Basic Instinct 2 email...It's as Bad as the movie

For those of you who remember the shockingly graphic scenes from Paul Verhoeven's first Basic Instinct movie, you undoubtedly have a whole new meaning for an ice pick. Well after clicking through the promotional email for "BI2", I want to take that ice pick and take out my eyes. This piece of creative is lackluster and the strategy, while it uses a Drive-To-Web structure (which is great), the execution gets Two Thumbs way down. And they had such big brand partners too - Sony PSP, FHM and Casa Del Mar. Very surprising.

Let's take a look at how the email works, or in this case doesn't:

1. HTML email - Good striking imagery of a well-preserved Sharon Stone (Catherine Trammel) sitting seductively in a chair; smoking cigarette in hand and dress slit up to her...well...you know. She's sitting front of a shattered mirror with her victim in the reflection. It's a great image. But how hard could it have been to make the smoke animate or at least glow like it's lit? Missed opportunity #1. However, it did compel me to choose from 1 of the 2 choices and make a click.

2. Transition - First I chose to "be in control", but what I got was a web page full of text and a tiny image of a PSP. Way too much text and nothing very compelling at all. Plus there was a survey and then a huge profile to fill out. For what? The questions were actually quite funny if you actually read them, but no one gave me a reason to do so. Missed opportunity #2. The other choice was equally as poorly executed, but at least there was a more compelling background graphic.

(click on these images to see what happened when I clicked the email image)

(these emails were actually each presented vertically, but I reassembled for spacing on this blog)

3. Payoff - Not that anyone would ever take that much time to do all of this, but even if you did, then this was the reward for all my time and effort. A fricking static page with a "Thank You for Entering" message. Huge missed opportunity #3. Why not at least play the trailer for me or give me a clip of Sharon stabbing someone, or chasing someone, or just connect me to the Sony site for goodness sakes.
With all the promise and possibilities that rich media marketing can now provide, I couldn't have been more disappointed in this. MGM needs to be ashamed. I want my money back.