In anticipation of Columbia Pictures’ new action-thriller Vantage Point, in theaters February 22, two of this winter’s most highly anticipated television events — the season premiere of “Lost” and the Super Bowl telecast — will be the launching ground for an innovative promotion. The immersive, interactive campaign begins with two TV spots providing clues and pointing the way to the film’s unique website, which calls viewers to action by asking, Can You Solve the Puzzle?
A multi-platform, groundbreaking challenge, the Can You Solve the Puzzle Sweepstakes kicks off on January 31 during the season premiere of “Lost.” Culminating a week of on-air and online promotion on ABC and abc.com, the network will air a sixty-second spot during the highly rated program. Hidden within the spot is a unique numerical clue that will lead web sleuths to WhatisYourVantagePoint.com to unlock special “Lost” content.
While also on the site, viewers can sneak a peek at the new thirty-second spot that will air during the Super Bowl pre-game show on Sunday, February 3, on Fox. Additional clues will be hidden in this spot as well. Participants will use the numerical clues to navigate an online mosaic composed of thousands of images from the film. The solution to the puzzle and the special “Lost” content are hidden among the mosaic pictures.
Commenting on the announcement, Valerie Van Galder, president of domestic marketing for the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, said, “We’re incredibly excited about this multiplatform promotion, a unique marriage between event television and an immersive online environment. ‘Vantage Point’ is a film about deciphering different points of view to solve a puzzle or uncover the truth, and given this theme, an interactive challenge seemed a natural fit. Whether people are watching the season premiere of ‘Lost,’ going frame-by-frame on their DVR to check out the Super Bowl spot, or visiting the ‘Vantage Point’ site, they are interacting with the movie in the way that people consume media today. And while they’re at it, they’ll have the chance to enter a sweepstakes.”
Visitors to the movie site will be able to enter the Can You Solve the Puzzle Sweepstakes for the chance to win eight grand prizes, each consisting of a Sony high definition Handycam video camera as seen in the film, or eight first prizes, each consisting of a high-definition TiVo box and a one-year TiVo subscription.
In Columbia Pictures’ action-packed thriller Vantage Point, eight strangers with eight different points of view try to unlock the one truth behind an assassination attempt on the president of the United States. Thomas Barnes (Dennis Quaid) and Kent Taylor (Matthew Fox) are two Secret Service agents assigned to protect President Ashton (William Hurt) at a landmark summit on the global war on terror. When President Ashton is shot moments after his arrival in Spain, chaos ensues and disparate lives collide in the hunt for the assassin. In the crowd is Howard Lewis (Forest Whitaker), an American tourist who thinks he’s captured the shooter on his camcorder while videotaping the event for his kids back home. Also there, relaying the historic event to millions of TV viewers across the globe, is American TV news producer Rex Brooks (Sigourney Weaver). As they and others reveal their stories, the pieces of the puzzle will fall into place — and it will become apparent that shocking motivations lurk just beneath the surface. The film is directed by Pete Travis, written by Barry L. Levy, and produced by Neal H. Moritz.
