Strange Video From Neill Blomkamp Appears on iPads Dan Koelsch, November 23, 2010August 6, 2012 It’s a pretty common occurance to see video ads display before opening up an app or watching video on the Apple iPad. However, in the latest iPad version of Wired Magazine (issue 18.12), a mysterious and unexplained video appears instead, and it’s credited by District 9 director Neil Blomkamp. What could this be? As you can see above, the found footage-style video shows two kids who drive out to the side of a road and find a nasty-looking dead pig-like creature with a big stamp on it. The stamp says “18.12 AGM Heartland Pat Pend USA” and “US Inspected And Approved”. This looks to be located outside some kind of factory, and the camera points in that direction to make sure we notice it. So, what is this all for? /Film did some research that makes it look like the beginning of an ARG, which isn’t surprising given the marketing campaign for District 9.Here is what I’ve discovered. 18.12 is the number of the issue of WiReD that this video appears in. I did some searching and found out that a Beverly Hills-based company named Sable Productions Ltd. filed for the trademark “AGM Heartland” on October 18th 2010. The trademark use is labeled as:Entertainment services by way of an online website with video, audio and textual content and images featuring characters and storylines about a fictional genetic engineering company that produces genetically engineered and altered organisms Could this be for Blomkamp’s next film, Elysium? /Film also has some quotes from Blomkamp about the film that seem to both contradict and fit perfectly with the tone, style, and content of this viral video. What do you think the video is teasing? It looks to obviously pertain to genetic experimenting (which is apparently government-approved). We’ll stay on top of this and update you if and when we get any new information. Viral Marketing Viral Videos agm heartlandDistrict 9ElysiumNeill BlomKampViral videowired
Marketing For Disney’s “Tangled” Picks Up With Double Rainbow Parody September 8, 2010If Disney’s Tangled, an animated alternative tale of Rapunzel, has proved anything, it’s that Disney has a unique marketing department. So far it’s been all concept art and no new trailers (with actual scenes from the movie) or even tidbits of its musical numbers. Now, seemingly out of nowhere, they… Read More
Catch Up on “H+” With New and Annotated Episodes September 3, 2012September 3, 2012If you’ve been watching Bryan Singer’s web series H+, you might be a little confused by its non-linear structure. Fortunately, the makers behind the series are aware of this dilemma, so they have started re-uploading episodes with annotations to help you piece the story together. The episodes are not embeddable… Read More
9: New Clip and Fan Videos September 4, 2009September 4, 2009There is a new video clip from Elijah Wood and Timur Bekmambetov for their upcoming film ‘9’. Watch it here: Video Game – E3 2009 – Attack of the Show Fans have also been making their own videos and posting them on YouTube. Some of them are pretty clever, take… Read More