Lee Dunbar

Apr

24

So you’re watching A&E TV, and these strange images fill the screen. You see a grainy picture full of static. A dog walks down a deserted small-town street. You might notice what appears to be dead bodies lying around. A website URL flashes on the screen www.whathappenedinpiedmont.com.

You visit the site and find the blog of one Andrew Tobler, a student at Berkley,  who apparently received a “bizarre” voicemail from his sister who lives in Piedmont, Utah. Despite his attempts, Tobler has not been able to reach anyone from his hometown.

A search for Piedmont, Utah on Google returns a list of links to blogs, Yahoo! Answers, news stories and, yes, Andrew’s blog all discussing the military build-up and the mystery that surrounds this small town.

You can find pictures of a military blockade,


and a screenshot of a news clip about a chemical spill,


you can even watch a video news clip that Andrew was able to capture, digitize and upload to YouTube,

 

but what you won’t find in your Google search is any information about Piedmont, Utah, because it doesn’t exist.

And thus begins a viral campaign for A&E’s adaptation of Michael Crichton’s The Andromeda Strain.

Looking at posts on forums, blogs and services such as Yahoo! Answers, it seems some people have bit. There has even been some distressed speculation that this could have been terrorism. We haven’t seen people jumping from buildings, or the hysteria that surrounded Orson Welles’ 1938, radio adaptation of the H. G. Wells’ classic novel, The War of the Worlds, but discussion of the mysterious happenings in Piedmont, Utah is certainly making the rounds on the net.

The success of this campaign is yet to be determined (although Google Trends does show a definate sign of some action around keywords that include variations around Piedmont), but other media properties have seen great success extending the story beyond a passive experience into a more experiential, interactive activity.

A good example of this is ABC’s Lost, which has used a number of websites to reveal clues, provide back story and allow fans to discuss the show. In doing so, they have successfully created a massive online social community built around a one hour sci-fi drama.  On the larger screen, we saw the producers of The Blair Witch Project provide back story and a treasure trove of bonus features and extras that helped vault this low budget horror into the mainstream.

If you want to experience Piedmont, Utah, you’ll have to tune into the Andromeda Strain mini-series which is to air starting on the US Memorial Day, or you’ll have to visit British Columbia, CA, as the film was actually shot there.

Tags: Advertising Stuff, Brand Experience Stuff, Design Stuff, Experience Design Stuff, Marketing Stuff, Search Engine Stuff, Web Stuff

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