Fox and New Regency have resorted to using one of the most unique marketing strategies to promote their new film "A Cure for Wellness" - fake news. A fictitious, but very elaborate news story was posted on the website of the Sacramento Dispatch with a headline that read "BOMBSHELL: Trump and Putin Spotted at Swiss Resort Prior to Election."
At first glance the story about US President Donald Trump meeting up with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a resort in the Swiss Alps prior to the November 2016 US Presidential Elections looks like a legit news article. However, it is nothing more than a mere promotional tactic by Fox and New Regency for "A Cure for Wellness."
The Gore Verbinski-directed psychological horror-thriller is set somewhere in the Alps where a young executive goes there in search of his CEO. According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, the article about the two presidents meeting at the Volmer Institute - the same fictitious center where the movie takes place in - posted on the Sacramento Dispatch site has been revealed to be a part of an entire "network of fake news websites that masquerade as the online outlets of big city newspapers." These sites are also being used as marketing outlets for the film.
Other sites where ads for "A Cure for Wellness" are being posted are The Houston Leader, NY Morning Post, and The Salt Lake City Guardian. Stories about how viewers are being left in a "catatonic state" by the film are also posted on these sites. Some fans on Twitter began to criticize the movie's marketing ploy, to which Fox and New Regency responded through a statement released on Monday.
The statement read: "A Cure for Wellness is a movie about a 'fake' cure that makes people sicker. As part of this campaign a 'fake' wellness site healthandwellness.co was created and we partnered with fake news creators to publish fake news. As our movie's antagonist says, 'There is a sickness inside us. And only when we know what ails us, can we hope to find a cure." "A Cure for Wellness" will hit theaters this Friday.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
