MUMBAI: MTV, jackassworld.com and media technology company Big Stage Entertainment launched the Be A jackass campaign where fans of the hit MTV show can digitally impose their own recognizable face on Johnny Knoxville, Steve-O and others from the jackass gang as they perform the outrageous stunts that made them legendary.
The free promotion lets fans create life-like 3-D clones of themselves, called @ctors, that instantly replace the faces of their favorite jackass stars in videos and photos that can be shared via email, Web site embeds and social media. The Be A jackass campaign is powered by Big Stage Entertainment’s BackStage product, which offers Big Stage Entertainment’s 3-D face modeling technology to clients and partners for creation of personalized interactive experiences under their own brands.
"For years people have stopped me in the streets to ask if they can be on jackass. Well, thanks to the new Big Stage application on jackassworld, they can!! That’s right you can swallow and puke back up a goldfish or go elbow deep in a cow just like me and the boys," said MTV’s jackass star Johnny Knoxville.
Whether being pelted by paintballs or abused by a horde of pint-sized playground rugrats, jackass fans can, for the first time, put themselves into some of the show’s most memorable and shocking scenes. To become a virtual jackass star, fans quickly create their realistic 3-D @ctors on http://www.jackassworld.com/pages/big-stage from a few digital photos uploaded to the site. They can then get into videos of stunts that would truly make their parents proud, and share the delightful disgrace with friends through a number of pass-along tools on the site.
"For years, MTV has insisted that fans of jackass ‘not to try these stunts at home.’ Finally, we can let them try jackass stunts right from the comfort of their own homes … virtually, of course. The audience that loves their jackass also loves technology, and we are pleased to bring them a groundbreaking (as opposed to a neck-breaking) way to combine those two passions," said MTV New Media executive vice president David Gale.
"MTV’s partnership with Big Stage Entertainment showcases their commitment to connecting with audiences through innovative and immersive digital experiences. As one of the first to companies to offer our new BackStage technology, MTV clearly recognizes the appeal that campaigns like "Be A jackass" have among its tech-savvy, irreverent fan base, as well as the unprecedented levels of viewer engagement that BackStage experiences offer their brand," said Big Stage Entertainment co-founder and COO Jon Kraft.
By allowing the audience to be the "star" in connected content, Big Stage Entertainment’s BackStage product lets clients create branded media experiences and viral campaigns that drive reach, relevance and engagement. BackStage allows visitors to a brand’s website to create animated 3-D versions of themselves, called @ctors. The @ctor can then be instantly accessorized with hairstyles, eyeglasses, shirts, hats, and more, and inserted into content such as video clips, commercials, trailers, games, motion comics and posters. The content can then be shared with friends, family and colleagues through email, embeds and social networking tools.
