Random members of the public start appearing on Black Mirror billboards across the UK
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Black Mirror season six episode ‘Joan is Awful’
Plenty of us have complained that it feels like we’re living through an episode of Black Mirror, but this has just become much more of a reality for some fans, who’ve found their faces plastered on massive billboards across the country - seemingly without any warning.
It’s certainly a bold marketing move, and is a pretty genius tie-in to season six opener ‘Joan is Awful’.
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The episode follows the titular character’s (Annie Murphy) discovery that her life has been turned into a prestige drama without her consent by a fictionalised version of Netflix called Streamberry.
It turns out when Joan signed the Streamberry terms and conditions - which, like most of us, she didn’t read - she consented for the streaming service to turn her private life into an AI-generated drama, with her being played by a computer-generated Salma Hayek Pinault.
Joan ends up losing her partner and her job and goes to some pretty extreme lengths to get her own back on Streamberry.
As the episode progresses, it turns out Streamberry has plans to release personalised ‘...is Awful’ dramas for all of its subscribers, with an exec revealing their market research shows people only responded when the shows highlighted users' negative traits and neuroses.
To coincide with the new season, Netflix launched a Streamberry website, which gave fans of Charlie Brooker’s anthology series the opportunity to upload their pictures and create personalised posters for their own ‘...is Awful’ dramas.
But it looks like the folks who did this might have made the same mistake as poor old Joan and failed to read the terms and conditions.
This afternoon (22 June), Black Mirror’s Twitter account started sharing pictures of billboards featuring the faces of fans who’d used Streamberry’s poster tool.
It promised Kyle is Awful was coming to London, Cate is Awful would debut in Birmingham, while Matt is Awful would premiere in Manchester.
And it wasn’t just humans who were awful. Moriarty (a dog with massive ears) and Gracie (a cat) are also set to star in their own prestige dramas apparently.
A member of our team has spotted one of the billboards out in the real world, so it’s not just something Netflix has mocked up on Photoshop.
In fairness to the streamer, when uploading your picture on the Streamberry website, users are given fair warning that 'you may even end up on a billboard' - but you'd still imagine it being a bit of a shock to see your giant mug staring back at you on the street.
Fans were a bit taken aback by the gonzo marketing move, with one writing: “Wtf this is actually true…mental.”
Another, commenting on a Madison is Awful poster in London, wrote: “Well, Madison. Time to buy yourself some burgers.”
If you’ve seen the episode, you’ll know what this is about.
The new season of Black Mirror is available to stream on Netflix now.
When LADbible contacted Netflix for a comment, a spokesperson said: "Thank you for reaching out. Please redirect your enquiry on these new series to the Streamberry press office."
Topics: Black Mirror, Netflix, TV and Film, Weird
Simon Fearn