• by Amy Corr , Staff Writer @MediaPostOTL, April 27, 2009

Orkut is a Google-owned social networking site that's uber-popular in Brazil. Roughly 25 million people in Brazil use the site monthly, an impressive number of predominantly young people.

To promote the upcoming film "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," premiering April 30 in Brazil, Fox Films tasked MPM Propaganda with creating a unique campaign in Orkut. The agency created an avatar for use in The Buddy Poke!, an application in Orkut where users express themselves via individualized characters.

A Wolverine avatar was created that allows users of Buddy Poke! to send two different requests to friends: "claws out" or "asked to respond."

The sender's avatar subtly morphs into X-Men's Wolverine and interacts with the recipient's avatar. See an example here. I'm not sure I'd look so happy once the claws were out, but hey, I'm not an avatar.

There's an "X" in the background of the two avatars, but nothing about the movie -- such as the distributor or release date -- is ever mentioned.

This marks the first time that the app was used as a form of advertising.

It's an inconspicuous execution, which seems to have been the point.

"It is an innovation in media and an appropriate and relevant way to communicate with young people without bothering them," said Daniel Chalfon, partner and national director of media of MPM.