Viral Watch: Team Conan or Team Leno? Either Way, NBC is Dying Nick Butler, January 12, 2010 NBC has tried to embrace viral marketing by launching multiple campaigns for shows like The Office, Community, and even Late Night, but it seems that NBC is now shooting themselves in the foot. I’ll admit their not “launching” a campaign this time, but their recent handling of the Jay Leno-Conan O’Brien problem has caused quite the stir on social networks, like Twitter, creating a negative campaign against the already dying NBC.Tens-of-thousands of people are tweeting “Team Conan” in support of the late night comedian who recently announced he’d leave NBC if “The Tonight Show” is pushed to a 12:05 time slot, allowing “The Jay Leno Show” a half-hour time slot starting at 11:35. “I sincerely believe that delaying the “Tonight Show” into the next day to accommodate another comedy program will seriously damage what I consider to be the greatest franchise in the history of broadcasting,” said O’Brien. “The “Tonight Show” at 12:05 simply isn’t the “Tonight Show.”While the internet-savvy “youth” may support Conan, Leno is the safe choice for NBC. Jay Leno has already proven himself in the 11:35 slot, something Conan never had the time to do. FOX has shown interest in late night comedy shows, but has yet to go after Conan – at least officially. NBC has yet to respond to Conan’s statement, so it will be interesting to see how they deal with all of this late night chaos.This debacle has shown the negative impact of ‘viral consumers,’ who also outed Sacha Baron Cohen docu-comedy – Bruno. Social networks are a very powerful thing, and are not yet completely understood by companies – like NBC. In any case, NBC is trying to deal with this in the most formidable fashion possible, but recent history has shown that social media can be a deal breaker or a life saver (sometimes, literally). I wish NBC luck, because I have no idea how they’re going to get out of this one.What do you think – Should NBC take Leno over Conan . . . or Conan over Leno? How do you see social media impacting the future of “private business?” Leave a comment below. Viral Marketing Late NightNBCViral Watch
Mouth-Taped-Shut.com Reveals New Photos and Artwork for “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo” September 21, 2011September 21, 2011If you love ambiguous and perplexing marketing, then you must be following mouth-taped-shut.com, the viral site for David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. So far we’ve seen odd photos and some links to interviews. But in some recent updates, we have seen a brand new poster for the… Read More
Help The Nazis Return to Earth in “Iron Sky” Sequel May 16, 2013I did Nazi that coming! Bad puns aside, this news is a bit surprising. The Finnish indie sci-fi comedy Iron Sky is gearing up for a sequel called Iron Sky The Coming Race, and they are utilizing the same crowdsourcing technique that helped them fund the original film about Nazis… Read More
What If: The Men In Black Viral January 24, 2010January 24, 2010Who ya gonna call? Ghostbusters, of course, but what if your problem isn’t so much paranormal as extra-terrestrial? In that case, it’s time for the mysterious Men in Black to appear. In their smart black suits and shades, agents J and K arrived on our screens to clear up the… Read More
This is all secretly a plot to get FOX’s ratings to go down. I’m guessing they aren’t exactly going to go running to Conan.
As much as I dislike Conan, I dislike Leno more. He has no class. I hope this whole thing backfires in his face and Conan walks out victorious.