True Blood: the perfect gift for almost everyone

Loving this ad by HBO promoting True Blood as the perfect gift for the holidays... except maybe for your grandmother.  The video has actually gone viral, with over 900,000 hits on YouTube since it was posted one month ago.  

Why did it go viral?

1) True Blood has a massive fanbase (of fang bangers - including myself)

*True Blood is also wildly adept in social media, with over 340,000 followers on Twitter, 9 million Facebook fans, 81,900 people 'talking about this' and super  timely content, apps and posts.

2) The video itself is facking hilarious! And it does a pretty good job of summing up the show.

HBO also promotes multiple True Blood hash tags under the video, encouraging people to keep sharing and talking about it! 

#GiftsGrandmaWontWant, #YouNeedTrueBlood, #GlamourYourFriends 

"...Sookie... she's a waitress and a fairy and a mindreader. Some people call her a fang banger but those people are religious freaks... No offence. Her best friend Tara lives with she demon who sometimes makes Tara's eyes go all black, and the whole town has a huge orgy.  Merry Christmas Grandma, I love you so much"

True Blood + Facebook Connect for Orange Cinema Series

Thirsty? Here’s some fun for the True Blood fans out there – now you can get even closer to “Vampire Bill” and the Bon Temps crew.

Hellohikimori (HKI) in Paris created this site to promote Orange Cinema Series' season two of True Blood.  The experience uses Facebook Connect to integrate the user's information (name, photos and friends) into the trailer. 

While this is nothing especially new (Facebook Connect has been used quite a few times this past year) and this execution doesn’t add anything different, it’s still a great way to engage with this social and passionate audience.  I like the extent that it integrates the user into the trailer’s story line, with your photo in “missing” posters and on Sam’s bulletin board, episodes guest starring your friends, and even your very own fictional parents. 

HBO also did some nice OOH ads for True Blood this year, but it's nice to see more and more Facebook Connect executions.  Hopefully agencies will get a bit more creative with them in 2010.

I’m jealous of those Frenchies who haven’t seen season two yet – sooooo good, slash creepy!

Experience it for yourself here