BUZZ NEWS

Discovery Channel: The Frenzied Waters Advergame

Posted on July 31, 2009
Aïcha Charpentier

Launched by Discovery Channel to promote its program, Frenzied Waters relies on the concept of alternate reality, which blends the virtual experience with experiences in real life. In other words, it mixes fiction and reality.

The game presents itself in the following manner: Upon arriving on the Frenzied Waters website, you are immersed in a maritime environment. You will then see 4 bottles floating on a calm sea. By clicking on the bottles, a video launches that thanks to a camera effect makes you feel like you are the protagonist of the video. One of them is the event that took place at Ashbury Park in 1916...

The goal of the game is to unravel the mystery behind Ashbury Park. You need to find 11 hidden beacons across the United States that help put together all the pieces of the puzzle. How? Thanks to the coordinates of the beacons, and of the photographs that you can find on blogs, Twitter, Flickr, and the channel’s website.

Try out this experience by clicking on the image below. One word of advice, click on the image on the right of the screen first, as it is specially dedicated to you! All it will ask you is to type in your Facebook information to activate the session. Don’t be suspicious, you won’t be disappointed.

We can now tell you that the show is called "Shark Week". If we’d told you from the start, it wouldn’t have been a surprise!

It is in this way that reality joins fiction, the line between the online and offline world blurs. Through this campaign, Discovery Channel has made great use of web marketing through social networks, a shining example of how to create pertinent cross media.

Finally, they have also enhanced the experience by giving Web users the chance to share their experience via Facebook. Given all this, there is no doubt in our mind that Frenzied Water will rampantly viralize all over the Net.