Underground Marketing on 60 Minutes - Cowboy Bebop
- rubyeye
- Joined: Wed Sep 05, 2001 1:45 pm
Underground Marketing on 60 Minutes - Cowboy Bebop
[*reposting from rec.arts.anime.misc*]
____
Here's an excerpt from CBS 60 Minutes, which took an inside look at how
advertisers use viral marketing to shape your opinions without you even
realizing it. And you fell for it.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/ ... 9657.shtml
On the day 60 Minutes visited, Soulkool operatives were going undercover on the
Internet, promoting the movie "Cowboy Bebop," an animated feature.
Soulkool employees, all of them barely in their 20s, boost the promotion by
flooding Internet chat rooms and message boards with rave reviews for the movie.
Soulkool does not mention any professional affiliation, so the kids who read
their messages have no idea they're talking to a paid marketer, hired to plug
the movie. And it's not just Soulkool employees who are doing the plugging.
There's Lucas Schlager, a 13-year-old Cowboy Bebop fanatic, one of 350
volunteers across the country enlisted by Soulkool to hype the movie in exchange
for T-shirts and posters.
From the comfort of his Long Island bedroom, Lucas spends hours in chat rooms,
typing and hyping away.
“Thirteen different chats and four message boards, multiple postings.
And I would just, you know, completely tell everything about this movie. And
just get people to go see it,” says Schlager.
Lucas sometimes mentions Soulkool in his chats, but often he doesn't. The other
person has no idea he's dealing with a marketer.
_______
Don't we all do this anyway as fans, especially amv fans. We are doing them a favor. Anyway, I thought it was interesting, though I could care less about Bebop - so overrated -
____
Here's an excerpt from CBS 60 Minutes, which took an inside look at how
advertisers use viral marketing to shape your opinions without you even
realizing it. And you fell for it.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/10/ ... 9657.shtml
On the day 60 Minutes visited, Soulkool operatives were going undercover on the
Internet, promoting the movie "Cowboy Bebop," an animated feature.
Soulkool employees, all of them barely in their 20s, boost the promotion by
flooding Internet chat rooms and message boards with rave reviews for the movie.
Soulkool does not mention any professional affiliation, so the kids who read
their messages have no idea they're talking to a paid marketer, hired to plug
the movie. And it's not just Soulkool employees who are doing the plugging.
There's Lucas Schlager, a 13-year-old Cowboy Bebop fanatic, one of 350
volunteers across the country enlisted by Soulkool to hype the movie in exchange
for T-shirts and posters.
From the comfort of his Long Island bedroom, Lucas spends hours in chat rooms,
typing and hyping away.
“Thirteen different chats and four message boards, multiple postings.
And I would just, you know, completely tell everything about this movie. And
just get people to go see it,” says Schlager.
Lucas sometimes mentions Soulkool in his chats, but often he doesn't. The other
person has no idea he's dealing with a marketer.
_______
Don't we all do this anyway as fans, especially amv fans. We are doing them a favor. Anyway, I thought it was interesting, though I could care less about Bebop - so overrated -
- Moonlight Soldier
- girl with bells
- Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2003 1:45 pm
- Status: Plotting
- Location: Canada
- Hitori
- Joined: Wed Feb 06, 2002 1:10 am
- Status: I might be back.
- Location: New Mexico
- Contact:
Re: Underground Marketing on 60 Minutes - Cowboy Bebop
Exactly!rubyeye wrote:Don't we all do this anyway as fans, especially amv fans. We are doing them a favor.

- BogoSort
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2001 12:10 pm
- Location: Right behind you with a knife!
- Contact:
Dude, I'm totally a sellout. I'm apparently one of the major forms of advertising for the band <a href=http://www.bigego.com>Jim's Big Ego</a>. You can express your annoyance and hate at me now.Moonlight Soldier wrote::?
That's a rather...wow...I can't articulate my annoyance for that sort of advertising...
- Moonlight Soldier
- girl with bells
- Joined: Thu Jul 03, 2003 1:45 pm
- Status: Plotting
- Location: Canada
- SarahtheBoring
- Joined: Sun Apr 07, 2002 11:45 am
- Location: PA, USA
- Contact:
It's different to most people if you're getting paid (even in swag) vs. just plugging it because you like it.BogoSort wrote:Dude, I'm totally a sellout. I'm apparently one of the major forms of advertising for the band <a href=http://www.bigego.com>Jim's Big Ego</a>. You can express your annoyance and hate at me now.Moonlight Soldier wrote:![]()
That's a rather...wow...I can't articulate my annoyance for that sort of advertising...
Why it's different may vary from one person to the next; to me it's about sincerity and motive. YMMV.
- Jim Hawkings21122
- Joined: Sun Apr 27, 2003 6:18 pm
- Location: behind your back.......
- BogoSort
- Joined: Wed Mar 14, 2001 12:10 pm
- Location: Right behind you with a knife!
- Contact:
Actually I talked to them, and managed to get them to give me some of their CDs for free. And if any previous discussions with you have yielded any merit, I know that I'm most definately not sincere in any of my pursuits. So I am getting free swag for promoting their work. =P Definately a total sellout.SarahtheBoring wrote:It's different to most people if you're getting paid (even in swag) vs. just plugging it because you like it.BogoSort wrote:Dude, I'm totally a sellout. I'm apparently one of the major forms of advertising for the band <a href=http://www.bigego.com>Jim's Big Ego</a>. You can express your annoyance and hate at me now.Moonlight Soldier wrote::?
That's a rather...wow...I can't articulate my annoyance for that sort of advertising...
Why it's different may vary from one person to the next; to me it's about sincerity and motive. YMMV.