Social Network Campaign Promotes “The Day the Earth Stood Still.”

Posted on December 1, 2008 by Chief Marketer Staff

ever play that mental game about what one thing you would save from a house fire? Twentieth Century Fox and agency Moxie Interactive want to get you thinking globally and chatting socially about what you’d want to save if the Earth itself were under attack.

The “Earth’s Vital List” social network campaign is meant to promote the Dec. 12 release of “The Day the Earth Stood Still,” a remake of the 1951 sci-fi classic. It’s built around an application that users can download and post to their profile pages on seven of the world’s largest social networks, from Facebook and MySpace to Orkut and Bebo. The download page is available in 10 languages.

The film, both the original and the remake, concerns a visit from aliens who arrive to warn the Earth of a coming global crisis; the Vital List app asks users to name up to a dozen things they would save if the planet were to stop tomorrow — anything from the California condor and the Pyramid at Giza to their pet cockatoo.

Users can upload photos with their lists and share the lists with their social friends. They can also go to the global microsite to see what others around the world have said they would save and why, and vote for the best entries.

The site, launched last month, displays an animated globe and pinpoints random top postings in the country or language of the visitor’s choice. It also contains a scrolling ticker with live stats about who’s just posted a list (first name only), where they live, and what they put at the top. And it names a “Vital Item of the Day,” breaks out the general categories that have seen the most posts so far (animals and plants led at press time), and lets users search lists either globally or by nation.

A countdown clock for the film’s U.S. release will also serve to count down the days until the site operators reveal a list of the 1,212 items (from the 12/12/08 release date, of course) most of the world agreed should be saved.

“This program will connect consumers with the movie by employing a creative application that naturally fosters conversations,” says Kris Zagoria, founder and CEO of Moxie interactive. “This is the first time that a digital campaign has ever leveraged an array of social networks, creating a truly interactive application of global proportions.”

“We knew we had to build a ground-breaking campaign that would give movie fans around the Earth a way to connect with the film’s themes,” says 20th Century Fox vice president for international digital marketing Bettina Sherick. “We’re leveraging the most popular social networks around the world with a question that resonates with all.”

The original “Day the Earth Stood Still” involved the arrival of an alien craft and two possibly helpful, but possibly threatening extraterrestrials: scientist Klaatu and the robot Gort. Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly star in the remade version.

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