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Is it possible that this whole thing has been a publicity stunt by Sony? Fake a threat, pretend to withdraw the film, wait for public uproar, release on a pay

Is it possible that this whole thing has been a publicity stunt by Sony? Fake a threat, pretend to withdraw the film, wait for public uproar, release on a pay per view platform to massive sales. Before the story broke I didn't know anything about this film. Real case of cyberwar? Or PR master stroke?

kanamekun 12y ago
If this was a publicity stunt, then it may well be the worst one ever! They were humiliated in the press, the President reprimanded them, and their strongest partners (the big theater chains) all turned their back on them.
- juliangregorian 12y ago
  You must not work in PR. This story has been at the forefront of the news cycle for awhile now, and it's probably a super forgettable film.
  - rifung 12y ago
    I agree that this is probably good coverage for the movie, as I imagine many others like myself would never have even considered watching it, but now actually want to see it given the interesting context. On the other hand, I still can't imagine they would be dumb enough to fake this, considering they opened an FBI investigation and there were threats of physical violence. The risk to reward just doesn't make any sense.
  - kanamekun 12y ago
    There's an old saying in PR: don't let your main distribution channel refuse to carry your product. Also, don't let anyone threaten your potential customers with death or terrorist attack! There's a possibility that showing The Interview on YouTube and other sites will result in online streaming becoming a huge runaway revenue success. But that's a huge gamble to make, especially when the movie is scoring just a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/
juliangregorian 12y ago
Don't know why you're being downvoted, it really feels that way to me as well. Lot of people with strong opinions must not appreciate that they've been played.
- yen223 12y ago
  Think about it: Sony intentionally leaked its own employee records and emails just to boost publicity of a movie that's bound to be popular on its own right. How plausible is that theory? The hack was in all likelihood real, (but probably not North Korean). Sony made the best of a bad situation.
  - juliangregorian 12y ago
    I don't think the hack was fake, I think that pulling the interview smells highly contrived. Just to be clear.
- kordless 12y ago
  I wonder if HN has considered making the general information about downvotes available? I'd like to see metrics on how many of the downvoters downvote more than the average amount.
  - juliangregorian 12y ago
    This place is really turning into reddit lately. Nothing wrong with that comment, except some people happened to disagree with it.
wittekm 12y ago
I would have originally agreed, but the emails and employee info leaked are pretty damaging; and how exactly would they have roped the FBI in on it?
TheHypnotist 12y ago
Nothing like provoking and accusing a sovereign nation of criminal acts to promote your sweet new flick. No, I don't think it was a publicity stunt.
berberous 12y ago
There is zero percent chance this was a publicity stunt. You really think Sony would fake a "9/11 style" threat against movie theaters, in today's world? The only plausible "publicity stunt" scenario is that after the real hacking, the real threats, the real refusal of theaters to show the movie, that Sony pretended they wouldn't even release it online in order to drum up online sales when they finally changed course.
protomyth 12y ago
The embarrassment they have suffered along with the damaged relationships with artists is going to affect them for a number of years. The coming lawsuit by former employees for the loss of personal information. Let's not forget that a terrorist threat against your customers (theaters / viewers) is really bad for business. So, let's say one of the places playing the show suffers an attack by some crazy. Sony is going to be on the hook in a big way. US courts[1] are known to pay out some huge settlements[2]. So, a loser in so many ways with no upside for profit. 1) http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/new-lawsuit-claims-sony-s-758443 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/new-lawsuit-claims-... 2) Despite politicians and other calling them "cowards" you would have to be insane to release a film suffering such a terroristic threat. If the politicians believe we shouldn't buckle then they should pass some tort reform.
- waps 12y ago
  2) is in fact pretty obvious. If you check the behaviour of people in the west before terrorism became well known (halfway through the 90s or so) and after you can see that a lot of terrorist demands have in fact been met. From this perspective, terror really works very well.

kanamekun 12y ago

If this was a publicity stunt, then it may well be the worst one ever! They were humiliated in the press, the President reprimanded them, and their strongest partners (the big theater chains) all turned their back on them.

juliangregorian 12y ago
You must not work in PR. This story has been at the forefront of the news cycle for awhile now, and it's probably a super forgettable film.
- rifung 12y ago
  I agree that this is probably good coverage for the movie, as I imagine many others like myself would never have even considered watching it, but now actually want to see it given the interesting context. On the other hand, I still can't imagine they would be dumb enough to fake this, considering they opened an FBI investigation and there were threats of physical violence. The risk to reward just doesn't make any sense.
- kanamekun 12y ago
  There's an old saying in PR: don't let your main distribution channel refuse to carry your product. Also, don't let anyone threaten your potential customers with death or terrorist attack! There's a possibility that showing The Interview on YouTube and other sites will result in online streaming becoming a huge runaway revenue success. But that's a huge gamble to make, especially when the movie is scoring just a 54% on Rotten Tomatoes. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_interview_2014/

juliangregorian 12y ago

Don't know why you're being downvoted, it really feels that way to me as well. Lot of people with strong opinions must not appreciate that they've been played.

yen223 12y ago
Think about it: Sony intentionally leaked its own employee records and emails just to boost publicity of a movie that's bound to be popular on its own right. How plausible is that theory? The hack was in all likelihood real, (but probably not North Korean). Sony made the best of a bad situation.
- juliangregorian 12y ago
  I don't think the hack was fake, I think that pulling the interview smells highly contrived. Just to be clear.
kordless 12y ago
I wonder if HN has considered making the general information about downvotes available? I'd like to see metrics on how many of the downvoters downvote more than the average amount.
- juliangregorian 12y ago
  This place is really turning into reddit lately. Nothing wrong with that comment, except some people happened to disagree with it.

wittekm 12y ago

I would have originally agreed, but the emails and employee info leaked are pretty damaging; and how exactly would they have roped the FBI in on it?

TheHypnotist 12y ago

Nothing like provoking and accusing a sovereign nation of criminal acts to promote your sweet new flick. No, I don't think it was a publicity stunt.

berberous 12y ago

There is zero percent chance this was a publicity stunt. You really think Sony would fake a "9/11 style" threat against movie theaters, in today's world? The only plausible "publicity stunt" scenario is that after the real hacking, the real threats, the real refusal of theaters to show the movie, that Sony pretended they wouldn't even release it online in order to drum up online sales when they finally changed course.

protomyth 12y ago

The embarrassment they have suffered along with the damaged relationships with artists is going to affect them for a number of years. The coming lawsuit by former employees for the loss of personal information. Let's not forget that a terrorist threat against your customers (theaters / viewers) is really bad for business. So, let's say one of the places playing the show suffers an attack by some crazy. Sony is going to be on the hook in a big way. US courts[1] are known to pay out some huge settlements[2]. So, a loser in so many ways with no upside for profit. 1) http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/new-lawsuit-claims-sony-s-758443 http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/new-lawsuit-claims-... 2) Despite politicians and other calling them "cowards" you would have to be insane to release a film suffering such a terroristic threat. If the politicians believe we shouldn't buckle then they should pass some tort reform.

waps 12y ago
2) is in fact pretty obvious. If you check the behaviour of people in the west before terrorism became well known (halfway through the 90s or so) and after you can see that a lot of terrorist demands have in fact been met. From this perspective, terror really works very well.