Even for a public besotted with sexy action/adventure flicks, this one looked like a must-see. For three months, moviegoers who grabbed seats in time for the previews sat wide-eyed over the karate-fueled antics of a sinuous brunette named Scarlet who, they were promised, would star in a new TV series bearing her name. Meanwhile, billboards in Los Angeles and Dubai; ads in People and Rolling Stone; and online banners on Gawker and E! all hinted at a blockbuster flick also starring Scarlet, the smoldering femme fatale with the low décolleté and a mysterious red glint in her eye.

Too bad it was all a hoax.

Oh sure, Scarlet herself was real enough. She’s  Norwegian actress Natassie Malthe. But on April 28, when the show’s launch was to be announced at a red carpet Hollywood premiere, it was revealed that Scarlet, the show, was actually a new LCD TV line from LG Electronics Worldwide. Which made Scarlet, the female action hero, little more than the face of a gutsy viral campaign via Agency.com.

By rights, that red eyeball should have tipped everybody off. The ruby glimmer and the Scarlet name itself were both selected because of the TV casing’s signature reddish hue. According to Agency.com CEO Chan Suh, the deception was a calculated risk. After all, LG went to considerable lengths to make a very fake show look very real, including hiring Sopranos director David Nutter.

However, as Suh explained via e-mail, “LG felt that if [it were all] done correctly, the target consumer would benefit and appreciate the twist, associating the entertainment campaign with a positive drive to purchase.”

Has it? LG said it’s too early to see if its global hoax has translated into TV sales but, by most indications, at least they know consumers took the joke pretty well. Said one online review site: “Kudos to LG for this decade’s best pr stunt in the consumer electronics industry.”

Courtesy of Steve Miller, brandweek.com