Social Media Campaign Review : Comedy Central Promotes Anger Management with Gamification

Comedy Central decided to take the successful show, Anger Management, beyond television through a digital application, The ‘Destruct-O-Matic’ which launched on Facebook and Twitter on 5^th December, 2013.

Objectives

In February 2013, the channel premièred - Anger Management starring Charlie Sheen. Fans in India lapped up the show and the Destruct-O-Matic campaign is the channels’ endeavour to boost engagement with their audiences on a digital platform.

Implementation

The Destruct-O-Matic is a Mechanical Machine, which allows users to vent their anger and frustration on a scapegoat instead of each other. You log on to the app and you have seven ways in which you can take out your frustration on a dummy. You can see the results of your actions in real time on your screen.

The activity gives users the opportunity to take out their grudges on their friend’s by tagging them in their posts or mentioning them in their tweets. Comedy Central will short-list 10 of the whackiest and weirdest rationalizations for a ‘vent’. Short-listed users will win Comedy Central merchandise.

Positives

The biggest plus point is that Destruct-O-Matic lets you vent your anger which is the main theme of the show, Anger Management.  Thus, the app does well in promoting the show.

There is a live-feed of the Destruct-O-Matic on a microsite. Each of the Vent-actions are activated via Tweets or Posts on Twitter and Facebook. It is a funny and healthy way of venting anger on digital platforms. Also, tagging friends and colleagues will help in making the game viral.

Scope for Improvement

A strong online buzz about the campaign would have helped garner the attention of more people. Also, cross promoting the same on the channel with some aggression might have helped as well.

Conclusion

Comedy Central has worked to increase interaction with audiences in the digital domain; with the Destruct-o-Matic it has done something appropriate while taking the Anger Management experience further.