I know there are a lot of people who watched The Walking Dead and are excited for the series to return. But there has been a video surfing around on Youtube by amc which shows walkers underneath the city in Union Square scaring pedestrians as they walk over them. If you were walking there last friday morning, maybe you were one of the people getting scared! Well, it was very amusing to watch because everyone finds humor in watching people get scared. Though, if I was there, I’d probably get a heart attack or curse nonstop. This prank was all done to promote the return of the Walking Dead on Sunday, February 9th (tomorrow). Do you think it was a great way to promote a return of a series? How effective do you think it was?
It was definitely memorable for the people who witnessed and experienced it.
I am a fan of the show and I love the promotional effects at Union Square. I believe it was a harmless and fun prank on the pedestrians; although, I would be quite scared if it had happened to me. In terms of effectiveness, I don’t think it was merely as effective as it could have been. As an average Joe with little marketing experience, I would have needed some sort of subliminal hint/information before or after the prank. For example, before I walk into the “prank zone” I see a big zombie warning poster related to the “The Walking Dead”. In that moment, the poster would not been of any significance to me. After falling victim to the prank, I would associate that experience to the poster that I saw.
Relating back to the use of technology with, in this case, marketing/advertisement, I would have posted on Facebook or Twitter about what I have just experienced – something along the lines of “Holy Zombies!! So subway rats are not the only ones living under the NYC streets”. However, if I saw the poster, I would have incorporated “The Walking Dead” into my post – something along the lines of “Holy Zombies!! So subway rats are not the only things that live under the NYC streets #hypedforthewalkingdead.”
Speaking of which, The Walking Dead will air 21 hours from this post! #hyped
Sounds like the folks who were behind the shooting of the video may have to answer some questions the NYPD has.