The Institute for Human Continuity (IHC) launched a lottery this summer for humans to be saved from the 2012 destruction of the planet.Yes, you heard it here. Wondering why you haven’t been made aware of this all important event by your local politician, hairdresser, or favourite news-spewing family member?
The IHC’s work is an innovative marketing campaign for a yet-to-be-announced sci-fi movie. Launched at ComicCon 2009 in July, the IHC attended the year’s biggest comic book / sci-fi convention, handing out collateral and showing the world a very elaborate movie marketing strategy.
Recently, TV adds have showcased the IHC’s work, asking Earth’s inhabitants to sign up for the lottery in which winners receive a position in the post apocalyptic world, developed and managed by the IHC. This clever system creates a massive data capture of potential movie followers, rivalling only Obama’s 2008 presidential election for opt-in marketing.
Sony, the film’s distributor, put on a full court press of branding efforts. Everything from the url of a fictitious non-profit organization, to the collateral distributed, to a fictitious individual acting as a grassroots proponent of the IHC’s efforts through his online pages, fake news stories, and continued push to showcase the Mayan story of Earth’s end in 2012.
A MTV Canada host recently signed herself up for the lottery after being scared witless at 3 a.m. by the TV spots. A significant amount of money, strategy, and campaign execution have started turning a completely fictitious story into possible reality.
It goes to show that reality is the information we’re given, gauged through whatever colour glasses we happen to be wearing at the time.
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