Marketing people instinctively want to collect as much data as they can about their audience. That impulse, combined with the latest Facebook changes, has annoyed a highly engaged segment eager to see The Hunger Games, a movie based on the first in an incredibly popular trilogy written by Suzanne Collins.
A viral marketing campaign is building anticipation for the Lionsgate movie’s release on March 23, 2012. Fans are telling each other about a tie-in website – http://www.thecapitol.pn – that creates a unique badge for each user. First of all, it requires logging in with either a Facebook or Twitter account, which some of the fans are objecting to. But the complaints started to grow when people noticed the extent of the permissions they would be granting to the site, with no explanation given regarding what would be done with that information.
Signing up through Twitter allows the site to: Read Tweets from your timeline; See who you follow, and follow new people; Update your profile; and Post Tweets for you.
Signing up via Facebook goes even further, with the disclosure saying the user grants permission for it to: Access my basic information (name, profile picture, gender, networks, user ID, list of friends, and any other information you’ve made public); Send me email; Post to Facebook as me; Access my data any time; Access my custom friend lists; Access my profile information (Birthday and Current City); Access my photos; and Access information people share with me (Birthdays, Family Members and Relationship Statuses and Current Cities).
Ironically, The Hunger Games is set in a post-apocalyptic near future where the government ubiquitously monitors all of its citizens. The plot centers are the state’s requirement that each district selects two children who will be used as gladiators in the ultimate reality show – a televised fight to the death.
Catching Fire is the second book in Suzanne Collins’ trilogy, and Lionsgate has it slated for a Nov. 22, 2013, release. The third book, Mockingjay, has not yet been scheduled. The Hunger Games is directed by Gary Ross, who co-wrote the script with Collins, and produced by Nina Jacobson’s Color Force in tandem with producer Jon Kilik.
Thanks to The Consumerist for the initial tip.
Related links:
http://www.suzannecollinsbooks.com
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Full-motion but slow to load poster below:
No wonder fans are outraged. How is it possible that Twitter and Facebook are actually acting CREEPIER than the overly controlling, evil government in the story? This is both the height of cluelessness and a sign that we’re way, WAY beyond “1984” and somehow we just buzzed right past all the warning signs.