In the past few years, viral marketing attempts have become as much a part of Comic-Con as trailers, previews, and cosplay. Now that Comic-Con 2011 is just barely under way, the first viral marketing ploy has been spotted in the form of this poster.
Click the image for a direct link to the ARMADYNE website, which plays a recruitment ad for “the most ambitious project ever undertaken by mankind,” or just watch the embedded ad below.
Coming Soon reports the site and poster are early promotional efforts for the upcoming Neill Blomkamp project Elysium, which stars Matt Damon, Jodie Foster and District 9 lead Sharlto Copley. We also know Wagner Moura (Elite Squad) is set to play the villain, while William Fichtner, Alice Braga, and Diego Luna round out the rest of the major roles.
As far as the plot is concerned, we know only that the film will somehow feature sociopolitical ideas wrapped up in an action movie set on another planet in the far future.
The ARMADYNE recruitment ad calls for “zero g welders, mega-structure engineers, quantum networkers” and experts in “zero g coupling and multi-generational planning.” Could this be the beginning of the human colonization of whatever planet Elysium is set on? The “expected project completion date” is listed as 2097. Is this when the movie is set?
For now, we don’t know. We do know that Elysium is on track for a March 1st, 2013 release. With a two year lead on the film, this viral marketing campaign is sure to heat up by then.
What makes this good viral marketing, if it even is?