Good news, everyone: Someone has finally figured out how to make viral marketing funny instead of funny/annoying. No, it's not Ben Stiller, though he wins for sheer volume of Tropic Thunder viral marketing ploys. The winners are Napoleon Dynamite director Jared Hess and Jemaine Clement (of Jemaine on Flight Of The Conchords fame). The pair have set up an exhaustive and hilarious author website for Ronald Chevalier, the hack sci-fi/fantasy writer at the center of Hess' upcoming Gentlemen Broncos.
So who is Ronald Chevalier? Just another creative type, obsessed with his seed.
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Phase 1: Execute a very funny viral marketing campaign–Completed!
Phase 2: Execute a very funny movie that lives up to the promise of the viral marketing campaign–To Be Determined.
All in all, not a bad scorecard so far.