When I first heard that Trulia, the real estate search site, had partnered with the upcoming Poltergeist remake in the form of a fake ad for the movie’s haunted house, I thought, “How clever.” Then after investigating a bit more, I wonder, “What’s in it for Trulia?” Maybe you can tell me.
Of course, I love that the house is listed at $270,666 – ending with the mark of the beast is so rarely done. It’s located on Brimstone Ave, another nice touch. And in case you missed the first 666 reference, the house has had 666 views.
The crimes in the area are worth reading as well: demonic possession, residential haunting, tree assault. All good stuff.
But other than entertaining me, what does this really do? I get that virtually any property can be trussed up by online real estate sites to look as if it’s the deal of the century. Yet this campaign does nothing to tell me that Trulia does otherwise. In fact, this ad screams “buyer beware” to me – and beware of Trulia. That seems to be an odd message for a brand to put out there. Perhaps they do more to turn this messaging on its heels somewhere deeper into the campaign…but if they do, that’s way too late for me.
What are the odds that Trulia will get the ROI they’re seeking from what can’t have been a cheap buy-in to the upcoming horror flick? Ghost of a chance.
~ Denise Blasevick, @AdvertGirl & CEO, The S3 Agency
