If you’ve ever wondered what it was like to investigate a car crash – or for that matter, be in one – Whizbang Films is offering up a first-hand look through an interactive companion website to its new show, Crash and Burn.
Targeting the 25-to-54 demographic, the first episode debuted last night on Showcase, introducing audiences to Jimmy Burn, an adjustor for the fictional insurance company, and his team at Protected Insurance.
Nissan is a partner in the show, with a vehicle content-integration partnership that features the main characters driving Nissan Cubes and supporting characters driving other Nissan models.
The companion website to Crash and Burn – which also features Nissan branding and in January, a Nissan contest – also debuted yesterday. The site takes the show’s premise even further with two interactive games, Autotopsy and Protected Detective: Branch Investigation, designed not only to promote the show, but to create games interesting enough to have a life of their own outside of the show. The website’s construction was funded through the Bell Television Fund and the Canadian Television Fund, which requires that new shows have companion websites to support them. The site is being advertised on all posters promoting the show and via social media outreach and Facebook advertising.
Additionally, the producers are hoping that in the future, the website will be an enticing value-add should the show be licensed in other markets.
Autotopsy brings the user right into the investigative process with video and interactive elements. Users can see video of the accident as it is about to happen, and then follow Burn as he conducts his investigation. The point of view is up-close and personal, giving the user the opportunity to interact with a television-like experience. The second game Protected Detective, debuting on Nov. 23, involves viewers in an investigation of Protected Insurance employees suspected of insurance fraud. The investigation is an online experience unto itself, but is being extended into reality by having users vote on the character in the actual show that is guilty of fraud. The person with the greatest number of votes will be actually fired in the series finale.
The goal was to create a website that would truly be an extension of the show, but also to engage people who might not even watch, Peter Miskimmin, director of development, Whizbang Films, told MiC.
‘We think that we can enhance what you watch on the show by extending the experience online,’ he said. ‘But one of the things about Autotopsy is that we thought that if we did a good enough job to the experience, it would draw people to the show through that medium, going ‘Wow, this is a cool thing. Oh, it ties into a show!”
Yesterday, Protected Insurance-decorated Nissan Cubes drove over Toronto promoting the show, which was launched with a flashy, externally branded party at the Hard Rock Cafe on Yonge St.
