Hollywood What If Chapter 497
[The story is amazing! I feel like a computer wrote the story! I didn't expect the plot twist at all! I'm losing my shit all the time. Man, I want to invite my friends to watch Shadows Beneath because I want them to be scared too. But most of them are weak-willed, and they'll probably cry if they watch it... On second thought, I'll probably invite them just to see them cry.]
— You are crazy! Update us once that happens.
— Lmao, I'll also do that to my friends. I'll even recommend this movie to my professor just to mess with him.
— You guys are bad. Don't you feel bad about doing this?
— The commenter above me is gay.
— Let's gooo—!!
Shane smiled as he looked at the comments. He was one of the employees of Grey Marketing Company.
Grey Marketing Company was the business led by Victor and Aaron, Kazir's father and older brother.
The company specialized in printing ads and producing commercials for local TV networks and radio stations.
Their business started getting better after the turn of the century. The company began exploring the internet, and their new business endeavor turned out to be successful.
They were one of the first marketing companies that popularized online marketing.
The idea of online marketing came from Kazir Grey, and people realized that the director was not just a talented filmmaker, he also understood how to market effectively. His ideas greatly improved the company's growth.
Shane was hired two years ago, during the time when Facebook and other online platforms were rising in popularity.
They had been hired by many companies to promote products online. As one of the pioneers in online marketing, Grey Marketing Company had a solid foundation in the industry, so many businesses preferred to work with them.
In fact, 20th Century Fox also hired them whenever they needed people to promote their movies online, especially on IMDb and other movie rating sites.
Right now, Shane was promoting Shadows Beneath on Facebook. He was using one of his ten Facebook accounts to market the movie by posting content related to it, commenting on other movie-related posts, interacting with users, and persuading them to watch Shadows Beneath.
They were likely the first generation of the so-called "water army." The term referred to a group of people who manipulated public opinion and subtly promoted products online.
While doing this job, Shane realized that as long as he wrote something with a tone of credibility and added a bit of falsehood or exaggeration, people would still believe him.
For example, there was a study claiming that vaccines were bad for health and could lead to death. Some facts seemed to support this, but most were about side effects and allergic reactions with extremely low probabilities of fatal outcomes. Such cases were rare.
Nevertheless, some organizations used this tactic to convince people that vaccines were harmful. They cited isolated incidents and cherry-picked information to support their claims.
Thankfully, Grey Marketing Company focused on advertising and avoided getting involved in politics. Politics was usually the field that thrived on spreading misinformation… or at the very least, twisting the truth into something worse.
Shane was part of a ten-person team that promoted Shadows Beneath on Facebook and other platforms. Other teams were also promoting the movie online, but Shane's group specialized in socializing with users and persuading them to watch the film.
Suddenly, their team leader arrived with a thick stack of documents.
"We have a new job," the team leader announced.
He handed out the documents to each team member, and they began flipping through the pages. There were pictures of abandoned hospitals, people restrained in hospital jackets… and even disturbing images of lobotomies and other unethical experiments.
One of the female employees almost vomited and quickly shut the folder. Even Shane frowned as he turned the pages.
"Our task this time is to spread this information globally… We'll also need to hire translators to help us. For now, just start spreading these pictures, videos, and information."
The internet was still in its early stages, and censorship was difficult to enforce. You could even upload porn and beheading videos on YouTube.
The materials they were distributing focused on the cruelty and medical experiments carried out by doctors in mental hospitals.
As for how their clients had obtained all of this data, no one knew.
One thing was certain, people who were interested in this type of content would eagerly consume such morbid facts.
This was yet another promotional strategy for Shadows Beneath. At the time, Shane didn't realize how massive this promotional campaign would become.
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Kazir was very nervous. He hadn't been able to sleep lately. This wasn't like his usual sleepless nights where he stayed up working on movie projects.
This January, Kazir had so much free time that he could lie in bed without any problem… The issue wasn't about having free time, it was the growing anxiety about his original film.
Universal Pictures and Grey Pictures had done their best to promote the movie, but Kazir couldn't help but feel uneasy.
He had worked hard to promote the film, appearing in interviews and talk shows. Now that the movie was showing in theaters, Kazir felt like he needed to do even more to ensure the movie's success.
Honestly, he would already be happy if Shadows Beneath surpassed $300 million. But deep down, he also wanted to push harder in hopes that the movie would earn even more.
Unfortunately, there was only so much a director could do. Lately, all he could do was lie in bed, doing nothing but feeling nervous. Even sleep became difficult.
Even Scarlett grew concerned about Kazir. She considered inviting him somewhere remote. Someplace without internet or phones, to give him peace of mind.