Spotted! The Ghostbusters have come to town

Hoping to replicate the buzz of its Breaking Bad RV campaign, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Canada is touring Toronto in the Ecto-1.

Is there something weird in your neighbourhood?

To promote the release of the Ghostbusters remake on DVD and Blu-ray, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Canada has brought the movie’s characters (and a few other iconic movie props) to the streets of Toronto.

Through a partnership with experiential marketing agency Jam Van, Sony has created a replica of the Ghostbusters Ecto-1 vehicle and recruited four female performers (and one male) to portray the new generation of Ghostbusters. The team will be cruising to various locations throughout Toronto from Oct. 11 to 25.

Passersby who spot the ‘busters can have their photos taken with the team and the Ecto-1 (extra Ghostbuster uniforms will also be available for fans to try on). The first 200 participants will also be given free Ghostbusters goo.

The team has already stopped for photo ops near Dundas and Elizabeth Streets, the TIFF Bell Lightbox, Casa Loma and Toronto Police 42 Division headquarters. The performers also marched in a community parade for Toronto Police 55 Division on Wednesday afternoon.

UM to developed the campaign concept for Sony Pictures Home Entertainment and brokered the deal with Jam Van. Renata Richardson, director of marketing, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment Canada, told MiC the tour won’t be promoted using any paid or commercial advertising, stating that the plan is to go viral organically.

The specific locations fo the visits are not being revealed in detail as the goal is to direct fans to the Ghostbusters Toronto Twitter and Facebook streams (the accounts were created specifically for the campaign), where the team will offer hints on the tour’s next location on #GhostbustersTO.

“We’re hoping we can use the power of social to really boost this,” said Richardson. She said the company previously paired with Jam Van and UM for a similar activation promoting the DVD/Blu-Ray release of AMC’s Breaking Badcreating a replica of Walt and Jesse’s mobile drug lab.

“That was something that was a huge success for us in terms of really going viral on social media, so we’re hoping to replicate that,” she said. The Breaking Bad RV Facebook page earned 885 likes during the activation, while its Twitter account received 860 follows. To date the Ghostbusters Twitter page has 29 followers, while the Facebook page has 28 likes.

For Ghostbusters, Richardson said the goal is to reach as wide of a demographic as possible, which she thinks

“Everybody knows something about Ghostbusters, whether they’re young or old,” she said. “We’re using the classic Ecto — this one’s an ambulance like in the original, while the new movie used a hearse — but an all-female cast like in the new movie.”