The Blair Witch Project (1999)
The Blair Witch Project was released on July 14, 1999. The film cost a about $350,000 to produce and went on to gross nearly $250 million worldwide, giving it the highest profit-to-cost ratio of any film in history.
The incredible success of the film could be attributed to its unique website that effectively blurred the lines between fact and fiction. The website, that still exists today, spoke convincingly of the mythology behind the Blair Witch, contained a realistic photo of the three filmmakers/stars with a caption that the photo was taken "less than a week before their disappearance," along with a sideshow of other rather generic, yet real photos that made many believe that this site was actually authentic. The gimmick worked!
John West Salmon (2000)
This was one of a series of ads by John West Salmon that appeared on the Internet in late 2000. Since their groundbreaking debut, the "Bear Fight" videos have gone on to attract an astonishing 300 million Internet views according to the BBC, and it is not difficult to see why. It's hand-held, low budget, realistic feel would become synonymous with the term "viral" for years to come.
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