Ford's Evil Twin SportsKa Spoofs Mothman Prophecies
In a viral spoof modeled after the movie, The Mothman Prophecies, Ford U.K. has launched a campaign called 'Evil Twin' to promote its new SportKa. In the spoof, the car, apparently tinged with evil, has been sighted playing evil tricks on innocent victims such as whacking a bird with its hood as the bird attempted to land.
An entire website, mirrored after a movie site, has been put up including a back story saying police have spoken with Ford "in an effort to understand how such a successful, popular car could be so deranged." On the site are downloads including screen savers, wallpaper and posters. Users are led to the site either from the Ford website or from a viral video.
Unlike some viral spoofs, this one is done in a way that does not hide Ford as the company behind the car. It's moderately amusing and more so if you have actually seen the Mothman Prophecies movie.
The pending deal between General Electric's NBC and Vivendi Universal could bring together an intriguing combination of assets leading to further product placement opportunities and a further blurring of the line between commercial commerce and content.
The rise of TiVo and the proliferation of cable channels has fragmented viewership forcing marketers to turn to alternative means of reaching consumers. The method dejour is product placement or branded shows such as Pepsi Smash.
The downside to all of this, and we already see it on radio courtesy of Clear Channel, is the blanding of programming choices. As companies consolidate, originality seems to become an afterthought.
There were once three major networks. There will now be three major corporations handling thousands of media outlets. Some call this progress. Others wonder.
According to gossip mistress, Elizabeth Spiers of Gawker, the New York Times Magazine has named Gerry Marzorati editor. Marzorati had been the magazine's editorial director under Adam Moss who has moved on to become assistant managing editor for features, The New York Times.
Read the press release here.
It's About the Ball
Among the commercials in this week's Ad Age TV Spots of the Week, is a spot for Converse, created by Modernista in Boston, that leaves out celebrity in favor of the highlighting the ball. Very clever. There's also a strange spot from Dairy Queen that tries to pass off an old dude as one of three cute triplets, a spot for Verizon's new photo-phone in which a kid uses the feature to trick his parents into thinking he is not having a party while they are gone on vacation, a spot for Compass Bank poking fun at throwing money away, and a spot promoting the iPod equipped Volkswagen Beetle.
