There’s an article in The Hollywood Reporter today (speaking of which, anyone besides me hate their new site layout?) about how viral marketing “has gone positively bubonic.” And I’m glad someone is writing about how annoying it has gotten. Not only is it too common nowadays, but the THR piece discusses how “exhausting” the campaigns are, too, claiming that suddenly following a movie’s marketing feels like doing homework.

After watching the video (above) of an MTV intern’s experience of Monday’s Dark Knight viral marketing stunt, I have to give its puzzling game (which I had mentioned I’m too lazy patient to bother with) a little more credit, yet I still am flabbergasted that so many people are so invested and have so much time to waste that things like this actually work. The thing is, though, that it might only be working for people who are already anticipating the movie being marketed:

But are these elaborate schemes worth the resources the studios devote to them. Even among the most dyed-in-the-wool fans, it is hard to believe too many have the time or inclination to justify all this. And even if they did, what sense is there in pitching woo so fervently to an audience already guaranteed to show up to theaters? Maybe money is better spent targeting audience segments that aren’t as likely to buy tickets.

And as for those movies that don’t have a built-in audience, is it worth it? I wonder how many people are really enticed by secretive advertisements that mention a website but no actual film title. Personally, I think that’s a bit counterproductive. At least have the title or some suggestion of what you’re selling.

And here’s why: in the last couple weeks I’ve been seeing mysterious billboards and posters for something I figured was a movie called Piedmont. But due to my distaste for viral marketing lately I decided that I wasn’t actually curious enough to bother finding out what it was. In fact, if I did find out what the film was, I was planning to boycott the thing.

Anyway, today, for this post only, I decided to figure out what the ads are for. And it took me awhile, because other than “Piedmont” I couldn’t remember what the too-wordy website was called nor what the ads actually had said. Then, when I finally located the website, it gave not one hint about what the product is. After a bit of research, I’ve learned it’s not even a movie, though I’m still not completely clear what it is (according to its Terms page, it’s “a web-administered alternate reality game that will be conducted across various media, including on the World Wide Web.”

So when other types of products are using similar strategies, I think it mucks up the viral marketing concept even more. It’s definitely time to tone down the idea for awhile.