The folks marketing Archer, a politically incorrect animated spy comedy that hovers somewhere between Get Smart and Arrested Development, certainly know their audience.
Ahead of the FX series’ fifth season, which premieres Jan. 13, they hit Reddit with some ads that take a cue from the infamous GoneWild subforum, where NSFW selfies are offered in exchange for compliments and objective critiques.
Each spot features a character from the show—in addition to Archer, there’s Barry, Lana, Krieger, and Pam—in a state of dishabille, along with the customary post title indicating the subject’s gender. Some take the “be gentle” tack of a shy, first time poster, while others show more confidence. “I’m smooth as a veal cutlet,” Lana boasts in what Archer fans will recognize as a well-placed callback. The fake usernames also stem from recurring gags in the show.
The ads didn’t appear in /r/gonewild itself, rather alongside the page, though we notice that the men were downvoted into oblivion while the women received positive feedback, as no doubt would have happened if the posts were real. “They probably just said ‘Look how many men 18-34 use reddit and look how cheap it is to buy an ad on it,’” one observer noted about the campaign. And hey, if it reminds young Internet-savvy men they can watch the show live instead of pirating it later, so much the better, right?
Photo by James/Flickr
