Rest Easy, That Creepy Wisconsin Clown Was Just A Marketing Stunt
By Gwendolyn Purdom in News on Aug 11, 2016 8:45PM
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We've been had. Joining a growing number of stunts that are both eyeroll-inducing and infuriatingly effective, "Gags the Clown," the walking nightmare who we and several other outlets reported was spotted lurking around Green Bay, Wisconsin last week, was, in fact, a viral marketing ploy for an indie horror movie. Adam Krause, a Green Bay filmmaker, confirmed he was the man behind the man behind the mask on his Facebook page Monday.
"So that Green Bay clown that everyone's been talking about. I might have had something to do with it," Krause posted, along with the trailer for his upcoming short horror film "Gags."
In a longer post on the "Gags—The Green Bay Clown" official Facebook page (the fact that the page popped up within hours of the first photo being shared should have tipped everybody off), Krause writes that he and his team had a ten-day media plan with four "Gags" sightings scheduled but that their plans changed when, he claims, actors bitter they weren't cast in the film leaked the hoax to the press. In the five days after the first image was posted Aug. 1, it had been shared nearly 9,000 times and prompted news stories in Finland, Iceland and elsewhere around the world.
Krause said on Facebook that his fascination with clowns started with Stephen King's IT and the 1989 horror movie "Clownhouse," and that production of "Gags" started in August of 2015.
As irritated as we are that we fell for yet another "scare-the-crap-out-of-your-potential-audience-so-they-can't-stop-talking-about-it" stunt, we also have to award credit where creepy credit is due. Well played, horrifying clown man. Well played.