Editorials > Snyder Initiates "Watchmen" Commercial Contest!

"Watchmen" director Zack Snyder has teamed up with Youtube to hold a contest encouraging fans to submit fake commercials for Veidt Enterprises, the international corporation headed by Adrian Veidt (also known as Ozymandias). Rather than listen to me ramble on for a while, why don't you check out Snyder's introduction to the competition:

More nitty gritty information (desired aspect ratio, resolution) is available on the main Youtube site and you can download the assets (the videos of the products against a green screen) that Snyder mentioned from the official "Watchmen" site. As for what you stand to win, 40 finalists will receive posters signed by Snyder, the top 5 contestants chosen by user votes will win High-Definition Canon Vixia HG10 camcorders, and Snyder's personal 20 favorites will win $1000 and the possibility of having their commercial actually appear in the final film.

This is smart marketing on Snyder's part (or whoever the real brains behind this is). Commercials are known for being the most expensive per second entertainment around, and 20 grand for 20 potentially high-quality commercials is a very good deal. Even when you factor in the cost of the five HD cameras, Snyder is still saving himself a lot of time and money, and engaging the fans to boot. As of this writing, the "Watchmen" Youtube site is the #1 most-viewed Youtube channel of the day, so the ploy-for-publicity aspect of it must be working. Submit your videos and good luck! We look forward to seeing them on the big screen on March 6th, an excruciating ten and a half months away.

-David Morgan