Following the destruction of mankind... on Twitter

This afternoon's guest post is by our very own Jacques Munkey. He references a Sandra Bullock movie so you know he's not me.

Following the destruction of mankind... on Twitter

One thing I love about going to movies is suspending disbelief and getting lost in the world of the movie. That means I hate it when something in a movie makes me pop out of that world and say, either to myself or aloud, “C’moooon!” Like when someone finds letters in the attic of a house that clearly could not possibly have an attic when viewed from the outside (I’m looking at YOU, The Lakehouse!).

One thing movies (and TV shows) are doing these days to help immerse the audience in the experience is making websites for the fictional companies or organizations in the movie. When this is done well, I love it.

A coworker brought it to my attention that there are several movies coming out soon that use this technique. In order of well-done-ness, Terminator: Salvation (www.skynetresearch.com), The Surrogates (www.chooseyoursurrogate.com), and 2012 (www.instituteforhumancontinuity.org).

Everybody knows Skynet. When your computer malfunctions, people who have never seen a Terminator movie will ask if Skynet was involved. I love the vaguely creepy, inhuman tone to the writing on this site. My favorite function of this site, though, is the Twitter feed.

The Surrogates is about cyborg replicates of real people that go out and interact with the world, since humans are seen as being too fragile. This site has a great Flash intro that makes it feel like a lifestyle company. Very in-character.

The 2012 website is my favorite of these three because of the interactive disaster scenarios with Steven Hawking-like narration. This site seems very in-depth. You could spend a lot of time looking around on it.

In the end I’m not sure if any of these sites made me more likely to see the movies they belong to. But then, I’m passing along the links, which is what viral ads are supposed to make us do. More awareness, more social impressions. So I say, well played! What say all of you?

UPDATE: Jacques' post was inspired by this Wall Street Journal article. Enjoy!