Universal Pays Up Over 'Fourth Kind'

Source: Fairbanks Daily News-Miner

The poster and trailers for Universal's horror thriller The Fourth Kind tout the film's events as "based on actual case studies", but the studio, hoping to spread the film's myth around Blair Witch -style, accidentally took the film's promotion a step too far. Universal planted news articles online, accrediting them to legitimate Alaskan publications like The Nome Nugget and The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, but the papers didn't take kindly to being linked to the faux reports and sued the studio, which settled for $20,000, plus a donation to a local shelter.

Fake internet sites and stories have become common as advertisers try to take advantage of the web to promote films, with films like The Dark Knight and Cloverfield providing notable recent examples of "in-character" or "in-universe" promotion. Sometimes, this technique is referred to as an "Alternate Reality Game" or "ARG", although there is not always a "game" to play. Usually, the studios will create entirely fake websites for corporations or companies that exist within the fictional world of the film, but it seems that Universal was looking for more authenticity.

The Alaska Press Club, which received the $20,000 settlement, said the sum would double their yearly revenue. The Fourth Kind opened to $12.2 million last weekend, a respectable amount given direct competition from independent horror behemoth Paranormal Activity.