Chapter 99 Completely Feasible

Saying goodbye to Harley and returning home, Lisa couldn't resist her curiosity. She went to the official website of the Discovery Channel and searched for information about the recent broadcast. Perhaps due to the program being aired only yesterday, she found no relevant content on the website. She then tried Yahoo, searching for "witch" and "missing college students."

A plethora of related content immediately appeared on the webpage. Lisa clicked on the first result, which turned out to be a post on a Yahoo forum titled "Missing Persons Notice!"

"In 1994, three film students named Josh, Heather, and Mike brought filming equipment to Burkittsville, intending to investigate the local legend of the Blair Witch. They ventured into the Black Hills Forest in search of the Blair Witch but soon disappeared."

"People searched everywhere for them, but to no avail, so they had to give up the search. A year later, several students from the University of Maryland discovered a package in a very secluded cabin in the woods. Inside were one of the student's diaries and a DV camcorder, which recorded all the terrifying events that occurred during their disappearance..."

The post went on to provide detailed introductions to the three missing students, along with photographs and records of their activities before and after their disappearance.

"Is this real?" Lisa wondered as she reached the end of the missing persons notice, which included contact information and a link to a website. Intrigued by the information about the missing students, she decided to explore the replies to the post before visiting the website.

There were already hundreds of replies.

"Last night, the Discovery Channel aired a video clip filmed by those three students before their disappearance. It's really creepy."

"The Discovery Channel aired it? So, are those three really missing?"

"Was there a witch in the video?"

"Hey, did any of you check out the website from the link? It's set up by friends and family of the missing students to help find them. They've gathered a lot of information about the witch, and I heard they're organizing the release of the missing students' diaries."

After reading through the replies, Lisa became even more curious about the website. She quickly clicked on the link, and a rudimentary website soon appeared on her computer screen.

Lisa couldn't help but comment on the simplicity of the website but quickly realized its purpose: to aid in the search for the missing students. She first read about the legend of the witch, then delved into the students' diaries. The chilling accounts left her feeling uneasy, and she couldn't shake the feeling that the students' disappearance might indeed be related to the witch.

After browsing through the website, Lisa became even more convinced of her suspicions. This whole ordeal was too horrifying to comprehend. She closed the website and returned to the Yahoo search page, clicking on another result, which led her to another website with a similar missing persons notice.

It seemed that the friends and family of the missing students were desperate, as they had started posting these notices everywhere, even incorporating elements of the witch legend.

Lisa decided to do her part and reposted the missing persons notice on her own blog. Afterward, she took a shower. Just as she stepped out, the phone rang. It was one of her college classmates.

"Is the missing persons notice you posted real?" her classmate asked urgently. "What's your connection to the missing students? And could there really be a witch?"

Lisa replied, "I'm not connected to them. I just felt sorry for the families of the missing students and wanted to help spread the word."

Her classmate suggested, "I'll get everyone I know to repost it online. Strength in numbers, right?"

Lisa agreed, "I'll ask people around me to do the same."

She then sent messages to several friends on ICQ, asking them to repost her blog. In no time, her friends' blogs were also displaying the missing persons notice.

The internet, a new tool for movie promotion, already showed remarkable dissemination capabilities. Though the initial phase of their marketing plan was simple, it proved effective.

Two weeks after initiating the first phase, Embassy Films received detailed feedback.

"Data from the movie website," David Villea licked his dry lips and said, "In just two weeks, the site has received over a million visits."

Ronan nodded in satisfaction and asked, "What about other aspects?"

David continued, "The entire publicity department has been mobilized to post on the internet, with over 1,000 posts made. On Yahoo forums, the relevant missing persons post has become one of the top trending threads. Similarly, posts on several movie websites and fan forums have also garnered strong responses. Based on incomplete statistics, excluding our guided replies, these posts have received over 300,000 replies."

Ronan inquired, "Have we received statistics from the Discovery Channel?"

This time, Garcia, who replied, "The data has come through. Between the initial airing and two reruns on the Discovery Channel, over 4 million people have watched the program." He added with confidence, "The television broadcast has increased the credibility of our internet information. Many viewers, after seeing the program, have become followers of our movie website."

"Many people have been influenced," Robert chimed in, "I've heard people discussing witches and the Blair Witch incident several times on my way to work."

David, as the head of publicity, stated, "The Blair Witch incident is already a hot topic on the internet."

This result far exceeded his expectations, and he couldn't help but glance at Ronan, silently marveling at the young man's cleverness and effectiveness.

Ronan surveyed the group and asked, "What do you think?"

Garcia looked at David and said, "I think this plan is completely feasible. We can move on to the second phase."

The data didn't lie, and they hadn't invested much manpower or resources yet.

David agreed, "From the market feedback, the effectiveness of the first phase of publicity far exceeds expectations. The data proves that this plan is completely feasible."

"Great!" Ronan didn't hesitate, "Let's increase our investment!"

He first instructed David, "Mobilize the publicity department to continue posting on the internet. Speed up the update of the missing students' diary on the website and start releasing audio recordings. I'll have Jessica Felton go through the edited footage and select some usable clips for the website. Also, publish advertisements on several major websites in the form of missing persons notices!

"Simultaneously advance offline publicity! Contact television stations to continue airing documentary shorts. Negotiate with national television networks for pseudo-documentary programs investigating witchcraft and supernatural phenomena. Purchase advertising space in community publications for missing persons notices! Additionally, when online discussions reach a sufficient level of heat, publish similar missing persons notices in major magazines, journals, and newspapers. Oh, and don't forget about video rental stores; they're where movie fans congregate, so don't overlook them."

Ronan then turned to David and said, "We need to maintain confidentiality in the early stages."

In the later stages, it didn't matter much; this kind of trickery couldn't deceive everyone, but this kind of viral, replication-based propaganda would produce another effect.

Even if some people knew rationally that all the stories surrounding the Blair Witch were fabricated lies, the rich content and various online and offline activities made people emotionally and psychologically feel as if these events were happening in real life—a belief that three college students had experienced terrifying supernatural events and disappeared forever in the woods.

This propaganda, crafted with elements of truth, effectively sparked human curiosity and the desire for exploration.