Eminem is not known for timeliness, which is why it’s perhaps unsurprising that he has decided to jump on the viral marketing chain nearly eight years after the whole viral marketing thing went big-time. (Yep, it’s been that long since the AI marketing campaign that was kinda way better than the movie.) At least he started it via Twitter!


The past decade has seen phony sites, cryptic text messages, and fake TV ads from entities as I Love Bees, The Hanso Foundation, and Slusho Cola. One problem with these campaigns is that they are rarely more than tangentially related to the products themselves. What did Slusho Cola have to do with a giant monster attacking New York City? Not much. And yet I love this stuff. Some of these marketing artifacts, like the aforementioned AI campaign, are often better or more interesting than the thing they’re marketing (watch these fantastic Watchmen pre-release videos).


Today, Eminem Tweeted a link to this picture:





“Popsomp Hills,” get it? Well, a quick Google search leads you to the Popsomp Hills Rehabilitation Center Web site, which has as its tagline “We Remade You.” The site is semi-convincing, though the “About Us” leads to a Wikipedia entry on Hell, and the Privacy Policy is pretty funny:

1. •Nothing is private in this world. Let’s not kid each other here.
2. •We don’t trust you. We don’t even trust ourselves.
3. •We tell our staff all of your secrets. All confidential information provided to us during the course of your treatment will ultimately be used against you.

Throughout the site, you’re encouraged to do this:

CALL NOW TO SPEAK WITH A PHYSICIAN


313-486-5975

So, of course, I called. The message says that Popsomp is having technical difficulties, but if you press “1,” you can receive a call or text message back. Which I did. I got pretty excited about getting a call from “Unknown” shortly afterward, but it was only Georgia Power calling to tell me that I forgot to pay my power bill. (Oops.) So now I wait.


This viral campaign so far seems germane to the album’s overall theme of drugs and… drugs, so I’ll give it points for that. And the timing seems about right, even though I had to check to see whether or not Relapse had already came out. If this only leads to a free MP3, I’m gonna be bummed.


Popsomp Hills Rehabilitation Center [Official site]