Wanted: Multiplex employees willing to lurk in cardboard advertising displays and scare patrons. Tolerance for high-pitched squeals required.
Video clips of movie patrons being scared by “Prom Night” displays have turned up on YouTube.
As a boutique division of Sony Pictures, Screen Gems leans heavily on stunts to help sell its movies. To promote “Prom Night,” a teenage horror movie set for a Friday release, the company took the unusual step of asking multiplex employees for help.
In 120 movie theaters across the country, Screen Gems set up advertising displays in corners and hallways. The company built the displays, called “standees” in marketing jargon, to look like the entrance to a ballroom. “Open the door for a night to die for,” beckoned signs on the cardboard doors. Once patrons took the bait, an employee would pop out with arms flailing.
“We want people to come away thinking that ‘Prom Night’ is going to be a good, scary movie,” said Marc Weinstock, the president of marketing at Screen Gems.
With horror movies delivering mixed box office results lately due to a glut in the marketplace, Mr. Weinstock needs all the help he can get. One signal that the stunt is working, at least in the scaring department, is that video clips have popped up on YouTube showing people opening the cardboard doors, shrieking and running away.
‘That’s exactly what I want to see,” Mr. Weinstock said.
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