• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, February 23, 2006

Talk about a viral ad campaign. Video game publisher Majesco created "Infected" exclusively for the Sony PSP, with a premise that revolves around killing zombies in New York City on Christmas Eve. When a player challenges an opponent to combat and wins three times, the winner's avatar character becomes a villain in the loser's machine, thereby infecting the person's PSP until the character is killed off.

Looking to spread the word about the new game, The Concept Farm created an online and outdoor campaign that fully embodied the game's object. Since a winner's avatar could infect PSPs all over the world, the ads literally infected adjoining ads.

Targeting boys and young men, the outdoor campaign launched three fake brands: Diversion Bra, So So Soda, and Stalker Perfume. Wild postings appeared in New York and San Francisco emblazoned with 14 pictures featuring the fake brands. The center image in the postings featured a handprint and the copy "infect the world." Over the course of three successive weeks, the postings were changed to play on the "infect the world" tagline.

Midway through the effort, a woman appearing in the Diversion Bra ad went from sexy to wounded, sporting open wounds on her chest and arm. By the third week of the campaign, the infection spread to another arm and most of her face. Week Four showed the same infected woman with the "handprint" invading each ad. Online ads ran on IGN.com and Gamespot.com and followed a similar premise: Banner ads for the faux brands became infected with the "real" brand.