Netflix
13 Reasons Why is officially Netflix’s most talked-about show EVER but as we all know, it was a best-selling young adult novel first.
RELATED: Netflix Announces A Major Change To ’13 Reasons Why’ After All The Backlash
And turns out they created one ~helluva~ viral campaign that you might never have seen to promote it.
According to The New York Times, the publisher of Jay Asher‘s book, Razorbill, commissioned an advertising agency to bring the tragic story to life, including a YouTube campaign showing an old-school cassette player as actress Olivia Thirlby (best known as Leah from Juno) reads Hannah’s tapes.
The original 13 Reasons Why website is still active and all the videos are still hosted on a YouTube channel called “Hannahsfriend13.”
The channel even links to a fake blog called “Hannah’s Reasons” which is written from the point of view of, you guessed it, Hannah’s friend.
This friend is most likely Tony, who made sure all 13 people got their tapes in both the book and the Netflix show.
RELATED: This ’13 Reasons Why’ Theory About Tony Changes EVERYTHING
The blog posts date all the way back to 2008 (the book came out in 2007 so it makes sense) and they include a fake police report and a poster for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
There are even comments that seem to be coming from the novel’s characters but it’s not clear if that’s actually part of the campaign or just fans imitating them.
The whole thing is super elaborate and impressive but at the same time it’s ~really~ eery and gives us major Blair Witch Project vibes.
Many have criticised the show for painting Hannah as a teen seeking revenge on those who wronged her rather than someone who was seriously struggling and needed help. And it looks like these tapes and blog set her up in the same way. What do you guys think, was this an irresponsible PR campaign?
If you or someone you know needs help, you can speak confidentially to a trained counsellor 24 hours a day at headspace.org.au or Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800.
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