I was living in Cleveland when some friends told me about a movie that was the “found” footage of a group of missing college students who were filming a documentary. Although they kept insisting the back story was true, I didn’t buy it (the footage was found in the foundation of a hundred-year old house? Really?). So after we talked, I spent more time than I care to admit researching “The Blair Witch Project” until I found the answer I was looking for: [SPOILER ALERT] The back story was part of a clever marketing plan by the cash-strapped movie makers to sell the movie.

And it worked very well. So well, in fact, that it convinced seasoned movie critics and movie goers. Artisan Entertainment even got into to by preventing the actors from doing interviews so the audience would believe that the actors were in fact dead.

I loved the marketing more than the movie. And I’m glad to see that more movies and TV series are employing mischief/viral marketing.

At the 2008 Comic-Con, posters were plastered throughout downtown San Diego advertising synthetic blood with the tagline “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink Friends”(“True Blood”). Signs outside of cafes proclaimed “Humans Only” (“D-9″). And my husband and I were approached to sign a petition that would ban equal rights for vampires so humans could legally kill them (my inner lawyer argued with the petitioner about the logistics of killing the undead).

The marketers are at it again. Lately I’ve been seeing online ads and subway posters for organ transplants, with fine print saying that the organs will be repossessed for non-payment. And then this site caught my attention. I don’t know if “Repo Men” will be as good as the marketing campaign, but I do wish they had run an ad for The Union during the Super Bowl.

Frankly, I’d like to see more movie marketers employ mischief and viral marketing. It’s fun for the audience: We’re amused, confused and sometimes frightened, but we’re talking about the film — and you can’t buy that kind of attention.

image sources: imageshack; wearemoviegeeks.com