Lionsgate Teases Superhero Film in Habbo Hotel
Building on the recent wave of promotional events in the virtual world of Second Life, independent film studio Lionsgate is releasing the first ten minutes of its animated Ultimate Avengers 2 feature film not in SL but via the isometric, teen-calibrated world of Habbo Hotel. “This event marks the first time the online community will be able to view 10 full minutes of a never-before-seen film prior to its release,” according to a press release on the Marvel.com Web site. The little Habbo sprites were even asked to dress up in black tie for the event!
While the “opening” was held July 26 in Habbo Hotel itself, you can still view the teaser minutes at this link on the Habbo site. While it’s interesting to see this kind of marketing seep into a world aimed at younger residents, it was, of course, inevitable. The earlier you can marry your audience to your brand, the better off you are in the long run. While Habbo has been used for similar promotional purposes in the past, this has happened mostly in Asia. Will we now see a flood of such Habbo initiatives in the Western world?
Feeds
In The Big Picture David Edelstein talks about how teens are the only reliable audience who will go to a movie theater weekly and buy concessions. So it makes total sense that Marvel (or Lions Gate) would target “virtual world” promotions somewhere with a teen focused population.