Last Friday, a video of a man scaling the walls of Buckingham Palace made its way around the Internet, sort of. The Daily Mail and Cosmopolitan both posted about it, doubting its veracity. E! announced this morning that the video was really just a promo for its show “The Royals.”What is this? “Black Mirror?” From Cosmo:
The video has accumulated over 1 million views in a few days — a pretty respectable total. But this is a NAKED MAN climbing out of BUCKINGHAM PALACE, for cripes sake; were it legit, the United Kingdom would be in a state of gossipy meltdown, and as a current resident of the United Kingdom, I can report that it is not.
E! runs its very own trashy, British tabloid for the program on Tumblr. called D-Throned, which reports on the fictional royal family doing scandalous things, like the prince showing up on Tinder.
The fangirl in me thinks marketing initiatives like this can be smart, easy, and kind of fun. From Dawson’s diaries to Lincoln’s foodie blog on “Broad City,” it’s also a good sign when people are willing to play along with your fictional characters.
Hey @Variety, ya know that naked guy falling out of a Buckingham Palace window? We have the real story: http://t.co/l0j6G42YQQ #TheRoyals
— D-Throned News (@dthronednews) March 3, 2015
D-Throned has an Instagram and Twitter, like a real publication would, but so far it’s just been trolling news organizations about the “viral” video. So it reads less like connected content for a fan community and just like a horde of E! PR reps trying to get someone like me to write about “The Royals.” Good idea, but not great execution in terms of fan engagement (though I concede the win for this post). “Broad City’s” version extends the premise and joke into a whole new kind of content. With spin-off show related blogs and the like, it might be best to do something more evergreen, so its easier to keep up the gag.