Ghost video hoax costs $100,000

The “Ghost in Raffles Place lift” video has garnered everyone’s attention in recent weeks since it was posted on April 21, 2008 in YouTube and also in STOMP. Below is an article published in today’s MyPaper.

The “ghost video” – actually a publicity stunt that was widely circulated via e-mail here last month cost recruitment and HR consultancy group GMP just $100,000. What it got in return was more than 250,000 views on YouTube and wide media coverage, after it was first posted on citizen media website Stomp. Created by McCann Worldgroup Singapore, the video first appeared online on April 21.
It showed what appeared to be CCTV footage of two men being followed out of an office lift by the ghost of an old woman. Mr Farrokh Madon, executive creative director for Mc-Cann, said in an article in Marketing Magazine that the “Raffles Place Ghost” is a “fantastic example of how a big idea can magnify a small advertising budget”. “Besides great awareness, there was a lot of traffic to the GMP microsite and the number of CVs uploaded increased exponentially,” he added. HAUNTED HOAX: The “ghost” (left) captured on CCTV. (PHOTO: STOMP)