October 15, 2012 / Comments Off on Red Cross and AMC join forces on Zombie Blood Drive / Posted in: Blog
James Cooper is a strategist on the Content and Community team at Social Media Group (SMG). Follow @jamescooper
If you, like I did, watched the season three premiere of AMC’s “The Walking Dead” last night, you probably saw the PZA (Public Zombie Announcement) for “The American Red Cross Zombie Blood Drive”. AMC and the American Red Cross have joined forces on the campaign, which encourages viewers to “use their brains and give blood”. I think it’s a clever strategy to support an important cause.
Zombie Celebrity Photos - The Black Keys (Photo: AMC)
The campaign, which puts the spotlight on the constant need for blood donations, also includes “zombie-fied” digital portraits of an impressive lineup of celebrities, like Aisha Tyler, Peter Jackson, The Black Keys, EXTRA’s Maria Menounos, Joel Madden, Jimmy Smits, NASCAR’s Kurt Busch. The “zombie-fication” process was performed by “The Walking Dead’s” own special effects make-up designer, Greg Nicotero.
Watch the Public Zombie Announcement:
The Red Cross is not the first public service organization to use a zombie apocalypse to advance its cause. In 2011, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention launched its Zombie Preparedness campaign. What began as a tongue in cheek approach to engage new audiences with pandemic preparedness messages has proven to be an effective platform, which includes a graphic novella, a blog and an educators website among other web and social media.
What do you think? Do you like the idea of using a zombie apocalypse to drive an audience to take action?
October 29, 2010 / Comments Off on Social Media Roundup: Best of Halloween 2010 / Posted in: Blog, Social Media Roundup
This week’s social media roundup is special for Halloween, here are seven of our favorites from around the social web.
Enjoy and have a safe and awesome Halloween from all your friends at Social Media Group.
Quoth the Raven, Nevermore
I always have a soft spot for Edgar Allan Poe’s “Raven”. I’m pretty fond of the Simpson’s version, but this version read by John De Lancie (who played Q on Star Trek) is excellent. (via BoingBoing)
Foursquare offers Two Halloween 2010 Badges
More treat than trick, Foursquare has released two badges for users this Halloween. Confession: I checked into the office today today just to unlock the badge. I’ve been a sucker for badges since Brownies.
In order to score Halloween 2010 badge (above, at right), simply check in anytime this weekend, anywhere on Foursquare, but make sure to shout “Happy Halloween!” when you do. The more coveted badge, the Spooky Swarm (above, at left) is only for those hosting the rowdiest parties, as you’ll have to check in at a party spot with as-yet-undisclosed large number of fellow Foursquare checkins. We’re guessing somewhere between 50-100 others, but listen for the full how-to on Twitter over the weekend as people unlock this.
Much healthier than those tasty teeny chocolate bars
“The idea for the Trick-or-Treater Index came to me several years ago, right after my wife and I spent our first Halloween in Toronto and I wrote about it in my Who’s Your City?. I’d lived in many urban neighborhoods in the United States in New York, Boston, D.C., Pittsburgh, Columbus, and Buffalo, and frankly never seen many trick-or-treaters…”
Chicago, San Diego and Trenton, NJ made the list. For all the details, check out the Best Cities for Trick-or-Treating media gallery at The Daily Beast.
Adam Frucci at DVICE writes of John Savio’s costume: “This epic homemade costume consists of a jailbroken iPhone 4 hooked up to a 40-inch LED LCD panel, a back camera LED light and a whole lot of polish. The phone connects to the display via VGA out, allowing John to control the screen and display, making it look like a real-deal giant iPhone.”
Staying with costumes, Mashable ran a Social Media Media Halloween Costume Contest this week. Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and YouTube make a good showing. I’m all about memes as Halloween costumes, so the guy dressed as Sad Keanu gets my vote.
New Yahoo! Game uses Zombies to Teach Economic Theory
Just in time for Halloween, Yahoo! labs developers have released a zombie game that goes beyond the norm (rising from the dead, eating brains, etc) and enters the realm of (gasp) education.
Shambling Hordes is a simple game of territory control that challenges players to assume the mantle of “Zombie Warlord” and conquer a desolate island with a limited supply of undead legions.
Best Carvings: Pumpkin Geek
Elevating the time-honoured tradition of carving faces into pumpkins for jack-o’-lanterns, is Alex Wer, the Pumpkin Geek who has an incredible online gallery of carvings. Hmm, I wonder if it is too late to order a Social Media Group logo-carved pumpkin?
