Creepy smiles greet unsuspecting Sydneysiders in Paramount’s campaign via Hello Social
Paramount Pictures has partnered with Hello Social to bring to Sydney streets a marketing stunt for its new horror movie, Smile.
Sydneysiders may have caught sight of individuals frozen in places around the city with creepy smiles earlier this week. Key locations include Mrs. Macquarie’s Chair, Pitt Street Mall, Central Station, Surry Hills, Hyde Park, Martin Place and Sydney Harbour Bridge.
The campaign also included custom social content posted by TikTok creators Caleb Finn and Emma Horn, and made an appearance on Sunrise by walking into the background while the show was live-on-air.
Uh, welcome to Oakland? pic.twitter.com/Zn6mu45t5P
— SNY (@SNYtv) September 24, 2022
The local iteration resonates with similar publicity efforts around the world, including the group of smilers planted in three MLB games in the US.
Sam Kelly, partner and managing director of Hello Social, said: “Our strategy was to drive beyond pure key art and trailer promotion. The multi-pronged activation provided us with a disruptive real-life moment, an earned PR opportunity and made for epic social content that localised the films narrative and could be served digitally to the masses.”
Credits
CLIENT: Paramount Pictures Australia
SENIOR MEDIA & DIGITAL MANAGER: Alice Tran
SENIOR NATIONAL PUBLICITY MANAGER: Hannah Brown
NATIONAL PUBLICITY MANAGER: Madeline Georgiadis
DIGITAL MARKETING EXECUTIVE: Terryn Wood
MEDIA MANAGER: John Macmahon
CREATIVE & MEDIA AGENCY: HELLO SOCIAL
PARTNER & MANAGING DIRECTOR: Sam Kelly
DIRECTOR OF CONTENT: Ben Stavert
HEAD OF TALENT AND PR: Melissa Leverett
STRATEGY DIRECTOR: Matt Pearce
PROJECT DIRECTOR: Jo Allen
SENIOR PERFORMANCE MANAGER: Hannah Steele
Got a tip?
Darcy Song was a reporter at Mumbrella, covering media owners, adtech and social platforms. She left in October 2023.
Linkedin
Have your say