Yow! You’ll never believe it but that Kinsey girl on MySpace was really a Marvel viral video campaign! The final video launched last night and shows Kinsey (played by Megan Sherlock) finding out her brother has been replaced by a Skrull. The videos were written by Marvel’s own Jim McCann and Ben Morse, and directed by Sam Walker. Filmed over the course of a weekend, and uploaded over a month, the videos detailed Kinsey’s anxieties about going to the prom and other teen-aged pursuits before morphing into a tale of alien invasion.
Marvel was internally so pleased with the results that Kinsey has been written into the Marvel U. and will appear in Marvel’s first original webcomic, written by Ivan Brandon and with art by Nick Postic and edited by longtime webcomics mole John Barber. The webcomic launches today, we’re told, and will be ongoing.
Say what you will about Secret Invasion and “viral marketing”, Marvel’s marketing for this mini-series is at least bringing comics “events” up to speed with the new media atmosphere. We’re told Marvel teamed up with MySpace to get one Kinsey video featured on the video front page, garnering over 200,000 views. From reading the comments on Kinsey’s page a lot of people were following along just to sympathize with her prom plight and not just to find out about Skrulls. The jury is out on whether any of those 200K viewers will translate into comics readers, but you gotta give Marvel some points for fighting fire with fire.
But that leaves Marvel_b0y out in the cold. A Marvel insider, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of fanboy panties, said that “Marvel_b0y has been dealt with. He’s not Kinsey’s brother.”
Our guess? A viral campaign that didn’t go quite as well as planned. This one can be chalked up to as flinging stuff against the wall. Some of it sticks, some doesn’t.
UPDATE: The webcomic is now live at the Marvel site.
“speaking on conditions of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of fanboy panties”
I love that. Did you coin it? We should all start using it… chanting it at conventions, when people are being to uptight. This makes me happy. :)
“Marvel’s first original webcomic”
Perhaps I’m misremembering — I seem to recall a Kevin Smith-written Daredevil issue 0.
“Perhaps I’m misremembering — I seem to recall a Kevin Smith-written Daredevil issue 0. ”
While we have had some single comics on the web, this is our first orginal webcomic serialization that will run thru SECRET INVASION, not just a one-off issue.
But that lives Marvel_b0y out in the cold. A Marvel insider, speaking on conditions of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of fanboy panties, said that “Marvel_b0y has been dealt with. He’s not Kinsey’s brother.” Evidently a viral campaign that didn’t go quite as well as planned, this one can be chalked up to as flinging stuff against the wall. Some of it sticks, some doesn’t.
Wait…”dealt with” means they realized it was a shite marketing campaign or it means that it was a real transgressor that was caught and dealt with?
Well, look at that! Jim McCann commenting on a blog! Will wonders never cease?
So by “teamed up with” you mean “bribed to subvert the whole social networking thing and waste everyone’s time”, I suppose. ;-)
Lovely.
who now?
i obviously lifted my finger from the pulse of myspace.
and i don’t feel bad for it. not one bit.
I can believe it, especially since Rich Johnston spoiled it on Monday.
“Marvel_b0y has been dealt with.”
Dealt with like the Sopranos would deal with?
Surprisingly, “Marvel_b0y” disappeared the day before April Fool’s Day (I thought he/she at least will be uncovered that day, by Marvel as they catch the “mole” or revealed as a failed marketing ploy) AND his/her last post wasn’t about Marvel or comics at all. I think it was Michael Ian Black.