Viral marketing agency Thinkmodo has had plenty of experience, and success, in doing real-world pranks for horror movies. Think back to 2013's hugely popular "Telekinetic Coffee Shop Surprise" for the movie Carrie, or the freaky "Beauty Shop Scare" that same year for The Last Exorcism Part II, with the contorted dead girl terrifying salon patrons.
But its latest prank, for the newest film in The Ring franchise, called simply Rings, has flown around the Internet at an unprecedented pace. It's been viewed more than 200 million times on Facebook (and a million more on YouTube) since it was posted 24 hours ago. That's a record for a Thinkmodo production.
The ad's formula isn't exactly novel. In fact, it's very reminiscent of the earlier Thinkmodo videos mentioned above. Yet, as the agency tells us, it is a little different, too.