Viral marketing agency Thinkmodo came up with a clever drone stunt to promote the Fantastic Four film, in a piece of great marketing that quite likely ended up more entertaining than the actual film itself. Released in NYC, the stunt was filmed with firefighters standing by, and professionals operating the drone (Professional Drone Pilot. Now that’s an unusual job). You may remember Thinkmodo from their previous viral stunt, Flying People in New York City. From Wired:
[T]he video shot at Nassau County’s Fire Service Academy shows a human-shaped and -sized drone flying through the sky, as aflame and defiant as Johnny Storm.
“We understood that it was risky, but we had complete faith in the team we worked with and the local firefighters at the facility who made it their priority to keep everyone and everything safe,” Thinkmodo co-founder Michael Krivicka said to Adweek. “We selected the safest location, a fire training facility, which is designed for the purpose of burning and extinguishing things.”
It’s not uncommon nowadays for the marketing campaigns leading up to the film to turn out better than the film itself – see Prometheus, for example, with the fake TED talk by Peter Weyland and other collateral. Looking forward to the next big campaign!