Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Just no.

Okay, so The Hollywood Reporter is suggesting that this red-band trailer for David Fincher's remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was supposedly recorded illegally in Europe and then uploaded to YouTube for your viewing pleasure, is actually a Sony plant. Sort of exactly like when the Corporate Fat Cat in his $5000 suit sits down at the marketing meeting and says, "I hear the kids are into viral videos these days. Wallace, get busy on making some of those."

This is the Internet equivalent of a dad trying to dress like his son so that they can "relate." It's just sad. Awful, really. Viral "campaigns" are a crasser-then-crass attempt to co-opt a social phenomenon for the sake of filthy lucre. The whole point of a viral video is that it spreads on its own, by virtue of the meshing of its peculiar appeal and the Internet's mood at a given moment. You don't manufacture viral.

Likewise, you don't up something's cool factor by pretending it's pirated when it really isn't. For some reason, THR doesn't get this; instead, they finish a fine piece of analysis with the garbage line, "Finally, an under-the-radar viral campaign would be in keeping with [protagonist Lisbeth] Salander’s own renegade spirit, since she’s a master of manipulating the web." Got that? Sony - a giant electronics company that also happens to own a movie studio - is somehow in keeping with the renegade spirit of a master hacker who distrusts authority and has contempt for the system. Lamelamelame.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all

Previous article

The danger of San Diego's hoarders

The $1 million Flash Comics #1

Okay, so The Hollywood Reporter is suggesting that this red-band trailer for David Fincher's remake of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which was supposedly recorded illegally in Europe and then uploaded to YouTube for your viewing pleasure, is actually a Sony plant. Sort of exactly like when the Corporate Fat Cat in his $5000 suit sits down at the marketing meeting and says, "I hear the kids are into viral videos these days. Wallace, get busy on making some of those."

This is the Internet equivalent of a dad trying to dress like his son so that they can "relate." It's just sad. Awful, really. Viral "campaigns" are a crasser-then-crass attempt to co-opt a social phenomenon for the sake of filthy lucre. The whole point of a viral video is that it spreads on its own, by virtue of the meshing of its peculiar appeal and the Internet's mood at a given moment. You don't manufacture viral.

Likewise, you don't up something's cool factor by pretending it's pirated when it really isn't. For some reason, THR doesn't get this; instead, they finish a fine piece of analysis with the garbage line, "Finally, an under-the-radar viral campaign would be in keeping with [protagonist Lisbeth] Salander’s own renegade spirit, since she’s a master of manipulating the web." Got that? Sony - a giant electronics company that also happens to own a movie studio - is somehow in keeping with the renegade spirit of a master hacker who distrusts authority and has contempt for the system. Lamelamelame.

Sponsored
Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Oh, come on

Next Article

A Closer Look at the Trailer for Twilight: Breaking Dawn

Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader