Netflix has engineered a blockbuster of a PR stunt with the Popcorn Bowl. On October 2, the online movie rental company will host a movie-watching marathon to break the Guinness Book of World Records for longest consecutive movie-watching. The current world record to beat is 120 hours. (That’s five straight days!)
To get the attention of the Gen X crowd, Netflix used Facebook to elicit submissions of training videos or “why-you-should-pick-me-to-compete” videos. The social media page offered mock training videos as inspiration, racked up a number of fans, and posted the winning entrants’ videos for all to see.
But Netflix didn’t stop at hosting the competition. In addition to getting the notoriety of holding the world record, the winner will also get a lifetime subscription to Netflix, $10,000 cash, and the Netflix Popcorn Bowl Trophy.
