Discuss: Chuck Palahniuk's Viral Gang Bang(ers)
Filed under: Comedy, Newsstand, Movie Marketing
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I don't remember the last book that had a viral campaign behind it. I'm not talking about a graphic novel or a comic book; I'm talking a straight-up novel -- one that showcases a flashy website with viral videos, tour dates and erotic images. Furthermore, I'm talking about Chuck Palahniuk's new book, Snuff (which streets on May 20). Palahniuk, as most of us already know, wrote the books Fight Club and Choke -- the latter of which just pushed back its August release date to September 26 after premiering to some pretty positive buzz earlier this year at Sundance. Snuff, in case you're wondering, tells the story of Cassie Wright; a porn actress who wants to set a record by having sex with 600 guys at the same time ... or something like that. The book itself is told from the perspective of the guys trying to fulfill her wishes.What I find interesting about this viral campaign is that they've gone ahead and shot mock trailers for Cassie's films, like The Wizard of Ass (posted after the jump for certain NSFW reasons). Not only that, but Chuck himself sat down to interview "Cassie" as well (check out that three-parter over here, toward the bottom of the page). My question is this: Do strange viral videos like the ones being offered here take anything away from the book? Normally, we'll see this sort of stuff when the book is being turned into a movie, but not before the book itself even hits shelves. Could this also be a way to showcase the visual aspects of said book to potential Hollywood buyers, or do you feel snuff, er, stuff like this is simply for the fans and no one else?
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
5-14-2008 @ 4:37PM
Adam said...
This I believe is a good thing for the fans and for the book. Books are losing their audience as more of the current generation becomes accustomed to instant gratification and visual imagery. They need something to draw them in and I think this sort of content will do that. Books need a new dynamic to keep them appealing. Be it viral videos, multimedia integration, or interesting visual illustrations incorporated into the books. People like to see images and while they love to use their imagination, it is always great to have some visual reference to get you into the story.
They have been doing these trailers (not quite like this of course) for childrens books lately and it seems to be working to get books sold. I don't think it has much to do with trying to sell the book as a film, but I am sure that can be one of the possible benefits that just happen to help sell the idea of doing them.
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5-14-2008 @ 4:45PM
Peter Martin said...
I like the idea strictly from the perspective of marketing the book. Palahniuk already has a devoted core of readers eagerly anticipating each book, but this is the kind of thing that might lure a wider audience, an easy link to try and convince your friends.
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5-14-2008 @ 6:06PM
Midnight13 said...
Palahuniuk's books are twisted, dark, dirty rides. They are often fun rides that make you laugh and cringe at the same time. I think its great the creative ways he is able to promote his novels. The internet allows for a lot of ways to get creative with your marketing campaign. Not enough authors have used the internet to its advantages. Why shouldn't writers promote thier literature in the similar ways filmakers and musicans promote thier work?
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5-15-2008 @ 10:40AM
MosquitoControl said...
Palahuniuk's books are usually empty, vapid, thoughtless attempts to make you cringe. 100% shock value, 0% thought. They're similar to Speed Racer, which was a film that overwhelmed your eyes with color, fascinating you for the first 10 minutes, then boring you, then ultimately pissing you off because it makes the lack of everything else more obvious. Replace "color" with "shock" and you've got a Palahuniuk book.
So lame, crass viral marketing seems to make sense for his books.
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