What looks like another promotional piece for the upcoming Prometheus actually serves two roles. Not only is it virally promoting Ridley Scott’s next trip into the universe apparently ruled by the Weyland Corporation, it’s also an exercise in viral product placement. You see, not only is the clip promoting the movie, a quick glance at the party responsible for the upload reveals the product it’s promoting.
Furthermore, it may also explain why Verizon is getting rid of unlimited data plans. I mean, associating yourself financially with summer blockbusters can’t be cheap can it? Well, it’s probably cheaper than improving your infrastructure to the point where it actually supports unlimited data, but why do that when there’s Alien prequels (or are they?) to associate your brand with? Yes, my digression may be simplifying things, but at some point in the near future, one hopes these mobile service providers will actually address the issues that cause unlimited data plans to be abandoned.
Until then, product placement and tiered data plans are the the “in” thing.
As for the promotional clip, besides virally advertising Verizon’s Home Monitoring and Control service, it gives us more exposure to Noomi Rapace’s character, Dr. Elizabeth Shaw. The video, titled “Quiet Eye” is a futuristic voicemail from Rapace’s Shaw, asking the Weyland Corporation for interstellar travel help, and if you’ve seen any of the trailers, Dr. Shaw does indeed get the help she’s asking for. Of course, once she arrives to the destination, all hell breaks loose, at least according to the footage we’ve seen.
Verizon’s promotional part comes into play when viewers click the Facebook linkprovided on the YouTube page. From here, users can “explore the world of Prometheus and learn about Verizon Home Monitoring and Control.”
Once the tie-in page is accessed, visitors can either play Verizon’s “Prometheus Mission Connect” game or learn more about the home monitoring service. Naturally, Verizon’s Prometheus game makes use of their monitoring software, which is the point of the product placement/tie-in effort.
