The people who coined the term ‘Life Sucks’ had no idea of how true it was for vampires. HBO keeps increasing the hype surrounding its new series True Blood, by creating a succession of print ads and television commercials centered on the vampire lore. It’s not hard to get drunk on blood and the bloodthirsty with how much the show is being promoted.
During the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, True Blood cast and crew talked about the new program and prepared audiences for one of the wildest vampire shows yet to hit TV screens. Creator Alan Ball, who produced the acclaimed Six Feet Under, was keen to explain the modern twists they’ve brought to the dark new series. Other than the intriguing idea it’s based on, True Blood has also become the home of bloody romances and deadly drinks. Nothing to worry about, since the advertisements are fictional. However, they are extremely convincing, and it’s difficult not to get hooked on this vampire vivre.
First off, the creators have used the concept of blogging. Even vampires aren’t safe from that phenomenon. Since the storyline of True Blood is about these fanged semi-humans being out in today’s world, the headlines are racing with stories about them. Again, it’s all fiction related to the whole True Blood mania. HBO released the website Bloodcopy.com, which chronicles the attempts of vampires to integrate with humans. The website includes articles and photos that feature killings, vampire appearances, posters and more.
Some of the posters seen included an outbreak of subversive thoughts focusing on the American Vampire League, another scheme hatched by the network. It also has a website, Americanvampireleague.com, which promotes equal rights for the immortal ones. The posters were set up to mimic vandalism by anti-vampire groups and were even spotted in the most unlikely places across America.
The marketing for True Blood has also employed one of today’s best-known ideas: online social networks. They have launched Lovebitten.net, a dating site for humans and vampires alike. Alan Ball used the term “Fangbangers” to refer to those who were erotically obsessed with centuries-old but physically young creatures. There seems to be a lot of them, as the website already has quite a number of members.
Perhaps one of the biggest campaigns True Blood has undertaken is the ad for the TruBlood synthetic blood drink. It’s probably the story’s driving force, since it is the reason why vampires mixed in with the human crowd in the first place. The TruBlood ads have slogans like “Real Blood is for Suckers” and “Friends Don’t Let Friends Drink Friends.” Their website, Trubeverage.com, also features commercials and products for the fictional beverage, and the posters can be seen around the country.
HBO seems to be going really far with their campaign to promote the show. If they keep this up, audiences will be expecting quite a lot from True Blood. Based on Charlaine Harris’ novels, True Blood will surely have to prove that it’s worthy of all the fuss. Audiences can see if the show “sucks” enough when it premieres on September 7 at 9pm on HBO.
-Maria Gonzalez, BuddyTV Staff Columnist
Source: HBO
(Image Courtesy of HBO)
Staff Writer, BuddyTV
