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Posts Tagged ‘The Hunger Games’

‘Hunger Games’ Themed Summer Camp Raises Eyebrows

Generally, parents like to think their children are being taught important life lessons at summer camp, like the value of teamwork, comraderie and concern for others. But if parents who sent their kids to Florida’s Hunger Games-themed summer camp really expected their children to be doing trust falls and sitting around a campfire singing Kumbaya, they must not have read the books.

The Country Day School in Largo, Florida, inspired by the popular dystopian book series/movie franchise, recently established a week-long summer program, in which kids prepared to compete in a Hunger Games-esque tournament. The competition, set to take place at the end of the week, would be won by the child who had “killed” the most of his/her competitors by overcoming trials and taking flags from other kids (each flag collected symbolized a successful kill).

Though the rules of the game itself didn’t differ that much from other common camp games like capture the flag (the counselors repeatedly reminded the children that there was to be no actual violence or fighting to the death), it became clear rather quickly that the children were determined to more accurately reenact the violent events of the source material. “The violence the kids had expressed was off-putting,” the camp’s head counselor, Lindsey Gilette, told the Tampa Bay Times.

In order to dissuade the campers from taking the theme too literally, the rules of the tournament were tweaked mid-week to focus a bit more on team-building, and the terminology of the final game’s goal was changed from “killing” to “collecting lives.” Read more

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Marketing: Influencers and Brand Ambassadors

Marketing: Influencers and Brand AmbassadorsDon’t miss the chance to learn key elements that define successful digital influencers and why partnering with them can help generate sales and major prestige during the Marketing: Influencers and Brand Ambassadors webcast on August 21, 4-5 pm ET. You’ll participate in a live discussion with an expert speaker who will provide insights, case studies, real-world examples of strategies that have worked plus so much more! Register now.

‘Kentucky Kicks Ass’: Legitimate Campaign, PR Stunt, or Both?

Kentucky for KentuckyThe new year brought us a fun tale of a unique statewide rebranding campaign: According to PR Daily, the state of Kentucky no longer wants to rely on banjos, bourbon and fried chicken to drive tourist dollars. A group called Kentucky for Kentucky that claims to represent the commonwealth used the new year to unveil a brand-new slogan: “Kentucky Kicks Ass!”

While we got a chuckle out of this campaign, we were also skeptical. Would any state tourism board really approve such a ballsy tagline? Turns out we were right to wonder: While the project supposedly stemmed from an effort to crowdsource funding for a pro-Kentucky Super Bowl ad, state officials do not share the Internet’s enthusiasm for this PR stunt.

And now we learn (surprise, surprise) that Kentucky for Kentucky is the brainchild of three advertising executives who don’t mind making fun of themselves and don’t much care for their home state’s current slogan, the vaguely inspirational “Unbridled spirit”. They’d like everyone to know that they have no problem with the fact that Kentucky is best known for “KFC”, “horses”, “whiskey”, “marijuana”, George Clooney, Jonny Depp and “that chick in The Hunger Games“, because it’s still a great place to live, vacation and spend money. Oh, and they also have lots of fancy t-shirts for sale.

OK, so it was all a little prank. But it worked–and their video is kind of cool:

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We Will Be Inundated With Movie Marketing Forevermore

Still smarting from the huge losses tied to the film John Carter, Disney is now banking on The Avengers, the Marvel comic hero extravaganza that opens May 3, but had its Los Angeles premiere last night. And unlike John Carter, which can attribute its losses, in part, to the marketing effort, Disney is backing this film up with promotional power.

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‘Prometheus’: One Movie, Six Videos

We know you’re getting your outfit ready for the big Hunger Games premiere, but there are other movies you know. One that we’re excited about (because we’re huge fans of the first two Ellen Ripley Alien flicks that still manage to scare us after repeated viewing) is Prometheus, a kind of prequel to these dark, outer space classics, also by Ridley Scott.

Among the stars of the new movie are Charlize Theron, Michael Fassbender, Idris Elba, and the Swedish Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Noomi Rapace. In the months leading up to its premiere — Prometheus doesn’t come out until June — the studio is already taking its marketing to interesting lengths.

In light of the disaster that was the marketing effort for John Carter, this is a smart strategy. John Carter fell even further in this weekend’s box office, and there’s news today that Disney is taking a $200 million hit from the movie. Damn!

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‘The Hunger Games’ is Officially Everywhere

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The Hunger Games is in full effect! Our nerd heart is all a-flutter.

So in case you’re not cool, the new film based on the mega-popular dystopian teen novel of the same name, is opening around the world next Friday. But before that can happen, everyone is riding the wave of anticipation.

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