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The Cryptic Keeper

There's no marketing like the kind that makes you go WTF?

By David Thomas for E-Gear on April 5, 2007

There's no marketing like the kind that makes you go WTF? www.theymissyou.com target="_blank">Rozerem's massive billboards in 30th St. Station in Philadelphia were a testament to that. When you see Abraham Lincoln and a beaver looking glum with the url www.theymissyou.com as your only clue, sooner or later you'll want to head for a computer (and then be disappointed to discover that it's all about sleeping pills).

NIN latest ad campaign takes this to the next level, with a whole host of sites, but Trent Reznor has far more up his sleeve. The marketing push takes absolute glee in the number of possible delivery system now available for a piece of music. Unlike the briefly enigmatic Rozerem, everyone knows what Trent's pushing; the fun is finding how many different ways he can push it.

So you can find a USB drive in a bathroom or call a phone number hidden in a t-shirt (I love the low and high tech mash-up here, "They Might Be Giants"Dial-a-Song" has been around since 1983). Either way, it's a lot more exciting (and viral) than reading about his upcoming album on Pitchfork.

I get the impression that, if he could, Trent Reznor would simply show up at your door one day or corner you in the parking lot to play you his latest song and then disappear like a PR ninja. Instead, he's doing the next best thing - and the next twenty best things.

Transcribed by Lt. Randazzo

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