A mysterious space-vessel crash appeared in Austin, TX, during SXSW. Curious (and brave) passersby who stumbled upon FX’s The Wreckage activation had a chance to step inside and uncover details from the upcoming “Alien: Earth” series, a prequel to the 1979 film “Alien” that started the franchise.
Before receiving credentials and instructions to enter, participants were scanned for alien parasites by yellow hazmat-suited representatives from Prodigy Corp. Once cleared, the attendees embarked on an exploratory mission through the ship wreckage, encountering alien specimens and dealing with a containment breach.
“The Wreckage highlights a pivotal moment from the pilot, where an incident occurs that brings a threat to the planet, so it’s the first opportunity for fans of the franchise to see how that threat impacts the Earth and the first opportunity for this story to be told in a series,” says Kenya Hardaway, svp-integrated promotions, multi-platform marketing at FX. “So much of it we don’t want to spoil for fans, so we needed to identify an element of it that we could use to build an experience without ruining the story for them.”
The activation teased in-world elements from “Alien: Earth” by introducing the Weyland-Yutani vessel wreckage and Prodigy Corp.’s control of it. Participants engaged with the space as a guest of Prodigy Corp. and got access to certain moments using an RFID-equipped badge that triggered special content or sneak peek clips of the new series. Fans identified Easter eggs from the franchise and collected some branded giveaways along the way. “Alien: Earth” showrunner Noah Hawley and star Sydney Chandler also explored the activation alongside fans.
“We’ve been working on this project for nearly a year. We worked really closely with the [show’s production and creative] teams to source models, scans, images and a lot of other assets that we needed to authentically build this world,” Hardaway says. “We definitely understand the value of having actors in these immersive experiences because they help to set the stage and engage fans in a way that gets them excited, so it was important for us to create a script that told the story in a way that was interesting and engaging.”
The SXSW 2025 pop-up was the first in a series of three experiential engagements that will pop up in different cities in the months leading up to the show’s summer premiere on Hulu. More details around the dates and locations of the next two “Alien: Earth” activations will be released soon. According to Hardaway, FX plans to build upon The Wreckage’s footprint at each stop and roll out additional elements as more information on the series and assets of the campaign are released. Promotion will also include out-of-home and social content.
“It’s important for us to not only be able to share content from the experience and get people excited around it, but also use it as an opportunity to see what’s working and the responses to some of the elements that we’ve crafted so that we can calibrate the experiences and execute perfectly,” she says. “A lot of great intel was gathered following SXSW, like stuff that we know we’re going to lean into more, some things that we might adjust for the purpose of the consumer experience or for the throughput, but it was really great to be able to see it live and to learn from the experience.” Agencies: VTProDesign, experiential; Civic, p.r.
Photo credits: Mat Hayward/Getty Images for FX; Courtesy of FX
