For the past five years I have attended SXSW for an amazing week focused on a combination of film, music, and interactive media. One of my favorite theaters in Austin (and frankly anywhere in the country) is the Alamo Drafthouse. Why? Well… first of all, it’s a small and very quaint theatre. Secondly, they have great stadium style seating complete with bar counters and full restaurant style service during a film for both food and an amazing selection of craft beers. Finally, the theater wants to make the viewing experience for each customer pleasurable, and as such, they request that people not speak, text, tweet, or check email during a film. Usually, this is done by showing a funny short video prior to the main film and they make it quite clear that they will “throw you out” if you break the rules.
Anyway, my friend Nick sends me this YouTube video yesterday – one that ridiculous enough to be turned into a PSA that they now show PRIOR to enjoying a movie. What is it? Well…a woman who was thrown out of the theater left a “complaint” voicemail to share her protest after being booted. I have to say… I am beyond impressed with the brilliance of this video and the forethought that went into saving this voicemail to create not only a PSA, but a video that launched and went viral on YouTube. The short ended up being a huge press generator for the theater so touche to them. By the way, when I say “viral“, let me give you an idea of what I mean. Yesterday (6/6/11) when I viewed the video, it had just over 434,000 views. I got busy and wasn’t able to blog about it until now (6/7/11) and during this 24 hour period, the video now has over 953,000 views. That’s over 500,000 views in a very short amount of time. HUGE!
Anyway, I am going to contribute to the viral exposure by showing you the video below. It’s DEFINITELY worth watching so please enjoy. As well, please don’t text while viewing this video…I don’t want to have shut down your computer. Reminder… you will need sound to truly enjoy this and it IS uncensored, so turn down your speakers in the office.