The post above this one (^), sort of inspired this one.
I love what they've done with Last Exorcism, and would not be surprised if that's Eli Roths influence.
So it got me thinking, what viral campaigns have worked... and which ones haven't?
The Good:
God bless Blair Witch. It was one of the first ever Region One DVDs I bought. BEFORE IT CAME OUT IN THE CINEMA! God, I was so excited. That week, I literally had people round for film shows each night. Momentum was building over here, in the UK, but film fans... they already got what this film was about. To this day, genius, genius marketing.
Now, Horror films have done the whole, "this really happened", before - but here, they added the documentary element, and "lost footage". Missing posters, that sort of thing.
Check out The Last Broadcast if you get a chance. Same idea - and they claim they got there first....
A cliche, sure. But would Dark Knight top a Billion bucks with out it? I'm not so sure.
What it did was create buzz way, way ahead of the curve. Sure, there was a built in audience already for this one, and District 9 needed to do it to create buzz full stop - but some of it was genius.
My favourite? People getting a cake sent. With a mobile phone in it. The phone having a number linking to a code they had found on the net. Ring the number, get your tickets for the premiere. Boom.
And so posters, trailers, magazine reviews all pale in comparison to the impact the Internet has had on these campaigns...
The Bad:
This may go down as the only time I ever (EVER), put Fight Club in a "bad box". But the truth is, no one really saw these. A bit like the film, really. But those that did, loved them dearly. It was a finger up too, with it's sarcasm. Nice end tip, too.
It doesn't really deserve to be in the bad column, but these things need to be seen. I've just been on Empires site (better than I remember), and it's reminded me that this was pre YouTube. I don't even remember the world pre YouTube! Pretty good excuse for not seeing it, then...
The Ugly:
Haha. Hit this link NOW for some non movie related viral campaigns. Terrible ones. Including trying to sell things based on threats of murder. Brilliant.
In terms of movie ones?
I guess 2012 needs to take the credit for this. Creating a fake website, here, that suggests the end of the world. The world being filled with morons, of course being their downfall. People believed it.
"I think people are really, really worried about the world coming to an end," said David Morrison of Nasa. "Kids are contemplating suicide. Adults tell me they can't sleep and can't stop crying."
Oh come on. The film wasn't that bad.
For more, hit that Empire link up top. You know. The one you ignored earlier...
1 comment:
I'm aware that post suggests there is a post "above" it.
I tried to edit it, and it's being weird.
After the t'other day, I'm not messing.
So above means below, yes?
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