…and the Worst

In light of the previous post, it must also be declared that not all “subversive” film marketing has been nearly as successful as that for the Blair Witch Project. In fact many films have employed viral marketing strategies that have failed abysmally. A prime example of this is the recent film Wanted; the campaign for which consisted of a grainy, supposed surveillance video of a worker throwing a tantrum and destroying his office cubicle. However, despite the video being a hit all over the Internet, very few people were aware of the film it was supposed to be advertising.

Indeed, the balance of achieving marketing objectives for a campaign, along with achieving viral success can be tricky to get right. Wanted is a prime example of a successful viral campaign that, while being extremely entertaining, did nothing for the product it attempted to promote. Hence, it is evident that a great degree of expertise and knowledge is necessary for the overall success of a campaign.

See: http://www.totalfilm.com/features/the-best-and-worst-movie-viral-campaigns/ for more examples and stories of the successes and failures of viral movie campaigns.