"We told them all about the how-tos, and how to do viral advertising," said Bailey, who is also founder of the Viral Advertising Association. He said the BBC was very interested to find out how to use Viral advertising to inform the public of its upcoming programming. "I told them they should release things before their time, like what they've done with Doctor Who," he said. "Give out the first episode online, because it's going to be valuable. You've got that cool factor, and it's the whole, 'I've seen it before you have' kind of thing."
He does not know for sure however if the leak was actually intentional but commented on the quality of the episode saying that it was too high quality to have leaked by other means. Of course the BBC has denied it leaked the episode. "The leak of the first episode on the internet was not a publicity stunt," BBC spokeswoman Annie Frederick told Wired News in an e-mail. "It was a significant breach of copyright which is currently under investigation. The source of it appears to be connected to our co-production partner. We would urge viewers not to spoil their enjoyment and to wait for the finished version."
Their co-production partner is the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which also denies it leaked the episode. "We believe it was one of our suppliers," said CBC spokeswoman Ruth-Ellen Soles, who wouldn't elaborate on the nature of the supplier. "And at the moment, the investigation isn't complete." Bailey however is not convinced and believes the BBC is trying out viral advertising. "It's a classic," Bailey said. "The best viral advert they could have done for that program would be to release the first (episode). You couldn't have come up with a better viral advert than that."
Source:
Wired
Written by: James Delahunty @ 16 Mar 2005 10:04