Promoting AMC on Facebook via "The Walking Dead"

When I saw that my friend liked the AMC show “The Walking Dead” on Facebook, I quickly followed her lead and clicked “like.” I was already on Facebook, the option to “like” the show was one click away, and I do like the show, so I clicked impulsively.

This was not the first time I “liked” something impulsively. Earlier this year, I “liked” Cracked.com on Facebook, but it was a short lived “like.” I was bombarded several times a day with requests to read some article I had no interests in. Within a week, I “unliked” the site and have never visited the site since.

Fortunately, “The Walking Dead” had a Facebook presence that I found much less obnoxious. “The Walking Dead” would only post once or twice a week, just before or after an episode. These posts would allow me to access exclusive sneak peeks, behind the scenes footage, or discussions with fans. Although I rarely clicked any of the links, they did not bother me; rather, they got me excited for the upcoming episode.

The most notable post “The Walking Dead” made was after their season finale. There were posts about the most exciting scenes, inviting fans to talk about them, but my favorite post was one about how to fill your Sunday night 9:00 time spot now that “The Walking Dead” was off the air. “The Walking Dead” posted a Facebook exclusive commercial for “Mad Men,” titled “The Zombies are Back,” showing clips of hung over characters stumbling around like zombies. The commercial was short but incredibly funny – plus it related to a slightly different zombie-themed “Mad Men” commercial that aired the night before, during “The Walking Dead” season finale.

I thought the post was effective because it promoted another AMC show via “The Walking Dead”  that specifically targeted fans of “The Walking Dead.” Since the commercial was funny and related to the show users “liked,” users do not feel like AMC is taking advantage of their “Walking Dead” “like” in order to promote other shows.