Brief
To launch season 2 of A Series of Unfortunate Events, Netflix tasked Experience12 with designing and building a custom fortune telling machine in the likeness of the show’s antagonist, Count Olaf, portrayed by Neil Patrick Harris.
Execution
We began by purchasing an off-the-shelf Zoltar Fortune Telling Machine and stripping it back to it’s bare bones. The likeness of Count Olaf was created by utilising film-quality prosthetics, and an entire new shell was created with rebrandable panels for onwards touring. We added custom audio pulled from the TV show and mixed at Soho’s Silk Sound, as well as a secondary sound system for background music and ‘call outs’ to increase presence and engagement. A custom rotating eye was added to the top of the booth to catch the eye, and custom ‘misfortune’ tickets were sourced.
Social Media Amplification
Experience12 worked with Netflix’s incumbent social media agency, Social Life, to produce supporting materials for a social media campaign. Social Life’s assets included a digital version of the fortune telling activity for Netflix’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram channels. The activity was also supported by A Series of Unfortunate Events talent, with a video announcing the activity’s ‘UK Tour’ to London, Manchester and Birmingham. Anticipating the social media backlash of not being a ‘UK’ tour, we responded to fan’s requests and hosted surprise events in Cardiff, Brighton, Liverpool and Edinburgh.
