I Heart Movies stumbled across an interesting little back-and-forth between a Twitter member going by the name of Amanda Music and Miramax Films following Amanda’s Twitter post, which you see above, asking, “Ugh WHY IS ADVENTURELAND NOT ON TORRENTS YET?”
Of course, seeing how the idea of piracy (in more ways than one) is a rather hot subject right now following the leaking of Fox’s May 1 release X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which resulted in the firing of Fox News freelance columnist Roger Friedman after he downloaded and reviewed the illegal copy, it is not at all surprising Miramax would take an interest in such a tweet. I think the fact Miramax found the tweet is also showing how closely studios are monitoring the Internet right about now, but did anyone expect the reaction the studio had to Amanda’s question?
“Cmon Amanda, don’t do it. #adventureland #fbi,” was the Tweet back to which Amanda replied, “okay i wont, JUST FOR YOU.”
What happened next is referred to as “a bit of brilliance in Miramax’s PR department” according to I Heart Movies blogger Mike as Miramax then rewards Amanda for her Twittered “honesty”:
Yup, a free pass via a final tweet from the studio reading, “Thanks Amanda. In return, I have a free Fandango card for 2 tix if you’re interested in Adventureland. Just DM us for the code.”
Is this actually a “bit of brilliance” as Mike suggests or a wasted effort that will only lead to more people looking for handouts? Mike at I Heart Movies ends up saying, “[In] the end, it shows both the power of Twitter (be a constant feedback and communication device) and the benefits of companies taking the time out to listen to what’s being said.” I fail to see the benefit to the company and I certainly don’t see how Twitter was used as a feedback device as much as it appears Amanda was genuinely searching for a bootleg copy of the film and hoping another Twitter user would shoot her the link. I have to assume the last thing she was doing was hoping someone at the PR department at Miramax would stumble upon her tweet and grant her a free pass to the film… now that would be a bit of brilliance.
Amanda has smartly protected her updates going forward.
In other piracy news, the Wolverine wheels keep on turning as Entertainment Weekly reports a “tracking report containing consumer research statistics shows a high ‘wanna see’ rating for the film, which is said to be the No. 1 choice for young men and guys aged 31 and older.” Christine Spines looks at this news as a “dramatic turnaround” for the film, but I would say it pretty much confirms the fact that not everyone searches the Internet for illegal movies or even knows about the leak.
If the Internet had ears I would tell it to get over itself.
