All kinds of wrong.
August 14, 2007 10:28 PM   Subscribe

The most cruel viral ad campaign yet. Give your friend the experience of being stalked by a serial killer. Make sure to preview the very slick customized video generated first, before you decide whether you really want to do this to someone you like. [Yes, yes, viral advertising for some FX show, also Flash]
posted by blahblahblah (37 comments total) 4 users marked this as a favorite
 
Significantly less tolerable than the Snakes On A Plane one.
posted by Ambrosia Voyeur at 10:33 PM on August 14, 2007


I got so hooked on the show that I watched pretty much every episode back to back. Michael C. Hall IS AMAZING and it's SO well written. But watching so much of it in such a short time had a disturbing effect on me. I realized this as I was driving on the freeway behind a truck that was carrying some stuff wrapped in plastic and I found myself actually thinking "Oh, that's exactly the right size to be a decapitated body. I wonder if it is. I wonder if they thought to hang the body upside down to drain the blood first. Probably not." That's when I realized that maybe it's a good thing Dexter is on hiatus right now.
posted by miss lynnster at 10:58 PM on August 14, 2007 [6 favorites]


Also, why would they call it icetruck.tv when there's no more Icetruck Killer?
posted by miss lynnster at 11:00 PM on August 14, 2007


Hmmm, seems more suited for sending to your enemies.
At least, that's what I'm doing.
posted by mrnutty at 11:01 PM on August 14, 2007


Yea they DID catch said killer right? I don't recall them winking at the audience that, yea this might not be the dude.
posted by basicchannel at 11:10 PM on August 14, 2007


Apparently I'm next. I'm moving.
posted by Ricky_gr10 at 11:22 PM on August 14, 2007


Considering the events in the season finale, I'm thinking nobody's questioning whether or not they got the right guy.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:30 PM on August 14, 2007


Sending a friend a viral ad portraying them as the next victim of a stalker just seems so impersonal.
posted by srboisvert at 12:38 AM on August 15, 2007 [4 favorites]


Too bad the male voiceover sounds nothing like a professional newscaster. The writing on the wall looks suprisingly good, but the paper abruptly coming into focus like it does gives the thing away.
posted by Hargrimm at 1:28 AM on August 15, 2007


Am I the only one pissed off that I can't actually view the link without filling out a form to send to friend that they're "...next on Dexter's hit list"!? WTF!!! Give me something I can appreciate without having to participate in a viral marketing campaign. Sure, maybe that's the point of the FPP, but still, have some decency!
(With Firefox, I can't close the pop-up form!)
posted by Nquire at 2:27 AM on August 15, 2007


You can view the video, fill in the basic details and click the preview box on the left.
posted by tomble at 2:44 AM on August 15, 2007


Whatever this is advertising is utter shit.
posted by BeerFilter at 3:17 AM on August 15, 2007


Dexter's weird in that I read the books it's based on and they're no-where near as detailed (or IMO as good) as the TV show, though they're still okay. It's a rare instance of the TV/Movie version of something bringing far more to the plate than the original book.

More reason they should have done Harry Potter and LOTR as miniseries!
posted by Silentgoldfish at 5:16 AM on August 15, 2007


Thank you blahblahblah

It's worked a freaky treat on my poor husband at work (he's not normally a sucker!) - and we've just had one of those mutually chortling phone calls that puts a grin in your day!
posted by Jody Tresidder at 5:54 AM on August 15, 2007


I was surprised at how much I enjoyed Dexter. The way they were able to dork with my feelings was remarkable. They'd pace it in such a way that I'd start feeling sympathy for Dexter and believe he might actually be the good guy and then BANG they'd drop something to reveal just how monstrous he really is. This cycle happened several times throughout the season and it got me every time. Fantastic show...
posted by pookzilla at 5:59 AM on August 15, 2007


I was a fan of the books, and like Silentgoldfish, was surprised at the level of depth and plot complexity Season One brought with it. The characters were perfectly fleshed-out, the storylines were much tighter...and from the two advance episodes I've seen of Season Two, it looks like it's going to be just as good.
posted by dougunderscorenelso at 6:08 AM on August 15, 2007


Umm, seems we're playing a little fast and loose with spoilers here, aren't we?
posted by uri at 6:33 AM on August 15, 2007


I saw this flash ad two or so weeks ago...sent it to myself...and was creeped out enough not to do it to anyone else.

Now, the show.

What makes the show really good, is that they've stayed true to the novel. The show isn't a movie adaptation (120 min)...it's an adaptation that runs across a season (around 500 min or so). The characters are fleshed out...because you actually have to do more than what's in the book.

Sometimes, like dexter this goes well (and it's fun to indulge your little psychopathic tendencies.) Shows like the Dead Zone are poor examples (or maybe it's what happens after you exhaust the source material.)

Darkly Dreaming Dexter.
Dearly Devoted Dexter
And in September Dexter in the Dark

All worth a read (I read them after I watched the show.)
posted by filmgeek at 6:48 AM on August 15, 2007


I don't have anyone I can or should send the message-advert to just now, but I do like the show -- it creeps me out in a good way. I too have been looking at refrigerated trucks in a whole new way.
posted by Rain Man at 7:09 AM on August 15, 2007


I have the first season in a stack to watch (at this pace I will be done with my media backlog in time with the heat-death of the universe, so all of you - please stop making new stuff) but I was going to send this to my mother, who loves the show.

And after I generated it, I just couldn't. I like my entertainment dark but sending murder-grams to my dear old mum was too much even for me.
posted by phearlez at 7:47 AM on August 15, 2007


I like my entertainment dark but sending murder-grams to my dear old mum was too much even for me.

You could send another one to my already freaked-out husband if you like:)
posted by Jody Tresidder at 7:56 AM on August 15, 2007


Oh OKAY, I get it. This is an ad for the UK viewings of Dexter. They are still in the middle of the Icetruck Killer. So that's why they've focused on it.

BTW, nobody here has really spoiled ANYTHING about the plot. It's a seriously intense and well-scripted plotline, and just saying that the killer was caught won't give you a single insight into anything you've missed.
posted by miss lynnster at 8:13 AM on August 15, 2007


For those interested in such things, the first two episodes of next season have appeared at those places we don't talk about (about a month ago, actually). Miss lynnster, et al, you will NOT be disappointed. "Dexter" is love!
posted by kittens for breakfast at 8:25 AM on August 15, 2007


miss lynnster,

I have seen the show, many times through. The wording of your first comment gives a pretty clear idea of the ending (not plot, but resolution), especially if a person is halfway through the season.

I don't mean this as a callout, I'm simply a huge fan of Dexter who thinks it is best enjoyed when people have no idea about where it will go.
posted by uri at 9:09 AM on August 15, 2007


I've become convinced that all marketing is done not to actual market a product, but to convince other marketing guys that they're spending the marketing budget dollars in new and interesting ways.

The Guy: "We did a promotion where you could prank call your friends! And send them prank calls from a serial killer!

The Other Guy: "Did it work?"

The Guy: "Who cares if it worked! It's a serial killer! Prank calls! Is that fucking cool or what? But fuck all that, let's go to the Griddle. There's some fucking honeys there, man..."
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:11 AM on August 15, 2007


A buddy of mine sent me this about a week ago. We decided it would be a lot more fun for him to do one for himself, download it, remove any indication that it was fake at the ending, and then upload it to youtube before sending the link to his mom.

We are kinda bastards that way.
posted by quin at 10:31 AM on August 15, 2007


uri, I apologize. I actually tried to word my comment carefully because I had a valid question. The show caught the Icetruck Killer throughout the season so in my mind what I said was different than giving details of the ups and downs within the mysteries that run through the show's plot. Of which there are MANY on Dexter. I felt I was being vague & not saying any real details so I didn't feel it was a spoiler when I said it. Sorry if it upset you.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:48 AM on August 15, 2007


I love the Griddle. Thanks. Now I have a craving for pancakes.
posted by miss lynnster at 11:50 AM on August 15, 2007


Someone who hasn't seen the show might or might not know that the icetruck killer exists and if it is, or isn't, a multiple personality of dexter, or isn't. or is, or isn't the cop with the hat, or does, or doesn't exist.
posted by Megafly at 12:09 PM on August 15, 2007


I love the Griddle. Thanks. Now I have a craving for pancakes.

I love the Griddle, too. I'd love it even more if it weren't so. goddam. crowded.

Seriously, I expect to not be able to get into Teddy's at the Hollywood Roosevelt (well, actually, I can get into Teddy's, but why that's true is not important). What I don't expect is to be unable to get some f'n pancakes on a Sunday morning.

Oh man, the French Toast is glorious.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:47 PM on August 15, 2007


I know the show's based in Miami, but if you really want to freak out your friends, making the city of the news report variable would have a lot more impact.
posted by willnot at 4:01 PM on August 15, 2007


blahblahblah, I'm sorry to nitpick, but Dexter is on Showtime, not FX.
posted by Four-Eyed Girl at 8:18 PM on August 15, 2007


blahblahblah, I'm sorry to nitpick, but Dexter is on Showtime, not FX.

Live by the nitpick, die by the nitpick: if you'd clicked the link you'd see that this ad campaign is for Dexter on FX, where they're about to show the first season (hence the icetruck killer references).
posted by Silentgoldfish at 5:20 AM on August 16, 2007


It's FX UK, though. It's understandable why that's confusing, it's not on FX in the states. So everybody's right! Yay!
posted by miss lynnster at 7:51 AM on August 16, 2007


The FX thing is indeed horridly confusing. When I saw it I thought "oh awesome, the show's done a Stargate: SG-1 and jumped from pay tv to free and now I can watch it!"

*sigh*
posted by phearlez at 1:18 PM on August 16, 2007


Psssst. Hey phearlez... check out my comment a little more closely. Shhhhh.
posted by miss lynnster at 6:31 PM on August 16, 2007


Yeah, well, my one encounter with the MPAA police and takedown notices was over Dead Like Me, so I am now exercising the better part of valor when it comes to pay tv downloads.

I may just go ahead and add Showtime to my direcTV. Dexter alone is $12 worth of entertainment a month, plus they'll give me the first season on dvd of Weeds, which I have seen a few of and was sufficiently amused by.
posted by phearlez at 8:43 AM on August 17, 2007


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