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| Alternative media | |
your sorority queen Truth be told, she's ghastly in her appearance Oct 21, 2009
She's no ordinary co-ed. She has a mane of unkempt black hair hiding her face. She wears a white turtleneck under what may have once been a white nightgown. Now it's spattered with blood, with large red rivulets dripping all the way down to her feet. Her name is Mary Hatchet, and she's been popping up on college campuses across the country over recent weeks, visiting classrooms, wandering the quad and, this being college, closing down bars. She's part of a campus-focused campaign for a horror flick being released on DVD later this month, "Blood Night: The Legend of Mary Hatchet." "We wanted to bring elements from the movie to the street in real-life (main character and blood)," says Jason Bakker, director of marketing at Campus Media Group, which is executing the campaign. "We figured street theater with a model dressed like Mary Hatchet would create some buzz walking around campus." The campaign, which began earlier this month, has two main alternative elements. One is stencils with the words "Blood Night" and the movie's web address painted in white all over campus that are then spattered with a faux blood mixture. The second is the Mary Hatchet character walking around campus. In reality, the Hatchet model is a local who knows the campus. Campus Media Group gives the model a costume and instructions for her interactions. Mary frequents bars as well as day and night classes, and each visit lasts about one to two hours. She may also wander around campus, handing out post cards with information on "Blood Night." "She doesn't even speak, just hands out info on the movie and takes photos with patrons," Bakker says. "A bodyguard shadows the Mary model in case there are problems." The stunt works because it's arresting and totally off the wall. As trend-setters with disposable income, college students are inundated with advertising. You have to come up with something pretty creative to draw their attention, and a bloody ghost certainly does it. Plus the stunt coincides with Halloween, a favorite holiday on college campuses, making it all the more memorable. Students' reactions speak for themselves. Here are a few Bakker shared: "Thanks. Now I won’t be able to sleep tonight." "I would have never expected to see something like you on campus." "The creepiest part is the fact that you aren’t talking." "That is some creepy ass s*%^." The stunts, including the blood-spatter stencils, have received coverage in college newspapers as well as online via Facebook and Twitter. And in case you're wondering, the "blood" used by Campus Media Group is homemade and nontoxic. But the effect is sufficiently real.
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