Promise for Promicin
Campfire’s recent multimedia effort for The 4400 continues to build positive buzz promoting the show’s fourth season.
USA’s ‘The 4400′ Gets Promicin Injection
by Tobi Elkin, Tuesday, May 22, 2007
PROMICIN, A FICTIONAL DRUG THAT gives those who take it a
50/50 chance of either dying or gaining superhuman abilities, takes
center stage in an unusual Web campaign promoting the fourth
season of “The 4400,” the sci-fi drama on USA Network.
The multimedia campaign for the show kicked off yesterday with
three Web sites that aim to involve fans and hook new viewers to a
series of videos that set up a faux national debate over the drug.
The “Battle for Promicin” campaign theme essentially picks up
where the third season ended when lead character Jordan Collier
distributed the unpredictable drug. The new campaign extends that
theme, aiming to build buzz in preparation for the show’s season
four premiere on June 21.
Created by Campfire, the effort includes seven Web sites that will
feature more than 70 videos illustrating both sides of the Promicin
debate.
Three of those sites launched yesterday, including
PromicinInfo.com, an informational hub on the “Battle for
Promicin”; PromicinTerror.com, an anti-Promicin site; and
PromicinPower.com, a pro-drug site, with the rest debuting over
the next couple of weeks.
Banner ads driving viewers to the sites will appear on dozens of
blogs like CrooksandLiars and fan blogs, including those of shows
with cult-like followings like NBC’s “Heroes,” ABC’s “Lost,” and Fox’s
“24″.
USA will also run ads on major Web sites and networks including
Yahoo, and plans wild postings in five cities promoting The4400.com with links to the Promicin sites, and additional live
events in three cities. TV spots are also part of the mix.
A user-generated component devised by Campfire lets fans shoot,
share and upload their own Promicin political campaign-style
videos to YouTube. USA and Campfire anticipate plenty of wacky
fan-created videos created to showcase Promicin-induced powers.
“The campaign was designed to be a very specific part of the 4400
franchise, it’s like entertainment within that [4400] world,” said
Gregg Hale, creative director, Campfire.
Shooting 78 videos ranging from 20 seconds to 5 minutes in length
over a two-month period, was a challenge. “This is the largest
amount of videos that we’ve done and it’s certainly the most direct
outreach to people that we’ve come up with so far. I think this is
one of the biggest online extensions of a TV franchise that’s ever
been done,” Hale said.
While “The 4400″ was the most-watched new series at the
conclusion of its first season, promoting a series that’s headed into
its fourth season isn’t a no-brainer, so USA needed a radical idea.
The network hopes the idiosyncratic effort will re-energize the
show’s fan base while also wrangling new viewers to the franchise.
USA’s goal with the “us” vs. “them” battle over Promicin “is to
dimensionalize it and put the audience right in the middle of the
conversation,” said Chris McCumber, senior vice president,
marketing and brand strategy, USA Network. “It’s a very easy and
understandable way into the season … It sets up a very clear and
provocative conflict.”
The mock videos appear earnest and convincing. In a pro-Promicin
video, people tell the camera they took the drug to promote world
peace, because they care about their children and their children’s
children, among other aspirational ideas.
“Daisy,” inspired by the iconic 1964 LBJ/Goldwater presidential
campaign spot for which ironically, many of “The 4400’s” younger
viewers have no reference point, a little girl tears off daisy petals
one at a time as a voiceover intones: “Tell your elected officials to
ban Promicin … The stakes are too high for you to stay quiet.”
In “Disappearing Wife,” a testimonial-style video, a character
named Roberta McGovern from Dayton, Ohio says she took the drug
and far from dying, now possesses powers that give the ability to
disappear.
“We really wanted to create this viral conversation that puts
viewers into the central theme of the show,” McCumber said.
A teaser video for the campaign lives on The4400.com and will
serve as the gateway for the campaign’s launch.
Campfire began seeding buzz for the new season a few months ago
by creating opt-in e-mails and other forms of communication with
hardcore fans
PromicinDance.com, debuting in coming weeks, will feature a show
character whose Promicin trip enables him to unlock the “inner
dancer” in people; a live event is planned based on the character.
Viewer feedback and research found that fans wanted lighter
moments on the show. PromicinPassion.com is likely to highlight a
character with special sexual powers, Hale hinted.
