I'm sure most have us have dabbled in some harmless Chatroulette fun...and that 'fun' has often turned into A LOT OF PENIS IN YOUR FACE! This is happening far too often - according to a study mentioned on Wikipedia, approximately 1 in 10 feeds from Chatroulette were either users exhibiting themselves in the nude or masturbating . This has caused some to question whether Chatroulette will soon be consigned to history because of their inability to control this controversial content.
However, recently Chatroulette has demonstrated some value in the world of advertising. Chatroulette has been used to promote Lionsgate's latest horror movie The Last Exorcism. Some unsuspecting horny teenagers have been the 'victims' of this campaign. They have set up their cameras, ready to be linked up to a random person, and to their delight, they have been linked up with a complete babe! She starts undoing her top and chuckles flirtaciously - and you can practically see the drool forming in the boys' mouths on the other end. Then, all of a sudden, her eyes roll back into her head, her face turns white, and she screams/roars at the camera! Pretty freaky shit for these poor boys who thought they were about to get lucky! After that, 'THELASTEXORCISM.COM' flashes across the camera. You can see a series of the best reactions below:
It appears that Lionsgate has targeted the right audience - 15-19 year old teenage boys represent the demographic most likely to want to see a horror flick. Therefore, Chatroulette, with its abundance of teenage boys wanking off, was a great choice of ad placement. However, obviously each time the ad was screened it was only reaching a very small audience. It would need to have reached thousands of unsuspecting Chatroulette-ers for this advertising to be effective. I assume that is why the 'best reactions' have been condensed into the viral youtube video above which has now been seen by over a million people, and will continue to be shared and create hype for The Last Exorcism.
Nevertheless, I think the initial idea of posing as a user on Chatroulette was a great new innovative way to target consumers. It definately cuts through the clutter because we don't even realise we're falling victim to an advertisement! And if I were one of those boys, rather than feeling 'jibbed' by the ad, I'd be pretty damn impressed with this feat of marketing...once I got over the initial shock! Of course, this leads to the obvious question - would this unexpected encounter actually incite you to purchase a ticket to the film? We will have to wait and see how tickets sales go once the movie is released in cinemas.
However, the brilliance of this advertising is in its uniqueness. If other films follow The Last Exorcism's lead, posing as Chatroulette users and going on to create a viral video of reactions, they might not share the same success because we've seen it before.
What do you think? What would your reaction be if you encountered this sexy-Chatroulette-imposter-turned-exorcist? Would it make you want to see the movie? Do you think we'll see a lot of brands pulling similar stunts on Chatroulette?
Although it is a great idea to cut through clutter, I dont think I would appreciate it if it happened to me. I think the main reason is that its push marketing and I would feel my personal space is being violated. However, if you are on chatroullette, i dont think you can be too precious about having your visual space violated. An interesting concept but i dont think it will be accepted by the public.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Haley :) I know what you mean about the intrusion of personal space, but I think the fact that the ad is entertaining/scary, and not just your 'average' movie ad, would ultimately increase my liking for the ad! But everyone is different I guess!
ReplyDeleteLove It!!! Love It!!! I agree with you, that a another brand might not share the same success because we've seen it before.However, if it's as good as that, maybe could work again in a different context. .. I say good work to them for coming up with it first...
ReplyDeleteBy the way on the same lines,my mate's marketing company did a mobile viral campaign to scare the shit out of people for a horror movie called Prey-time.
"Preytime" promoted the PREY movie release via a microsite application linked to mobile that invited users to send a stalker message to a friend. Users chose from one of three stalker text message templates and then added specific information relative to their victim. The application automatically generated stalker texts sent direct to the victim's handset. This freaked them out! ...but not for too long.
A follow up SMS would be sent informing the victim that they have just been preyed upon by their friend along with a call to action to prey on another victim. The message finished off with release date information for PREY The Movie.
my mates hated me for a few days... haha
check out this addy...
http://www.thetaboogroup.com.au/taboo_campaigns_topcat.html
thanks for the very long comment on my blog..
Wow that's an awesome mobile viral campaign Monte!! I can imagine the joy you would've got from freaking out your friends! Wish I could have done it! haha.
ReplyDeleteThe Taboo Group do some neat stuff, know a few of the peeps there.
ReplyDeleteIdeas like this are great because they're relatively cheap. But as you said Kate, this is only intended for the "viral" audience, and you can't always guarantee success. But if it fails, at least you haven't spent much.