“Cheapest Rent In L.A.”: Watch the Man Living Inside a Billboard to Promote Netflix’s New Sci-Fi Film
Viral marketing has gone to new levels in recent years, with studios uisng live events and performances as means of promoting their latest films and TV shows. Netflix is no stranger to the impact that viral marketing creates, and the campaign for the streaming service’s latest film is going to go down in history as one of the wildest viral marketing stunts ever.
To promote its new sci-fi film (more on that below), Netflix has put a man inside of a billboard over Los Angeles that is furnished to look like an apartment. He will be “living” there as a piece of performance art to promote the movie, for an unspecified amount of time. So if you’re in the area, better get a good look at it now!
Netflix’s The Last House Teases the “Cheapest Rent In LA”
This viral marketing stunt is being staged to promote Netflix’s new film The Last House, which has just premiered on the streaming service (at the time of writing this). The film comes from The Incredible Hulk and Now You See Me director Louis Leterrier; it stars Greta Lee (Tron: Ares) and Wagner Moura (Civil War) as two parents who, with their two children, “are suddenly sealed inside their home with no way out, and must work together to survive against both their dwindling resources and the mysterious, looming threat that is keeping them trapped.” The film is described as a sci-fi/thriller, which is teasing the looming mystery of what the “threat” is.
The viral marketing campaign plays up the idea that being trapped inside the house is the threat, while using the live performer inside the billboard as engaging metaphor that challenges onlookers to consider their own ability to survive such a situation.
Fans are certainly engaging with the marketing stunt: Tweets like “Chepeast rent in L.A.” or “With rental prices in LA, he might just want to stay up there!” are all over the chat thread on Netflix’s post; meanwhile, others joke that “@netflix has done more for LA’s homeless problem than the mayoral candidates!”
Does The Last House’s Viral Marketing Hype or Hurt The Show?
Not everyone is as thrilled or entertained with this ‘man in the billboard’ marketing stunt for The Last House. As one person points out, the marketing stunt’s attempt to relate the man in the billboard concept to events of the show may be a major spoiler: “So clearly in the movie the house is being observed for an experiment. Got it”. We have no idea if that’s actually true or not, but if it is to any degree, then having the mystery spoiled by marketing would be a major fail.
Other people seem so put off by the display that they may avoid the show, criticizing both the thematic implications and the real-life “ick” of having a working actor go through this for a gig: “I speak for the universe when I say we’re tired of your dark hunger games what-will-people-do-for-dollar to survive or make life liveable for themselves and their family. Whatever this show is it looks completely awful.”
They say ‘any press is good press,’ so Netflix may be happy to be getting engagement out of this, in whatever form helps it go viral. Seems to be working – now we just have to see if it also translates into huge views for The Last House.
You can stream it now on Netflix.
