Marketing
Smile 2 Hotels
Building on the success of Smile (2022), the sequel stars Naomi Scott as a pop star haunted by a demonic entity. To honor the viral impact of the first film’s baseball stunt—in which we placed an actor behind home plate to eerily smile on live TV—we amplified the concept on a much larger scale. This time, we positioned 75 actors in prominent hotel windows across Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Chicago, and New York, each wearing the same unsettling grin. Strategically placed in high-traffic areas, the stunt quickly went viral, racking up 30 million views, naturally garnering media attention.
Due to overwhelming audience enthusiasm, we brought back the baseball stunt following the hotel activation. Reprising the eerie, unblinking smiles at multiple major league games, the activation once again went viral—this time, with several unscripted moments where actors broke character, sparking laughter and fueling even more online engagement. The combination of these two activations solidified Smile 2 as a must-see event, seamlessly blending horror and humor to dominate the cultural conversation.
Concept Development & Pitching: I led the creative development of the activation, pitching the idea of placing actors in high-rise hotel windows to eerily smile at passersby—an amplified version of the original baseball stunt. This included crafting and designing the pitch deck, refining the vision, and presenting it to the client for approval.
Strategic Planning & Coordination: Once the concept was greenlit, I worked directly with the client to determine optimal locations, selecting hotels and cities (Los Angeles, Austin, Dallas, Chicago, and New York) that would generate high visibility and viral potential. I managed negotiations and scheduling with hotel partners/baseball stadiums, ensuring logistical feasibility for each activation site.
Execution, On-the-Ground Oversight & Content Capture: For the Austin activation, I took on a direct production role, overseeing the team and ensuring all actors were properly placed and executing the vision with precision. This included real-time coordination, troubleshooting, and maintaining the eerie, unsettling aesthetic that made the stunt so effective. In addition to overseeing logistics, I was also tasked with capturing content for social media, ensuring we had high-quality footage and images to amplify the campaign's reach online.
Budgeting & Timeline Management: I worked closely with the client to manage budgeting for the project, allocating resources efficiently while maximizing impact. Additionally, I developed and managed the project timeline, ensuring seamless execution from planning through activation.
Content Seeding & Amplification: To maximize engagement, I identified and pitched content to key influencers and meme pages specializing in horror and movie-related content. By strategically seeding the activation footage to these highly engaged platforms, we sparked organic discussions and interest. This approach not only helped launch the conversation but also encouraged others to create their own content, triggering a domino effect of viral momentum and ensuring the campaign had a lasting impact.
Austin activation organic TikTok coverage by @lonestarlive
TikTok organic content of actor at baseball game breaking character by @bleacherreport
Influencer reacts to hotel stunt compilation videos by @relayts