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Firefly Movie Using Viral Marketing? 287

Posted by ScuttleMonkey from the clips-and-crazies dept.
CABridges writes "According to the official movie site, some interesting "security excerpts" have begun popping up online, first at iFilm. The videos (two, so far) appear to depict River Tam during various stages of her incarceration and mental capacity. More to come?" Also, in vaguely related and somewhat humorous news XJHardware writes "For those of you who really need an obsessive/compulsive hobby here's a good example. Seems this fellow Chris Doyle built a model of Serenity from the upcoming movie and too-quickly canceled series Firefly."
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Firefly Movie Using Viral Marketing? More

Firefly Movie Using Viral Marketing?

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  • 'viral' marketing? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by REBloomfield ( 550182 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:14AM (#13388033)
    Can someone explain why this is called 'viral' marketing? Seems more like the hype machine at work more than anything else. That thing with the BBC and wikipedia made me wonder the same thing.

    • Re:'viral' marketing? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by SimilarityEngine ( 892055 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:19AM (#13388062)

      They are exploiting sites (such as Slashdot) to raise awareness of the film, through word of mouth and such like. We are the ones doing the "viral marketing", simply by having this discussion...

      • You've said the core of it. "Viral marketing" is just another way of saying "word of mouth advertising." Some would argue that their different - that word of mouth only encompasses data transmission using actual mouths...but that's just silly, isn't it? Word of mouth/viral marketing just means peer to peer advertising, with the majority of it done for free.

        Calling it viral marketing is just spin. Kind of like saying that copying software is piracy.

        • Re:'viral' marketing? (Score:4, Insightful)

          by nine-times ( 778537 ) <nine.times@gmail.com> on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @10:37AM (#13389050) Homepage
          Well, it's a little more specific, I think. Viral marketing tends to imply that the "word of mouth advertising" is started by releasing small amounts of obscure or confusing information. It doesn't look like an ad. It looks like a leak or something they don't want you to know about.

          So the "word of mouth" when people say, "what the hell is this?" and the mystery/obscurity of the information drives the spread, not the virtues of the product. Viral marketing works on something like reverse psychology. The point is, whatever they're selling is so cool and underground, you shouldn't really know about it, so everyone wants to know about it.

      • MOD PARENT UP (invent a new level if you have to) (Score:5, Insightful)

        by suitepotato ( 863945 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @10:58AM (#13389226)
        If there's a truer thing said on Slashdot, it would not be so important as this though it has been said before in different ways.

        If Linus wanted to sell paper cups with the Linux name on them, there'd be a stampede to get the news posted. If a new geek cult game releases, there's a post. Slashdot readers submit posts knowing the editors cannot resist publishing them because everyone knows the other readers will comment on them by the hundreds. Much of the news is stuff that DOESN'T matter. WE ARE the viral marketing and we do it DESPITE our own cynicsm. Oy.

        Maybe we should get it over with and charge people to talk about their product and get it exposed to the tech brigades instead of giving them free advertising here. I won't even say the name of this movie franchise I'm so sick of hearing about it never mind sick of the incessant ways it gets squirreled into being mentioned.

        Next big Slashdot running gag: inserting catch words and product names that are already known to be over-hyped.
        • I won't even say the name of this movie franchise I'm so sick of hearing about it never mind sick of the incessant ways it gets squirreled into being mentioned.

          .sig since xmas 2002: The day the last nail in the TV show's coffin was given it's final blow (when the last of the networks passed on it).

          Not to mention loaning the DVDs to many people who had no idea what the hell I was babbling on about. Once they watched, they understood, approved, and started participating.

          ...and I didn't name anything, since
          • I don't understand GP. The level of hype surrounding Serenity is no where near the level of...well, anything mainstream hollywood.

            What sets it apart is that almost everything is generated from the bottom-up, from the fans and the geeks.

            We love the it, the actors love it, and suitepotato hates it.

            Pounds to pennies he's never seen an episode. Oy vey iz im.
            • I don't understand GP. The level of hype surrounding Serenity is no where near the level of...well, anything mainstream hollywood.

              I think he hates it simply because people like it.

              Some people are like that, they define their tastes by rejecting what others like. "If they like it," they say, "I must NOT like it! That will set me appart!". It's... well it's pretty fucking stupid, if you ask me, but they tend to see this as some kind of unique and clever position, and not as the sad and all to common reactiona
      • The word "viral" itself has a negative connotation, when all it really is is "word-of-mouth" advertising. Although the seed is planted intentionally by marketers, the word can only spread due to the idea's own merit.

        BTW, please note the distinction between the idea's merit and the actual movie's merit; many things sound good until you actually experience them, although in this case I expect Firefly to live up to expectations (there I go contributing to the "viral" spread :).

        Anyway, the phrase "viral ma

    • I think the idea is that this kind of "marketing" doesn't need to be marketed. You release some information/footage/specs and let the internet go crazy and spread the news for you, like a virus.
    • If you'd like to learn more than you ever wanted to know about viral marketing, check out Spreading the Ideavirus by Seth Godin [sethgodin.com]. You can read it free as an ebook.

      The idea behind viral marketing is that you don't really have to pay for marketing...if you can get people who are totally into what you're marketing to do it for you for free. The idea spreads like a virus--hence the name.

  • Firewhat? (Score:3, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:15AM (#13388036)
    Firefox changing name again?

  • Viral Marketing (Score:5, Informative)

    by kevin_conaway ( 585204 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:16AM (#13388050) Homepage
    For those that don't know (myself included), Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] is your friend
    • No need for an encyclopedia to explain the concept.

      It's simply another term for "word of mouth".

      • Re:Viral Marketing (Score:5, Informative)

        by mmkkbb ( 816035 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:42AM (#13388192) Homepage Journal
        Not exactly. It's socially engineered word-of-mouth.

      • Re:Viral Marketing (Score:3, Insightful)

        by FireFury03 ( 653718 )
        No need for an encyclopedia to explain the concept.

        The term "viral" immediately gives the impression that it's bad. However, I think in this context it's good - the "marketting" is well targetted, so doesn't annoy people who aren't interested, and is interesting to those targetted (if it wasn't, it wouldn't work).
    • (the viral marketing) after all, they had to put it on /. so we could hear about it :-)

  • It will never work! (Score:5, Funny)

    by bigtallmofo ( 695287 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:19AM (#13388061)
    Nobody will fall for such obvious viral marketing techniques by spreading the news on their site. I'll be surprised if I ever even hear of this.

  • The Virual Jackpot (Score:4, Funny)

    by buffy ( 8100 ) * <buffy.parapet@net> on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:21AM (#13388071) Homepage
    Posted on Slashdot? We hit the jackpot, baby! Virual Marketing Gold!

    Just watch the hit counter in the next hour or so.

  • Ahem -- Lego (Score:5, Informative)

    by sigmaseven ( 906671 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:23AM (#13388082)
    Seems this fellow Chris Doyle built a model of Serenity from the upcoming movie

    There's a key word missing from this sentence that might put it into a clearer perspective, and that word is Lego [lego.com]. That said, the Lego Wash is adorable.

  • from the movie? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by theblueprint ( 749157 )
    As a big Firefly fan, I wonder if these scenes are from the movie, or if they're something made for "hype" only. I haven't seen any of the trailers yet, and I don't want to watch these if it's footage from the movie.

    If these are some shorts that are excluisve of the movie content, I think it's a good idea. Fanboys can get their "fix" and not spoil anything.

  • oblig (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward
    Shiny!

  • Those were lame (Score:5, Informative)

    by pHatidic ( 163975 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:29AM (#13388107)
    I have to say though that the DVD series was my best purchase of the last year. I was skeptical when I bought it because some of the Amazon commenters were saying that the only reason it was getting five stars was because of people rating it over and over. However, having watched it I think it really lives up to the hype and then some. I'm just sad they aren't making any more, it was the only drama I've ever actually liked.
    • I just finished watching the series last week and I hafta say that I was pretty damn impressed. Sure, it's not the best show that's ever been made, and it certainly had it's cheesy moments (totally intentional according to the behind the scenes bits). But all in all it made for some damn entertaining television. Looking forward to seeing the movie next month...
    • Video tombstones become par for the course at some point in Josh's vision of the future.

      It was kinda weird seeing [SPOILER DELETED]'s moving mug looking out from a stone slab after seeing the character's [SPOILER DELETED] death at the hands of [SPOILER DELETED].
    • The DVDs are great. Some friends and I are planning a "pre-movie" party where we will show some of the episodes from the DVDs a few days before the movie comes out. So far interest is good and some people will be there that never saw the show when it was on TV...
  • Am I the only one who doesn't have a single clue about what the summary is talking about?! Guess I have to go RTFA...
    • Here's the deal: somebody released a short film onto the P2P networks. It begins with the overtext "R. Tam/Session 416/Second Excerpt" and consists mostly of a man viewed from the back choking to death. After he croaks, River appears, looks directly into the camera, and says "I can see you," (as if to an experimenter behind a one-way mirror). It's in black and white, and the implication is that it's archival footage of one of River's training sessions, wherever she was.

      "Viral Marketing" in this case means
      • Thanks for taking the time to write that. Never heard of "R-tam" "Firefly" "River" "Serenety" etc. Guess these are characters in a tv show? If I could be bothered, I'd read up about it but I'm s'posed to be errm... working and shit lol.

        Back to my dreary design doc I have to write by the end of the week. Sigh.
        • Oh, maybe you're the perfect target for this, then. You've just heard about it. I guess it works. I'd assumed everybody on Slashdot had at least heard about it by now.

          Firefly was a TV show by the same guy who did Buffy the Vampire Slayer. It didn't last very long (4 episodes) before being cancelled, but it was extremely popular among the geek crowd (who claimed Fox never gave it a chance.) It was wildly popular on DVD, so they're making a movie called Serenity (the name of the spaceship).

          The gist: it's
  • I skipped the 'viral marketing' portion for fear of spoilers.

    The lego version of Serenity is terrific though and very detailed, it's a shame he couldn't build it to scale such that they could fit in there.

    Wish I could get blueprints for it... I guess I would always wing it :)
    • Seen them, read about them, liked them. Don't fear spoilers. It's stuff you should already be able to figure out if you've seen the series and not from the movie from all accounts. It IS new video created specificly for this campaign.

      Watch it, it's interesting.

  • From the Firefly podcast (Score:5, Interesting)

    by lesinator ( 459276 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @08:52AM (#13388243)
    I co-host the Firefly/Serenity podcast The Signal [serenityfirefly.com]. We have already interviewed Adam Baldwin (Jayne), Gina Torres (Zoe) and Ron Glass (Book) and they are all really behind the movie & the Firefly franchise. To quote Adam "Joss called me up the other day and said 'you should see the movie now (with all the effects & final music in place), it is so cherry!'". They really show an enthusiasm & devotion beyond what one would expect if it were just another acting job to them. There are a lot others grass roots efforts like ours out there promoting Serenity from the bottom up. Its very exciting to see the groundswell of anticipation build with with the advance screenings & now other new clever marketing tools that Universal is using.

    L

  • These guys know their market (Score:3, Funny)

    by zrk ( 64468 ) <spam-from-slashd ... .net minus berry> on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @09:03AM (#13388314) Homepage
    That's for sure. I saw the trailer for Serenity when we went to go see 'The 40 Year Old Virgin". Hmmm.
    • These guys know their market

      I don't know about that. This may just be in the Boson area, but most the people I saw at the preview screening are part of the Poly Boston crowd. I have a suspicion that the only virgins in the audience were under the age of 18.

      Hell, most the Buffy / Angel fans I know who are actual virgins are fan girls, saving themselves for a romantic ideal that only ever existed on TV and in legends of King Arthur's court. Firefly seems to have attracted a far more sexually active crowd.
      • I'll be in my bunk.
        • How come no catch phrases as prevalent at that one came out of Buffy?

          Star Trek: "Beam me up Scotty"
          Star Wars: "Use the Force Luke"
          Firefly: "I'll be in my bunk" (Wanking implied)

          I think Josh should try to get a different catch phrase permanently attached to his work...
          • How come no catch phrases as prevalent at that one came out of Buffy?

            "Five for five!"

            "Bored now."

            Hmmm... I'm focusing on the psycho chicks with loose morals aren't I? Ah well.
      • I saw 40 year old virgin with my girly yesterday (wait am I kicked out of slashdot?). Anyway I saw the trailer, however I'm in the greater Boston area (err, Hudson, about 40 minutes west of Boston).

        • I wasn't trying to imply that no one who saw "40 year old virgin" would be interested in the Firefly movie. I was trying to make a point about the "People into sci-fi never get any action" stereotype the grandparent post was referencing.

          By the way, what did you think of the flick? If it;s any good, I might recommend it to one of the 30 year old virgins I know.
          • I was surprised, I really did like it. It's kind of odd that it is raunchy but also has a feel-good attitude. I thought the humor was going to be too low-ball but it's just about right. Every joke worked on me.

            I feel anything I say about what I liked or dislike in the movie won't really help. What would help is this: I don't like dumb & dumber(er) or the ace venturas. I like anchorman (especially brick) and kevin smith movies. I like Jim Carrey's pseudo comedies such as bruce almighty and truman

  • Surprisingly good show! (Score:2, Interesting)

    by Sidane ( 900934 )
    I picked up the Firefly series on DVD last week after reading various good things about it and seeing the Serenity trailers. I am working my way through it and am loving it. My expectations were very high and I'm usually very critical and switch off mediocre quality shows very quickly, especially sci-fi. So much to my surprise Firefly actually lives up to the hype. Shame they cancelled it. I'd recommend any sci-fi fans out there to give it a chance.
    • It is definitely a shame, yes. I'd love it if Serenity did so well that the show was picked up again (albeit by someone else other than FOX). Maybe if Sci-Fi nabbed the rights they could give it the run it deserves.

  • Recently got back into it (Score:5, Insightful)

    by Winterblink ( 575267 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @09:35AM (#13388548) Homepage
    You know, I watched some episodes on the air when it first came out, and really didn't enjoy it much. Space western? I was expecting something more along the lines of Cowboy Bebop, and that it wasn't. So I didn't mourn its passing.

    But recently, on a whim, I decided to nab the DVD set. It's interesting because now after watching all the episodes out, in the proper order they were meant to be, I actually really enjoy the show immensely. The characters are all well done, the acting's great, the writing is subtle and excellent, it's just generally a very well thought out series on the same level as shows like Battlestar Galactica.

    So for those who might be wondering what all the hype's about, go check out the DVD set. It's not that expensive, but might be a bit tricky to find. You won't be disappointed, and it will get you set for Serenity, which looks amazing.

  • Question (Score:4, Informative)

    by WormholeFiend ( 674934 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @09:46AM (#13388633)
    Do I need to watch the Firefly episodes before I go see Serenity?
    • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:Question (Score:3, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward
      I've seen the pre-showing.

      No, it's not absolutely necessary - but it helps.

      The movie does a decent job of covering the back story, but it can't give you the full sense of the character interactions and the 'in-jokes'.

      In other words, you can understand the movie without seeing the shows, but it will be a lot more fun if you do.

  • Sorry to be offtopic... (Score:4, Interesting)

    by ArmenTanzarian ( 210418 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @09:58AM (#13388733) Homepage Journal
    But I'm interested in the obsession with Firefly, but don't feel like plunking down money for the DVD's unless I know I'm buying something good (and my patience for torrents are roughly three hours).

    So here's my question, are there Firefly fans out there who didn't watch Buffy or Angel, etc.? Because I really really didn't like those shows and if such an intersection of Buffy non-fans and Firefly fans exists, I'd like to hear from their opinions on Firefly.

    If you could wait until I get a response or two before modding me offtopic, I'd appreciate it.
    • I didn't watch Buffy or Angel, and I didn't watch Firefly until my brother loaned me the DVDs. It is a very good show that failed because Fox wouldn't give it a consistent time slot or let the creator have final say on production.
    • I must admit I've seen most of Buffy and liked it, but Firefly is in a whole other class as far as I'm concerned. My roommate, 20ish geekish sort of guy, doesn't like Buffy, and after he saw the first episode of Firefly he watched the rest of the episodes in one (10 hour?) marathon.

      There's always people on these threads who weren't into it, so obviously YMMV. I'm betting if you're into sci-fi at all it's well worth the $40, though.
    • Personally, I was never a fan of either Buffy or Angel, in fact I never understood the attraction to either show. I did enjoy Dark Angel(First Season) though, and one of the unaired episodes of Firefly has a scene that seems familiar, for some reason. I think anyone who watches this series and the first season of Dark Angel will know the episodes I am talking about.

      That having been said, Firefly is actually a VERY good show. I don't have cable since I watch very little TV, generally. As a result I ne
    • Thanks for the overwhelming response everyone, guess I should check it out!
    • I have never enjoyed Buffy or Angel. Though, to be fair, I've only seen (maybe) two episodes of each.

      Firefly, on the other hand, is perhaps the best all-around live-action sci-fi I've ever seen. Think a cross between original Trek and Blade Runner, with some Seven Samurai and A Fist Full of Dollars thrown into the mix. In my opinion, one of it's stronger qualities is a lack of alien-of-the-week syndrome, which usually simply serve as convenient plot devices, rather than characters. It is very well written

    • Re:Sorry to be offtopic... (Score:5, Funny)

      by CharAznable ( 702598 ) on Wednesday August 24, 2005 @11:18AM (#13389412)
      I don't really care for Buffy or Angel, but Firefly is one of the very best sci-fi shows ever. Imagine a show where the protagonist is Han Solo, and he offs Greedo by shooting first IN EVERY EPISODE!!!
    • I didn't like Buffy or Angel, but loved Firefly. It reminded me in a lot of ways of the feeling I got from reading Heinlein's novels when I was younger, that never translated to the big (or little) screen.
    • This is an interesting question that's getting a range of responses. My take on it is fairly straightforward, the comparisons to Buffy/Angel are appropriate only in that they have the same creator, otherwise they would probably not be compared at all.

      Perhaps a more interesting question is whether Firefly would have become more similar to Buffy/Angel had it made it through several seasons ? Buffy was an entertaining show but to a certain extent it also became quite serialized and impenetrable as it aged. Fi
  • OK. So I saw one episode of Firefly when it was out a few years ago and hated it. Didn't bother with it again. Then it was canceled. But so many friends have recommended the show that when SciFi began rebroadcasting I PVR'd the episodes in order and began watching. Decided I liked it. So I went to Amazon and checked out the DVD. It's in the Amazon top 10 fer Christ Sakes! Bought it. Delivery was slow because they're back ordered! I think Fox really screwed up here... they threw away a goldmine. --M
  • This will be one of the only movies in years that I plan on seeing opening weekend. What makes it even better is that my girlfriend is also patiently waiting. She is not a scifi fan at all. I talked her into watching FireFly with me. She loved it. So much so that she would get home from work and one of the first things she'd ask is "Are we watching disc 3 of FireFly tonight?".

    Since then I've loaned the discs to her Dad and her Brother who have both loved the series as well. I've probably helped sell
  • The actress was a believable younger sister on the series, but she grew up way too fast. She's not old, but she's not the little girl she's trying to play.
  • Note to self: STOP READING SERENITY REVIEWS!

    I KNOW I'm just setting myself up for an ulcer:

    http://www.screendaily.com/story.asp?storyid=23110 &r=true [screendaily.com]

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