ABC Employs Live Actors In Viral Campaign

Television company ABC is reportedly employing real people to get a viral campaign on track that's promoting its recently launched show Six Degrees. Good looking, well dressed young actors are hired to slip handwritten notes to people in public places, inviting them to contact them online.

by Angelique van Engelen

The marketing campaign for the show, which is set in New York, has made national headlines. A blog writer at the popular Manhattan Gawker blog reported her experience of the campaign; “I was on the 1 train heading uptown this morning and noticed an attractive, well-dressed man standing not far from me. I saw him write something down, and just before he got off, he handed it to me. It read: "Remember me? Get in touch. - Steven" and it gave his address as "steven@zoommail.net". The blogger was too familiar with online marketing not to check out the source. However, the site had counted on this.

“When you go to zoommail.net, you are redirected to - what else - u-r-connected.com. And if you write to the email address, this is the automated reply that you get back: "Hey, good to hear from you. I definitely think we know each other... take a look at my website (www.StevenCaseman.net) to see if you remember ... -Steven". And sure enough, the address redirects you to u-r-connected.com.”

Whether this technique where incognito ABC employees are randomly accosting the public at large, impersonating characters from a show, is going to be successful remains to be seen. However, not many have been negative just yet. “Will it make me watch the show? I doubt it, but it's still makes a girl feel good to have a cute guy slip her a note”, the Gawker blogger writes.