Venom 'raids' vending machine for chocolates in Sony Pictures' marketing stunt

Venom has "invaded" Mumbai in search of chocolates. Sony Pictures India put a creative twist to its promotional campaign for Venom: Let There Be Carnage. The company tweeted a picture of a vending machine with the chocolate section emptied out, along with wrappers on the floor and the hashtag #ChocolatesMissing. 

https://twitter.com/SonyPicsIndia/status/1451413024800055303

The post caused a stir online as more reports of missing chocolates started flooding in. Brands including INOX, InstaMart, Sony India (Electronics), Sony Music South, and Mad Over Donuts took to Twitter to express concern for the missing chocolate. Soon, more brands jumped on the bandwagon and began posting pictures of empty chocolate shelves and bottles of chocolate sauces missing.

Playing to a scene in the movie where Venom could only eat human brains or chocolates to survive, Sony Pictures India said Venom was the reason why the chocolates were missing. In fact, Venom was trying to sustain itself on a special chemical found in the human brain, or less alarmingly, in chocolate. MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to Sony Pictures for additional information regarding its marketing strategy. 

The "sudden loss of chocolates" brought over 20 brands together, including Sony Liv, SAB TV, Sony YAY, Sony Music South, PVR Cinemas, PayTM, Swiggy BookMyShow, Alpenliebe Juzt Jelly, Happydent, Rage Coffee, Carnival Cinemas, Bournville, Nature’s basket, Lotte Choco Pie, Coffee Bite, MeeMee India, Cult Sports, Svami Drinks and Miraj. The campaign was conceptualised and executed by marketing agency SoCheers. 

https://twitter.com/Fastrack/status/1451508876579205121

https://twitter.com/getmymettle/status/1451785390042480640

https://twitter.com/NaturesBasket/status/1451425967528767491

https://twitter.com/MadOverDonuts/status/1451461069432504321

https://twitter.com/_PVRCinemas/status/1451445407272235013

Its Singapore counterpart also recently rolled out a social media campaign where Venom and Carnage took over several well-known landmarks in Singapore, including the Helix Bridge, Pinnacle@Duxton, the dragon playground at Toa Payoh, and an ERP gantry.

According to Sony Pictures Singapore, most of its recent campaigns have been very digital-focused. This comes as the viewing habits of its target audience shift to predominantly digital and online, amidst the pandemic and heightened regulations. Sony Pictures also explained that the campaign visibility for its other upcoming titles will be just as strong and impactful, which will roll out nearer to the films’ release dates.

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