This is brilliant. This is how viral marketing is done, you guys.
I know this video just looks like some crappy VHS-transfer of an old episode of “Hard Copy,” but it isn’t. (Hey, remember “Hard Copy”? No? Maybe you were more of an “A Current Affair” type of viewer. It’s cool, mom.)
Anyhoo, WHAT THIS IS is a viral promotion for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which stars Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. Mystery is afoot! Something is rotten in the state of Denmark! And by “Denmark” I mean Sweden, and by “state” I mean “an island somewhere off the coast of Sweden.”
In the video, some dude with a beard is discussing Harriet Vanger’s (fictional) disappearance. “It was the ultimate locked-room mystery,” he concludes, which is straight out of chapter 12 of Stieg Larsson’s novel. Which, uh, I haven’t read. So I bet I’m missing tons of little references and allusions in the video. But according to Wikipedia, Larsson’s book takes aim at “incompetent investigative journalism,” so you can see why they picked “Hard Copy.”
I doubt the video had anything to do with Tattoo director David Fincher, but it nonetheless contains a quick nod to Fight Club: there is a single frame that has been inserted, and it briefly flashes onscreen. That single frame is NSFW. Which is to say, you can probably watch the whole video safely at work, but you wouldn’t want to pause on that single frame at work, if you catch my drift. (Oh, I’ll just tell you. It’s a penis.)
a bit late