Slashdot Mirror
Firefly Movie Using Viral Marketing?
CABridges writes "According to the official movie site, some interesting "security excerpts" have begun popping up online, first at iFilm. The videos (two, so far) appear to depict River Tam during various stages of her incarceration and mental capacity.
More to come?" Also, in vaguely related and somewhat humorous news XJHardware writes "For those of you who really need an obsessive/compulsive hobby here's a good example. Seems this fellow Chris Doyle built a model of Serenity from the upcoming movie and too-quickly canceled series Firefly."
They are exploiting sites (such as Slashdot) to raise awareness of the film, through word of mouth and such like. We are the ones doing the "viral marketing", simply by having this discussion...
Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. - Voltaire
Fox was going for a different target market than what the show was bringing in. Cosidering it did get decent viewership in spite of the fact they aired the series completely out of order should a one indicator of the suckiness. Another is the fat that it is still one of the top box sets at Amazon two years on with very little marketing.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
Nonetheless, I have to say that despite the tendancy for geeks to latch on to a crappy cancelled show, Firefly was a great series. Rent/Buy/Steal the DVD and check it out for yourself.
You know, I watched some episodes on the air when it first came out, and really didn't enjoy it much. Space western? I was expecting something more along the lines of Cowboy Bebop, and that it wasn't. So I didn't mourn its passing.
But recently, on a whim, I decided to nab the DVD set. It's interesting because now after watching all the episodes out, in the proper order they were meant to be, I actually really enjoy the show immensely. The characters are all well done, the acting's great, the writing is subtle and excellent, it's just generally a very well thought out series on the same level as shows like Battlestar Galactica.
So for those who might be wondering what all the hype's about, go check out the DVD set. It's not that expensive, but might be a bit tricky to find. You won't be disappointed, and it will get you set for Serenity, which looks amazing.
"I'm a leaf on the wind. Watch how I soar."
-Hoban Washburn
So the "word of mouth" when people say, "what the hell is this?" and the mystery/obscurity of the information drives the spread, not the virtues of the product. Viral marketing works on something like reverse psychology. The point is, whatever they're selling is so cool and underground, you shouldn't really know about it, so everyone wants to know about it.
If there's a truer thing said on Slashdot, it would not be so important as this though it has been said before in different ways.
If Linus wanted to sell paper cups with the Linux name on them, there'd be a stampede to get the news posted. If a new geek cult game releases, there's a post. Slashdot readers submit posts knowing the editors cannot resist publishing them because everyone knows the other readers will comment on them by the hundreds. Much of the news is stuff that DOESN'T matter. WE ARE the viral marketing and we do it DESPITE our own cynicsm. Oy.
Maybe we should get it over with and charge people to talk about their product and get it exposed to the tech brigades instead of giving them free advertising here. I won't even say the name of this movie franchise I'm so sick of hearing about it never mind sick of the incessant ways it gets squirreled into being mentioned.
Next big Slashdot running gag: inserting catch words and product names that are already known to be over-hyped.
If my grammar and spelling are off, I am [distracted/tired/careless] (take your pick)