Sweet Hollywood hoax with Aussie actors

Gary Sweet and Home and Away’s Sharni Vinson have fronted a trailer for a “hit new television series” which has fooled Hollywood.

On Monday night, about 500 people gathered for a swanky premiere screening of ‘Scarlet’ a new TV series from director David Nutter (Band of Brothers, Entourage, Sarah Connor Chronicles) that stars Natassia Malthe.

It looked like a standard new-show screening, right down to the 32-foot-long red carpet and Wolfgang Puck catering. But the event was part of a $100 million global advertising and marketing campaign for LG Electronics, was actually an elaborate hoax for a “new series” of LCD plasma screens with a red back panel.

They even managed to get Lindsay Lohan on the red carpet.

LG’s premiere-like event was the culmination of a three-month global viral-marketing effort to promote the fake TV show. For the past few weeks, a teaser commercial for “Scarlet” had been running on TV and online, with no mention of LG.

The action-packed Alias-like trailer features a slinky brunette, in several action scenes, including one in which she crashes through a plate-glass window and uses her karate skills against four masked men. “Things aren’t always what they seem,” a voice-over chimes in at the end of the ad (funnily enough very close to Canal Road’s line isn’t it?)

The result of the stunt? Plenty of online, TV and magazine stories about “Scarlet.”

Source: Wall Street Journal