There aren’t that many movies about competitive birdwatching, so it seems natural that the National Audubon Society would be excited about 20th Century Fox’s The Big Year – even if it’s unlikely to set any box office records. Goodby, Silverstein & Partners is hoping to tap into birders’ enthusiasm for the Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson comedy with Birding the Net, a social media campaign in partnership with Audubon to interest people in birds and protecting the environment they need to thrive.
Visitors to more than 100 websites will encounter unexpected birds, like a stork strutting along the bottom of a page or a jay perching on the mastheads at sites including AOL, Slate, Discovery Channel and others that have donated the space for the campaign. Spotting those birds is part of a game with prizes that include a voyage to the Galapagos Islands. And yes, there will be tweets (geddit?) with clues to help locate the feathered friends.
To participate, players click on an animated bird, which takes them to an official Facebook page where they can collect and trade virtual “bird cards” which feature recordings of birdsongs, bird facts, and video.
Related links:
http://www.facebook.com/NationalAudubonSociety
http://www.thebigyearmovie.com
http://www.goodbysilverstein.com
Photo shows Steve Martin, Jack Black and Owen Wilson in “The Big Year“
