When Viral Strikes! (Too Soon) Scott Caldwell, November 24, 2009June 6, 2010 A while back, I wrote about how the start of a film, meant the end of a perfectly good viral. One can look at it as a tough day. It’s like making a good friend, and then that friend just up and leaves you. Never to be heard from again. But what happens when you meet someone new, and they are so great, but then……… poof! It’s like they impressed you at the start just to become friends. And then what……Nothing. This is the case with some virals that we have discussed in the past. There are a couple of ways that we’ve seen a viral try to “be our friend” in the sense that they seem to either have potential, or just wow the hell out of you at the start. These cool kids of the viral world seem to go nowhere though. Almost like the cool kids of high school. Let’s go back to Surrogates. It’s a science fiction movie. How hard can the viral be. (Bruce Willis says “It’s not tough. I am”) At first, we had chooseyoursurrogate.com. This site had a ton of potential being that it was the premise of the film. You can have a robotic you? And you can have your face planted on a sky diver and send the video to your friends? And to top it all off, I can win the big game? What’s not to like! Sign me up!!!Then, VSI Labs created a Twitter account, that was either found too early, or, set up wrong to begin with. All it did was tweet about stuff I just read five minutes before it on Google news. Yes, Honda makes robots. We know. And I want one. And to make it worse, it’s as if they gave up, they combined all sites into one plain movie site. Three cheers for giving it all you got!Editors Note: Please check out Iain’s “What If” (here and here) for an awesome revamp of said viral. So that’s an example of a friend who seems like they know what they are doing at first, but come to find out, they don’t even go to your school. Now, let’s take a look at the “New Guy”. This person enters, and all eyes gaze upon them. Could it be? Someone so perfect standing before me? This is where Tron Legacy comes in. As reported by both Slashfilm and Firstshowing, this viral started off huge. Most things at Comic-Con involve a banner, or a makeshift protest on the streets of San Diego. Not this one. First, they have the mailers. Tokens and flash drives, and bears. Oh my. Well, no bears, but to start off a viral campaign that strong, was too good to be true. How are you going to top that!Oh, what’s that, a real scavenger hunt in San Diego? Seriously? And then you are going to follow it up with a replica of Flynn’s Arcade? Come on. That’s far enough. What do you mean you’re going even further? Ok, a real light cycle? Damn you and your cool hair and letter jacket. What’s next, you’re going to move in on my girl?This just in: Tron Legacy’s viral just took my girl to the movies. So how in the hell can you top what you did in the matter of weeks. The movie isn’t even set for release until the end of 2010. One can look at it as they have all the time in the world to wow us even more, or, the cynical viral follower can easily forget about the movie until a new trailer is released in god only knows how far from now. And, for those of you keeping score, yes, these cool kids are both the children of the Disney family down the street. Look at ’em. They got it all. Viral Flop Side Notes:Iron Man 2 – Anyone hear back about an interview with Stark Industries? Not even in the mail room?The Crazies – The Friendliest Place on the Earth. And the slowest to update. So how do you feel about the spark of energy and the sudden lack of fuel. Let us know here, or sign up at the forum. Viral Marketing Comic-ConIron Man 2SurrogatesThe CraziesTron Legacy
And the Oscar Goes To … Jersey Shore March 1, 2010The Academy Awards are just one week away, and George Lopex is already on board. All this week on Lopez Tonight, the cast of Jersey Shore will be reenacting scenes from the 10 Best Picture nominees at this year’s Academy Awards. Check out the promo for the stunt after the… Read More
Play “Looper” Mission 2 and More Games September 2, 2012Looper is a sci-fi action film written and directed by Rian Johnson. In 2077, murder is too difficult to get away with, so the mob sends back targets to 2047 to be wacked by hitmen called “Loopers”. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Joseph Simmons, a top Looper who ends up being… Read More
Rumor: What Does “Batman Vs. Superman” Delay Mean For Its Viral Marketing Campaign? January 20, 2014January 21, 2014Following last week’s announcement that the Man of Steel sequel will be delayed until May 6, 2016, a myriad of rumors have emerged explaining why the film was pushed back. Thinking beyond how injured Ben Affleck may be, or the true state of the film’s script, a new report has… Read More
I hate when virals go super well, then die The Cloverfield Viral was what got me into them in the first place. Yes, it would be a few months between updates. But they were always hard to find. who knows how long they were there!? But since clovey, I haven;t gotten into any others… I donlt know, Cloverfield just started out with that trailer!(O.K. I lied. I played D9 but that one also fizzled out fast. Especially with the george.christopher debacle)