"300" Sponsors a MySpace Feature Upgrade, Then Smashes Box Office Record

Warner Bros. pic “300” just set a record for an opening weekend take in March, bringing in $70 million. While it’s not worthwhile to speculate too much about the reasons a given underdog film smashes the box office, it’s worth noting the details of a unique MySpace ad tie-in for “300.” From LA Times’ coverage:

The marketing folks also took full advantage of MySpace. There was of course the requisite MySpace page for the film (now standard for all movies) — featuring a ferocious looking muscle man in a metal helmet plus tons of video clips, wallpapers and links to the film’s official website. But the stroke of genius came when the studio sponsored a feature upgrade to the site that told users they could store 300 photos on their profile thanks to the movie “300.” (Previously the limit had been 12). That started Jan. 2 and was incredibly popular with teens. The result was billions of ad impressions and 8 million viewings of the trailer.