Apatow: on the front lines of creative promotions

A few years ago, Judd Apatow managed to translate a very clever piece of viral marketing -- a fake video of Michael Cera getting fired from the set of Knocked Up -- into effective promotion for his film. Without telling people that the clip was completely fabricated, he managed to create a storm of internet interest as fans tried to guess whether or not this actually happened.

This was incredibly effective, spreading the name of his film to the general public a few weeks before its release in theaters. Furthermore, it generated a good deal of curiosity about the project without giving too much away. Since then, lots of other films have attempted similar viral campaigns, but few have been met with the same success.



Apatow's recent viral campaign, the fake Yo Teach...! series featuring Funny People cast member Jason Schwartzman, is hilarious -- but does not quite achieve the same goals as the Michael Cera clip. And here's why: it's not clear that the fake NBC series has anything to do with Funny People. While Michael Cera's fake scene unfolded in a setting featured in the commercials for Knocked Up and involved cast member Katherine Heigl, Yo Teach...! does not give any indication of being related to Funny People. Jason Schwartzman and his character are not well enough known for people to connect it with the film.

Two more clips were released yesterday featuring tidbits from the fake movies that comedian-turned-actor George Simmons (Adam Sandler) starred in before being diagnosed with his deadly disease. Only time will tell if these are more effective as viral marketing goes.

Elizabeth Rappe over at Cinematical raises the good point that viral marketing was also used to great effect in last year's comedy hit, Tropic Thunder. She also raises the question of viral marketing being on the downturn. I don't quite know if that's true -- the power of the 3:00 YouTube clip is still pretty strong. The trouble is the hook -- something needs to be informative and intriguing at the same time, inspiring people to look further into a particular project.