20th Century Fox Used Fake News to Publicize ‘A Cure for Wellness’ -
Making the most of the fractured political and media landscape, 20th Century Fox created a group of fake news sites as part of a viral marketing campaign for its new film “A Cure for Wellness.” The sites displayed ads for the movie
and slipped references to its plot alongside made-up stories about divisive topics like abortion, vaccines and President Trump.
“As part of this campaign, a ‘fake’ wellness site, healthandwellness.co, was created and we partnered with a fake news creator to publish fake news.”
A Fox spokeswoman, Daria Vogel, declined to answer follow-up questions on Tuesday, including whether the companies were using
any other fake news sites to promote their film or whether they had used similar methods to promote movies in the past.
A partial list of headlines published by the movie studio’s campaign:
• “Utah Senator Introduces Bill to Jail, Publicly Shame Women Who Receive Abortions”
• “BOMBSHELL: Trump and Putin Spotted at Swiss Resort Prior to Election”
• “LEAKED: Lady Gaga Halftime Performance to Feature Muslim Tribute”
• “Trump Refuses to Provide California Federal Support in Midst of Natural Disaster, Cites Sanctuary Cities”
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The company is owned by Fox Entertainment Group, which also owns Fox News Channel and Fox Business Network.
“A Cure for Wellness is a movie about a ‘fake’ cure that makes people sicker,” the statement said.
It used other fake sites to promote the film as well, including one designed to resemble HealthCare.