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Chapter 158: Popping the Balloon
🕑 Added 2025-01-07 18:53:19 +0000 UTC"October 18?" For some reason, when New Line's president, Shay, saw this date in the newspaper, he felt something was off, and an uneasy thought began to grow in his mind. Sitting in his office chair, he thought for a while but couldn't figure out the source of his discomfort.
Feeling restless, he called a few senior executives to join him.
"How is the promotion for Texas Chainsaw Massacre going?" He picked up a lemon slice from the desk and popped it into his mouth.
The senior executives weren't surprised, and Keller from the publicity department quickly responded, "We've started the promotion on all major platforms: newspapers, TV, and billboards. The budget has already reached $4 million."
"Spent the money... and then what?" Shay frowned. "Is promotion all about how much money we spent?"
"Uh... not exactly," Keller quickly explained. "We held a Texas Chainsaw event with 500 participants, a newspaper puzzle event with 1,300 participants, and the TV ad had a completion viewership of 73,000 people. Compared to past campaigns, this has increased by about 30%."
"Hmm..." Shay nodded, feeling a bit more reassured by the figures, but he still wasn't entirely satisfied.
"Take a look at this." He tossed the newspaper in front of them. "Do you know the Puzzle Killer?"
"Yes."
"Yes."
"Familiar."
Shay pulled the lemon slice from his mouth. "Look at the heat around this case. By all accounts, our film should have similar attention."
Keller awkwardly shrugged. "That's a bit difficult. After all, the Texas Chainsaw Massacre incident happened more than 20 years ago. People don't find it fresh anymore. In fact, many young people see it as a kind of ancient legend..."
"Exactly," agreed Willson from the production department.
Only Jess from the distribution department raised an objection. "In terms of fame, Texas is undoubtedly more well-known than Puzzle, even if the discussions in New York are high. But what about outside New York?"
Keller shrugged. "But Puzzle hasn't been caught, he's still an active killer. The terror he's spreading across New York isn't something Texas can match. Even people who aren't interested in these kinds of things can't avoid the impact, because they have families, children, wives. These are the people most scared—they feel the threat to their lives. That's why the Puzzle Killer's discussions are so widespread."
"Exactly," Willson nodded.
"But..." Jess tried to argue, but Shay tapped the table. "Enough."
The room fell silent.
Shay took another lemon slice, dipped it in salt, and popped it in his mouth. "I don't know why, but I just feel uneasy. Look at this Puzzle Killer—no trace, just surveillance footage and a code, yet it has New Yorkers in a panic. Now a few puppets have been thrown in, dominating headlines in major newspapers. Do you know what this reminds me of?"
The senior executives all looked at their boss attentively.
"The Blair Witch Project." Shay squinted his eyes, feeling that the faint thought growing inside him was becoming clearer.
"Exactly. It's the Blair Witch Project," he repeated, furrowing his brow. "That movie used real missing persons cases to promote itself."
"They even claimed the whole movie was actual footage," Keller added.
"So is the Puzzle Killer similar in promotional tactics?" Willson raised an eyebrow.
Thanks to Shay's reminder, the team quickly opened their minds to a possibility they hadn't considered before.
"The Puzzle Killer, Billy the Puppet, the torture tapes—these are all common elements in horror film production, aren't they? So October 18, that must be the release date for this movie?" Jess suddenly realized.
Shay, still chewing, said, "It's very likely. That's why the police haven't found any murder cases."
"I'm going to check with the cinema chains and see if any films are scheduled for that day!" Jess quickly stood up, phone in hand to contact the distributors.
"Hopefully not," Keller clasped his hands in front of his chest, clearly worried. If another movie were set to release after Texas Chainsaw Massacre, it meant someone had already been targeting them, using this kind of marketing to steal attention and grab the box office from Texas.
That would be disastrous. With the current level of discussion around the Puzzle Killer, once people realized it was a movie, they'd be very curious to see what was inside.
Keller couldn't help but worry for Texas.
But sometimes, God likes to joke. When Jess returned, he crossed his arms and spoke with a regretful tone. "I just checked with the cinemas about whether any movies are set for the 18th, and their response was 'no comment.'"
"Damn!" Keller stood up and covered his mouth with his hand.
Willson closed his eyes, feeling his spirits fall.
"It seems we've definitely been targeted," Shay spat out the lemon, folding his arms across his chest.
If there were no movie, the cinema's answer would have been a simple "no." The fact that they said "no comment" meant that a movie was definitely coming out after Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
And it would most likely be a horror film, because no family or romance movies would be scheduled during the Halloween period.
"What should we do?" Jess suggested, "Why don't we release a report exposing the trick and tell everyone it's fake?"
"That's a valid approach!" Keller chimed in. "I'll go to the New York Times and have them expose the fake killer, then... then..."
"Then tell the story of Texas Chainsaw Massacre again," Shay finished the thought.
The group fell silent and thought for a moment.
"That plan sounds good, go ahead, Keller," Shay approved. Though the feeling of crisis hadn't completely eased, this seemed like the best course of action for now.
"Okay, I'll handle it in two days!" Keller said, striding out of the office.
Meanwhile, in the Supreme Creativity office, Jimmy was chatting with Ethan about the movie's promotion.
"Ethan, aren't you worried the killer might be exposed?"
"When did I say the killer was real?" Ethan smiled as he poured himself a cup of tea.
"But..." Jimmy furrowed his brows. "Aren't we making the killer seem real?"
"Jimmy, do you think a smart promotional strategy is?" Ethan didn't answer him directly but changed the topic.
Jimmy took a sip of his warm tea. Under Ethan's influence, he had also started to appreciate tea. "Smart? I think it's brilliant to make something fake seem real."
"Haha, you're right. It's clever to blur the lines between truth and lies, but it's risky because it could be exposed at any time."
"Like the Puzzle Killer?"
"Yes, just like what we're doing now. The reporters can't get anything from the police station, but that doesn't mean they have no other ways. Someone will find Karbigo in prison and try to get the full story from him."
"So, I said, why not pay Karbigo to keep quiet?" Jimmy shrugged, presenting his idea.
But Ethan waved his hand. "Why pay a criminal? He's not worth it."
"Then what do you plan to do? What if someone interviews Karbigo?"
"In fact, I've already arranged for a reporter to interview him..." Ethan smirked. "Just before you barged into the room."
"What!" Jimmy was shocked. "Ethan, are you crazy?"
"No, no, Jimmy. The reason you think this is because you believe our promotion aims to make Billy the Puppet seem real. But I never thought of it that way. This is a movie, from start to finish."
Ethan explained to Jimmy, "The truly brilliant marketing strategy is to tell the truth. And now, it's time for us to tell the truth."
"You're going to burst this fake balloon yourself?" Jimmy vaguely sensed Ethan's plan.
"Exactly."
The next afternoon, after school, Milon and Judy arrived at the newsstand.
They had been following the progress of the Puzzle Killer case, and whenever a new newspaper came out, they'd buy it to stay updated, so they came by the stand every day.
However, they were surprised to find that today's newspaper on the Puzzle Killer case was from the New York Times.
"Quick, take a look!" Judy paid for the paper and immediately opened it to see what the New York Times had uncovered.
The moment they saw the headline, they were stunned.
"The Truth About the Puzzle Killer: Movie Crew Filmed Torture Scene, Scaring Robber into Tears"
"Impossible!"
The two had believed the Puzzle Killer was a real serial killer, but after reading the New York Times article, it seemed like the whole thing had been fabricated, and the public had merely imagined it.
To verify their suspicions, they quickly read the article.
The report stated that a reporter had interviewed Karbigo in prison and learned the truth.
It turned out that the supposed black man being tortured was actually part of a scene filmed by a movie crew. The robbers, who had witnessed the scene, had thought it was real and panicked, calling the police.
The reporter then confirmed Karbigo's statement with police records.
Finally, the reporter contacted the film crew, who confirmed the story, and they apologized for the misunderstanding. The video had been uploaded online by accident, and the resulting panic had spiraled out of control.
The apology letter was published right after the article, and once Milon and Judy finished reading the report, they immediately saw the letter.
