchorman 2: The Legend Continue‘s headlining character, Ron Burgundy, as the face of Dodge ads, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, museum exhibits, and news broadcasts ranging from local to nationwide. That’s quite a budget to work with to make all of that happen. But it can also backfire considering we may be exposed to too much Ron Burgundy.

But what if viral marketers did something else with that budget. Instead of putting it to good use like Paramount did, what if an entire marketing budget was given to charity? That’s what happened with 20th Century Fox for their upcoming release of The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty. Hit the jump to see what the marketing team did, and how they helped a starving nation.

As reported in AdWeek, 20th Century Fox contacted Casey Neistat to ask him to make a video promoting The Secret Life of Walter Mitty. The studio gave the marketing team $25,000 to work with. But instead of giving audience a creative viral video like they did for Nike Fuel, or a video protesting the obstacles blocking New York City’s bike lanes, Neistat used that money to feed recent victims of the typhoon in the Philippines.

And guess what. Fox had no problem with this.

Neistat posted a video of what inspired him to donate his entire marketing budget to charity. In it, he reads an e-mail from the studio that said that they wanted to run a viral marketing campaign for The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty using the “live your dreams” concept. The purpose of this campaign would be to “motivate, inspire, and give people a catlyist to do something they have never done.” So Neistat did as Fox requested.

Neistat’s grand gesture was every bit what Fox wanted. It proves that a lot of god can happen when you follow your dreams.

Right after Fox agreed to this, Neistat flew to the Philippines, and used Twitter to ask any to help him find how he can get “shit done.” From there he bought two buses full of supplies, and handed out more than 10,000 meals, a bunch of tools and some medicine to 35 villages.

The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty opens in theaters on Christmas Day, December 25.