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Scam marketing a film scam
Okay, so two Czechs get an art grant from their government and use it to come up with an ad campaign for a new "hypermarket" (ie big-box store) in Prague that doesn't actually exist. In their eyes, the project is a way to satirize capitalism in the post-socialist state. They make a documentary of the whole affair, call it Czech Dream, and shop it to distributors. (It played here at the Tribeca Film Festival recently but I missed it.)
On the website, a trailer for the film portrays a climatic moment: one where the thousands of people who travel some distance for the store opening realize that it's all a ruse and proceed to beat the shit out of the film directors. But here's the catch: the trailer is itself fake. The violent confrontation never happened. When people realized they'd be had, they just shrugged their shoulders and went back to their daily grind.
If you read in-between the lines in the small print on the website, you'll realize the trailer is part of the ruse... but all this begs the question of what exactly the directors are satirizing. The Guardian referred to the film as "ingenious" and that may be (like I said, haven't seen it), but I find this brand of clever annoying. Any of you seen it? (Via Adland)
Posted by carrie on 05/31/2005 | Permalink
Comments
I saw a preview of this film in the UK and (as Carrie says) the trailer is a fake. Some of the crowd get a little angry, but the filmmakers have to poke them to even get this reaction. Maybe the Czech sense of humor is different or they are just used to being let down. Tesco (the Euro Wal-Mart equivalent) are already big there and this promised a cheaper alternative. The premise and the ads were indeed ingenious, though the ending did leave you questioning why it was the public who were the victims -- that was always going to feel a little grubby.
Posted by: Iain Aitch | Jun 6, 2005 5:55:12 AM
