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| Author | Zoe Aresti |
Vue cinemagoers looking to enjoy an exclusive preview of the latest Poltergeist movie at London Piccadilly got a fright courtesy of the cinema group, in a stunt designed to promote the horror film.
Vue planted terrifying clown figures behind the windows in cinema bathrooms this week, which popped up when unsuspecting customers looked in the mirror.
Hidden cameras captured consumers’ startled reactions, which were compiled into a short film (see below).
The stunt followed a poll by Vue that revealed evil clowns were voted the "scariest" characters, followed by dolls, demons and ghosts.
Vue also enlisted a neuroscientist to explain people’s reactions to the stunt. Patrick Fagan a neuroscientist and associate lecturer at Goldsmiths said: "This prank is a great example of a hardwired behaviour called the startle response... The reaction is innate and we simply cannot not do it."
This article first appeared on Marketing Magazine.