World War II - Are High School Students Really That Dumb?
Unless you've been living under a rock, you have heard of the documentary series on PBS called The War, directed by Ken Burns. I'm a huge World War II buff, so you better believe that my DVR was set to record each episode. And believe me, it doesn't disappoint. Actually, I read that over 18.7 Million people watched the premiere on Sunday, September 23rd. That is outrageously strong for PBS...actually it's strong for NBC, ABC, CBS, or FOX!
Anyway, I was watching a recent episode of Bill Maher on HBO and he interviewed the Director, Ken Burns. During the interview, I literally fell out of my seat as I heard one response... Bill and Ken were speaking about how important it is for the young people in our country to understand World War II (which I couldn't agree with more), but Ken went on to explain how there are actually High School students in the US that think the United States fought alongside Germany against Russia............ {Lean, Fall, Choke, Grunt}. What??? Seriously? Do kids really think that? If so, I'm afraid what this country is going to look like in 10 years. Are they really that un-informed?
Teachers, if you are reading this post, drop what you're doing in class and dedicate the next month to World War II. Between 50 and 60 Million people (that's Million) died during the war. It spanned the entire globe and our country stood up, fought hard, sacrificed, and liberated the world. Literally. What can be more important?
Anyway, I'd love to see the actual survey numbers to see how many high school students really thought we fought alongside Germany. I hope and pray it's a small number. Ken, if you read this post, please let me know where you heard this. I think the entire country would love to know.
I've included a video below of the trailer for The War. Check the PBS website for the schedule, or just buy The War on DVD. It's too important not to...
I'm a huge fan of horror movies and Halloween ranks as one of my all time favorites. I’m referring to the original Halloween…and not the next 5 or 6 that came out after… OK, Halloween 2 was decent, but like most films, there’s nothing like the original.
So I was shocked to see the commercial for a remake of the original, this one directed by Rob Zombie. At first, I was disappointed that someone would mess with the classic film by John Carpenter, but I must admit that the trailer had me glued to the television. I immediately went to my computer and Googled Halloween 2007 and found several links to the trailer, other movies sites, etc. but not the official website. Interesting. After some digging, I found the official Halloween 2007 site and just like the commercial did, the site had me glued to my dual displays!
Flash and Web Video Marketing Definitely check out the official website to see the trailer and TV spots. There’s some nice flash work on the site… Now, the search marketer in me cringes when I see all flash and no text content (Check out the Google cache for the site here), but we all know this site will get a million links in no time. :) You can navigate around the site via a large kitchen knife, like the one good old Michael Myers uses to kill his victims! Pretty cool…and of course you hear the classic Halloween music, which makes most people shake with fear.
The Rob Zombie Halloween MySpace Page Then there’s a link at the bottom of the website to the official Rob Zombie Halloween MySpace page, which holds a lot of interesting content about the movie. You can watch the trailer, learn more about the cast, view screenshots from the film, view the official soundtrack (which will be coming out on August 21st), etc. The Rob Zombie Halloween MySpace page already has over 82,000 friends. Not bad. :)
So Can it Compete? Well, do remakes ever compete with the original?? It definitely has a fresh feel, which I really like. I need to see and hear more, and the proof is in the pudding, but they are off to a great start marketing the film. Halloween fans will probably want to at least check it out and my guess is that many will pay to see it. That said, Word of Mouth Marketing (WOM) can make or break the movie. If it doesn’t live up to the original, it could bomb…and if it brings a new view of a classic horror legend, it could make boat loads of money. I guess we’ll have to wait and see.
Glenn Gabe focuses heavily on internet marketing and has been developing web applications using Flash for over 10 years. Glenn helps companies build online marketing campaigns that leverage the power of Rich Media, Word of Mouth, and Search Marketing.
About The Web Video Marketeer
And yes, it's marketeer, not marketer spelled incorrectly! I started this blog to cover the use of flash video and its impact on internet marketing campaigns.
Unless you've been living under a rock, you have heard of the documentary series on PBS called The War, directed by Ken Burns. I'm a huge World War II buff, so you better believe that my DVR was set to record each episode. And believe me, it doesn't disappoint. Actually, I read that over 18.7 Million people watched the premiere on Sunday, September 23rd. That is outrageously strong for PBS...actually it's strong for NBC, ABC, CBS, or FOX!
I'm a huge fan of horror movies and 