Showcase puts viral touch on Damages campaign

Damages ads are everywhere, but there's an interactive side to the show's promo. For the first time, the net is looking for friends - evil or not - with a custom Facebook application.

Showcase’s current campaign to promote the Glenn Close-Ted Danson series Damages (Mondays 10 pm ET/PT) has a quirky little Facebook application mixed in with the media. The app, dubbed the Ultimate Evil Meter quiz (apps.facebook.com/theultimateevilmeter), lets online fans add the meter to their Facebook profiles to share just how evil they are with friends. It is Showcase’s first jump onto the social networking platform, and it was deemed a good strategy for reeling in the show’s target demo.

The Ultimate Evil Meter was designed to analyze users’ exact depth of depravity by having them answer simple questions around themes like scheming against co-workers, seeking revenge for a broken heart and getting away with murder. The responses lead to one of four personality profiles, which indicate the lengths to which users are capable of going.

Profiles range from those classified as ‘Depraved Miscreants’ (individuals who might use ransom and blackmail as acceptable tactics) to ‘Barely Bad’ (people who couldn’t even get a parking spot at their own funeral). After they’ve completed the quiz, users are shown a 30-second promo for Damages.

The application also includes links back to an ‘Addicted to Damages‘ fan page, where users can enter an Ultimate Damages Contest and chat about the program.

Online streaming of the show began Feb. 19. Online ads across the net invite users to see what’s up on the Facebook side of the show promo. By Friday afternoon, Facebook reported the application had about 543 daily active users.

The Ultimate Evil Meter was developed by Toronto’s Krista Slack + Associates and Lux 9. It is part of Showcase’s national promotional campaign for Damages – the largest single-series campaign since the network launched Six Feet Under in 2003. The campaign also includes print, out-of-home, television and radio advertising, along with a national online push.