It’s been a big summer for movie and TV premieres, but an even bigger week for marketing stunts in New York City. Ahead of the premiere of “Alien: Romulus” on Aug. 16, 20th Century Studios has been unleashing Facehuggers and Chestbursters on unsuspecting passersby and consumers. New Yorkers encountered Facehuggers attached to the faces of unconscious, twitching people lying on the sidewalk, propped up on stairs and leaning out taxi cab windows. Plus, aliens were popping out of the chests of seemingly normal bystanders.
Fans of the “Alien” franchise first encountered this stunt at San Diego Comic-Con last month during the “Alien: Romulus” panel in Hall H, where the aliens skittered on the floor by audience members’ feet, Facehuggers took over actors’ faces and a Chestburster with blood spray made an appearance on stage. The creatures are now making their way to theaters for advance screenings of the franchise’s seventh installment, surprising (and scaring) moviegoers.
Also in the Big Apple, Netflix took over Times Square with a flash mob for the premiere of “The Umbrella Academy’s” fourth and final season. A thank-you for fans of the show, affectionately known as “Brellies,” the stunt featured close to 100 uniformed and masked dancers twirling umbrellas and grooving to Tiffany’s “I Think We’re Alone Now,” a tribute to the iconic dance scene from season one. The digital billboards around Times Square featured cast photos, animations of Netflix’s logo and thank-you messages.
Looking back on past viral entertainment marketing stunts, we round up ideas for creating head-turning experiences that prompt consumers to pull out their phones and ask, “Is this for real?”
Organize a street team of costumed brand ambassadors.
During May’s Netflix is a Joke Fest, FilmNation Entertainment pushed out teams of “pregnant” brand ambassadors in L.A. to promote its new comedic film “Babes,” about a woman who gets pregnant from a one-night stand. Women wearing fake pregnant bellies walked around handing out branded stickers and condoms. The team was accompanied by a mobile LED truck running looping content that promoted the film, with phrases like “Do Not Take Shrooms While Pregnant” illuminated against a bright pink backdrop. (Agency: IHEARTCOMIX)
At SXSW 2023, a group of 20 nuns dressed in blue habits were spotted by festivalgoers at Austin hotspots and local businesses. The roaming four-day activation brought the drama of Peacock’s series, “Mrs. Davis,” to life, with the nuns available to interact with attendees and share their thoughts, fully in character, on the sentient AI from the show. Those who came across the nuns were encouraged to post photos on social media for a chance to win prizes. The nuns then climbed into an “I’ll Be Zap!” Exterminator van with a huge, realistic-looking cockroach on the roof—a photo op in itself—to travel to the next destination. (Agency: Civic Entertainment Group; concept and scripting: Ralph Creative; van fabrication: Turtle Transit)
Create a playful twist on a city icon.
NYC is making progress on its war against rats, but for TBS’s first cooking show, “Rat in the Kitchen,” the network went all in on rodent-themed experiential installations that blanketed 50th St. between 8th and 9th Avenues. Strategically activated in a spot that led directly into Restaurant Row, the five-day takeover featured a trail of yellow carpet with rat paw prints winding all down the street and peppered with toy rats, a block-wide billboard, branded newspaper boxes and big inflatable rats dressed in aprons (a playful spin on New York City’s famous “union rats”).
Based on the show’s premise where professional chefs and home cooks compete in cooking challenges while attempting to expose an undercover “rat” determined to sabotage the dishes, the activation encouraged passersby to scan a QR code with “Who’s the rat?” messaging to visit a microsite where they discovered that it was TBS that had set the “traps.” Social media sensation Buddy the Rat, a performance artist who dresses up as a rat and interacts with the public, made an appearance on opening day. Deliciously cheesy. (Agency: NVE Experience Agency)
Partner with local landmarks and businesses on promos.
HBO just wrapped season two of “House of the Dragon,” and hype for the “Game of Thrones” prequel was at an all time high, thanks to a global campaign that kicked off online with the release of the Official Green and Official Black Trailers that had fans choosing a side. Then, in advance of the June premiere date, “House of the Dragon” popped up around New York City with Team Black banners for Queen Rhaenyra hanging prominently on the exterior of Rockefeller Center, Citi Field and the New York Stock Exchange, while Grand Central Terminal pledged its loyalty to King Aegon with green banners.
The banners were hanging at the locations for a limited time, but HBO extended the viral campaign to landmarks around the world, with digital banners appearing to roll down KIPCO Tower in Kuwait (Team Black), Marina Bay Sands in Singapore (Team Black), Sydney Tower in Australia (Team Green) and the Eiffel Tower (Team Green), causing a social media frenzy.
Also getting in on the clash of houses were local NYC businesses, which for a week, hung banners and signs of their own and crafted specialty menu items, like the Bacon, Aegon and Cheese bagel at Leon’s Bagels and Vhagar’s Pie in a “House of the Dragon”-themed pizza box at John’s of Bleecker Street. (Agency: Giant Spoon)
Pop up a massive, recognizable beacon from the show.
Still, the biggest and most impressive aspect of the “House of the Dragon” campaign came in the form of a 270-foot dragon coiled around the mast of the Empire State Building. New Yorkers were doing a double take as they looked up at an inflatable Vhagar the Dragon made up of 1,700 pattern pieces and more than 600,000 sewn stitches.
Paramount+ went the literal route to drum up excitement for its “Frasier” reboot last fall, planting a crane (Get it? Like the protagonist, Frasier Crane), which hoisted a long “Frasier” banner 60 feet in the air in downtown Boston where the new series takes place. The stunt was supplemented by trivia activations, swag and branded food truck experiences in both Boston and Los Angeles, where it became clear that the doctor is in—again. (Agency: The MRKT Co.)
