From Jordan Peele and Monkeypaw Productions, the reboot of Scare Tactics turned unsuspecting individuals into the main characters of their very own horror movie, offering a cinematic, heart-pounding approach to the hidden camera concept. Set up by their friends and families, unwitting participants are put in hilariously twisted scenarios with fully immersive stories that blur the lines of reality, horror and comedy.
For our social marketing campaign, we sought to reach fans of horror, Jordan Peele and prank shows by showcasing the 360 offerings around a hidden camera show that delivered scares, laughs and a touch of reality bending. We also looked to tap into the horror-prank playground through fan creators, with the genre’s ability to surprise, entertain and ignite creativity.
Amplify the Prank Settings: Highlight each episode’s unique prank premise by bringing the “is this happening?” feeling beyond the show and into social spaces to make fans feel like they could also be part of the horror scenario.
Create Shareable Moments: Play into the audience’s expectations, suspense and humor to encourage engagement and organic sharing of the show beyond episode clips and spots.
Engage Horror Fans through World Building: Create eye-catching social content that sparks curiosity, speculation, and discussion.
Just like the Scare Tactics participants in each scenario, we wanted social fans to ask themselves, “Is it real?”
We partnered with Tongal to find Jordan Peele fan artists to develop a series of original movie posters inspired by the Scare Tactics reboot and rooted in the show’s horror prank settings—all to celebrate how fun it is to be scared.
The horror movie plots included:
Dearly Bedeviled: Two visitors are asked to witness a shotgun wedding, not knowing that Hell is about to be unleashed (or born) on Earth.
Death’s Table: A foodie finds out that people are dying for a trendy chef’s signature dish.
Hospital Hell: A community service visit to a hospital goes awry when you realize a patient is actually possessed by a demon.
Mutant Theme Park: A couple’s date night at a theme park turns into a nightmare when a zombie viral outbreak unfolds.
Each artist was paired with a specific Scare Tactics prank premise with the challenge to create a suspenseful cinematic poster based only on the fake movie’s logline.
USA Network was able to spotlight 12 new, emerging artists who interpreted their assigned horror film plot through unique and diverse aesthetics, showcasing how the horror genre reaches far and wide. Our cross-platform rollout earned over 250K total impressions, helping launch Scare Tactics as one of USA Network’s most social series of the year.
