Dexter Hit List (lost online viral marketing campaign for FX crime drama series; 2008)

Screenshot of the main page of the Dexter Hit List site.

Status: Lost

Dexter Hit List is a 2008 online viral marketing campaign that was used to promote Season 2 of the FX crime drama Dexter. The website (thedexterhitlist.com) allowed fans to become the killer and write the names of victims, and also give mugshots. They would then be processed into a video on a fake news website that is played out like an official police press conference. Although footage of some of the generated videos from the campaign are available to watch online, the website no longer works and currently redirects users an unrelated casino website with slots. The campaign is now considered completely lost, and right now, is unrecoverable.

Premise/Plot

Users that went on the website would be given the option to write down the name of a friend, or someone random in the text box as well as give out some details about them. They would also be requested to add a picture which would be used as the mugshot in the final video. They would also be given pre-set audience remarks which would also be used in the video, or they could use their microphone to make their own remark. Then, the website would begin to create the video and they would be redirected to another website posing as a legitimate news site. The site would contain the headline "Copycat Killer Names Targets", and a description of the video with the past targets, as well as the name of the user's friend/random person as well. The video would be fabricated to look like a real, legitimate police press conference that would list out the friend's name on the projector, as well as a mugshot of the 'killer' or friend. They could either download the finished video or send it to their friend on other social media websites.

Disappearance

While the website remained active for a few years after the viral marketing campaign ended, eventually, the site was taken down after multiple years of operation, and the site became inaccessible. While the website has been archived in the Wayback Machine, the site's functionality has not worked since the original site was taken down years ago. It is currently unknown if the site will ever see a comeback, or ever be found.

Gallery

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  The fake news website that users could watch the finished videos on.

External Links

• Archive of the main page of the site (June 30th, 2008 capture).
• Article on The Guardian about the viral marketing campaign.
• Wikipedia page about the TV show.
• YouTube video containing one of the generated press conference videos.