Universal Pictures has decided to take movie marketing in a new director for its latest horror film "Untraceable." In the movie, a serial killer has a website that cannot be traced by law enforcement officials. On the website, the killer performs violent and graphic murders live, for the entire internet to view. In an interesting new approach to marketing, Universal Pictures teamed up with Facebook to create a "Kill With Me" page where the number of fans that visit the page determines how much of the graphic footage from the film will be shown. According to an article posted on UTalkMarketing.com, "[this tactic] was accompanied by a Facebook-only banner campaign, warning visitors not to visit the page in question ."
"Facebook has since removed the page explaining in a statement to Universal that it contravened their policy not to allow pages that are 'hateful, threatening, or obscene.'” Also, the banners have been altered so that when clicked, they redirect the viewer to a different website with the torture scenes available for viewing."If the site receives over 10,000 visits before ‘Untraceable’s UK release on Friday, February 29 it will be updated to show the entire first 10 minutes of the film."
Movie marketing has changed incredibly over the last few years, aiming to become more tech-savvy and more easily accessible to movie lovers. Sometimes, as is the case with "Untraceable", the studios take the marketing a step too far. Although it was a great marketing idea to create an interactive website that relates directly to the film, many people, including the regulators of Facebook, found it offensive and inappropriate.
1 comment:
2 interesting posts - do an update on the untraceable - did they get enough hits to show the first 10 minutes?
10 points
Post a Comment