In terms of films and television, viral advertising has been used both successfully and unsuccessfully. The 2008 film, Cloverfield, featuring a large monster taking over Manhattan.
Unlike most viral marketing campaigns this one had virtually nothing to with the films plot or characters, instead it focused mainly on the fictional drink Slusho! and the fictional company Tagruato. On July 9, 2007, producer J. J. Abrams stated that, while a number of websites were being developed to market the film, the only official site that had been found was 1-18-08.comAt the site, a collection of time-coded photos are shown to visitors to the site to piece together a series of events and interpret their meanings. Also, while on 1-18-08.com, if the page is left open long enough, the monster's roar can be heard. Eventually, www.cloverfieldmovie.com was created. The site provided both a trailer and a number, 33287, which, when texted from a mobile phone, provided a ringtone of the monster's roar and a wallpaper of a decimated Manhattan.
The drink Slusho! served as part of the viral marketing campaign. Viral websites for Slusho! and a Japanese drilling company named Tagruato were launched to add to the mythology of Cloverfield. When Cloverfield was hosted at Comic-Con 2007, gray Slusho! T-shirts were distributed to attendees. Fans who had registered at the Slusho! website for Cloverfield received e-mails of fictional sonar images before the film's release that showed a deep-sea creature heading toward Manhattan.
The viral marketing campaign created a large amount of hype before the title of the film was even released. It was a large success in terms of generating an audience.
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