Upon you, the
eyes of the Observer
Weird, and weirder still when he hands you a bottle
By Toni Fitzgerald
Nov 19, 2009
You can sense the man behind you in the plaza before you actually turn around and see him.
He wears a dark suit and carries a briefcase. He's bald and, get this, he has no eyebrows. He's staring at you so hard the back of your neck starts to prickle.
In fact, you're starting to get a little freaked out. Finally the man approaches. He does not speak. He hands you a bottle of Tabasco sauce, then moves away, fixing his gaze on someone else.
What the devil is going on, you ask.
You'd have a pretty good idea if you'd seen "Fringe," the sci fi series on Fox.
The man is the Observer, a mysterious character who shows up at events throughout history and happens to have a passion for Tabasco.
This week a small army of Observers have been popping up in cities across the country in advance of an appearance by the character on tonight's episode.
"This has actually been a year-long stunt that we internally refer to as the 'Where’s Baldo' campaign," says Fox's Shannon Ryan. "We kicked it off last year by placing Observers wherever we could – in the stands at NFL games, at a NASCAR race, in the audience at an 'American Idol' taping, at a couple MLB games."
The most recent round started on Sunday. When the Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys game on Fox returned from a commercial break, the camera focused on two men sitting in the stands amidst a group of wildly cheering fans.
The announcers said nothing about the stoic men, dressed in dark suits and fedoras and missing their eyebrows. The camera lingered for a good 10 seconds before returning to the action on the field.
Today Observers are showing up across the country, arriving in teams of 12 in Boston, New York and Chicago. Yesterday they visited Atlanta and Los Angeles.
They're appearing in high-traffic pedestrian areas such as Atlanta's CNN Station and Phillips Center, Santa Monica's Third Street Promenade and LA's Beverly Hilton.
They'll stand around and observe, occasionally approaching passersby to give them a bottle of Tabasco sauce.
They are small glass bottles, the sort you'd find in a diner, with white rectangular stickers slapped to their backs that read "Fringe" in black capital letters, above the words "Observers are here." Below that it says "Thu Nov 19 9/8c Fox."
Fox also set up a Facebook page for the Observers, where it invited people to post pictures of their own encounters with the Observers.
The stunt worked on two levels. First, it was impossible to ignore. The men were extremely conspicuous with their identical suits and bald heads, and they gave off a creepy aura that perfectly reflects "Fringe's" tone.
"In the show, one of the unique characteristics of the Observers is that they have been known to use insane amounts of hot sauce and they enjoy spicy foods," Ryan says. "We thought having the Observers pass out Tabasco sauce was a way to have a little fun with that unique characteristic -- and also something that true 'Fringe' fans could appreciate."
The stunt is also a smart way to build curiosity about a show that has seen a steep ratings slide this year after moving to the toughest timeslot on television, Thursday at 9 p.m. After encountering an Observer, you might be moved to tune into the show, if for no other reason than to find out why he's missing his eyebrows.
Fox seems to be building a good deal of buzz through the Facebook page. By yesterday afternoon dozens of pictures had been posted and the page had more than 3,000 fans, a number that grew throughout the day.
People posted lots of comments with the pictures, too.
"I love this idea for promoting a show. Best audience participation ever," writes one person.
Says another, "Finally something for all the out-of-work bald actors in Hollywood."
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