The marketing campaign for Amazon Prime’s highly successful TV series The Boys, was, and still remains, unique.
To offer a little context, the show itself is all about superheroes, showcasing how the fictional media conglomerate ‘Vought International’ markets and brands said heroes and their products. (And yes, this marketing campaign analysis might get a little meta.)
The show itself hosts elements of postmodernity and satirises our current digital landscape, exaggerating and satirising a lot of contemporary marketing trends without mercy. For example, in the show we see ‘Vought’ advertising ‘Brave Maeve’s Vegetarian Pride Lasagna,’ which jests corporate pride month marketing, or ‘GalGear by Vought’, A gun advert with pink iconography). (The list goes on...) So, what better way to market the ‘The Boys’ series than by creating social media accounts impersonating the fictional ‘Vought International’ itself, in an attempt to bend the minds of many a casual fan. The marketing campaign essentially treats you like you are already part of the show’s universe, and forces you to question your own allegiances to the marketing world, whilst marketing the show itself.
For example, on 4th July this year, the show’s Twitter account, ‘Vought International’, tweeted: ’It's our patriotic duty to trust those who can get the job done. And there's no one better at defending American values than Homelander. Don't listen to anarchists and the lamestream media, this country is PROSPERING! Happy Independence Day, and thank you, Homelander!’
I’d recommend checking out their Twitter account. It’s a refreshing and ironic way of utilising social media and encouraging you to engage with their fictional world. The campaign blurs lines, and leads you on an online goose-chase that provokes you to ‘watch The Boys on Amazon Prime,’ thanks to the sheer intrigue and confusion they’ve created.
‘Vought International’ even has its own real-life Youtube news channel now, which is like watching a caricature of Fox News, containing cast members from the actual show itself. It also exhibits a trailer for a new superhero film that doesn’t actually exist in our world, but is cannon to the show, and no doubt the marketing team knowingly confused many of this trailer’s viewers, making it a very memorable campaign.
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