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#NewsBytesRewind: How '2012' marketing made end of world feel real
Back in 2009, the marketing for the disaster movie "2012" got way too real.
Columbia Pictures created a fake group called the Institute for Human Continuity, claiming there was a 94% chance Earth would end in 2012—and even ran a "survival lottery."
The campaign's official-sounding websites and fake science fooled so many people that NASA had to step in and calm everyone down.
How the campaign fooled people
It's wild how movie hype blurred into actual panic—NASA said they got thousands of worried messages, even from kids.
This whole episode is a reminder that viral marketing can cross the line when it mixes fiction with fake facts.
It shows why creators need to be careful: when entertainment feels real, it can genuinely scare people.