Altyrian View

I thought the new Batman movie was fantastic. What was really fun was the marketing before the movie. Warner Brothers did a great job of hyping the movie with “fake” graffiti from the Joker. Unfortunately, however, this easy-to-do vandalism has taken on a life of its own. Below are two examples that I came across this morning.

Did Warner Bros. do anything wrong? I don’t think so. They are getting free “advertising” for their motion picture, but I’d bet Chad Perkins isn’t too thrilled about it. I doubt that anyone charged with marketing the movie would have thought that people would start vandalizing using their guerilla tactics. Although I doubt they would have changed the campaign if they had known the consequences, we as marketers have to think ahead.

That’s my Altyrian View.

Imagine a day where the Whopper was no longer sold at Burger King. What would customers say? What would they say if they got a Big Mac instead of a Whopper? Burger King’s new viral campaign asks those questions with some fantastically quotable results. I think this is a great campaign that will get some great coverage. Here’s the full video taken from WhopperFreakout for your enjoyment:

Well, it took a little over three months, but as we suggested in August, a company has taken the software development kit for the xbox 360 and developed a game to promote its product. Yup, the great minds at CPB have developed a game for their client Burger King.

I have no idea if the game is any good, but I must say, the commercials are really funny. Here is a preview of the game available only at the restaurant.

I have not seen Snakes on a Plane, but I have been the target of their viral marketing. I got an email from my wife just last night that had a special message from Samuel L. Jackson just for me. Pretty cool. I listened and then sent cards to a few of my closest friends. I got a good chuckle out of it, and hey, maybe I’ll see the movie someday.

This morning I wake up to a blog post from John Wagner of Wagner Communications. Seems that the opening weekend was a bust. Among other interesting facts, this one jumped off the page at me:

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Microsoft is set to release a free software development kit for the Xbox 360. The development kit is targeted at professionals as well as novice game designers. This is a huge deal because usually only major games studios are given development kits.

So, do marketers now have a new, easier way to create console video games around their products?

After a week away, I saw a blog post about a new viral ad created for Smirnoff Raw Teas. Very, very funny.

The video got me so intrigued about Raw Teas, that I figured I would visit the Web site to check them out. That’s what they told me to do at the end of the video: “Please drink responsibly and visit teapartay.com.” So I pop by the Web site to find that I’m bounced to the Smirnoff Ice Web site and the only mention of Raw Teas is a little banner ad telling me that it’s coming soon. Coming Soon!? More than 550,000 people have watched the video. They missed a great opportunity.

In the end, they have a great viral campaign without the “payoff” for those that want more information. At this point, all they have is a funny video that mentions their product.