Team Lost is keeping mum and staying dark about the contents of the show’s final season, set to premiere on February 2. The producers have even said they would rather not include any footage from the final slate of episodes in promos and advertising. Consequently, the show’s network partners around the world have been forced to come up with creative solutions for touting the show–and Lost‘s Spanish carrier, Cuatro, has set the bar pretty damn high with a just-released promo that’s stirring a buzz storm among fans. It’s so cool, it even caused Lost exec producer Carlton Cuse to tweet a rave via Twitter: “Best Lost promo I’ve ever seen…” If you haven’t seen it, you can check it out below.
So many things I love about this piece, from the ominous narration to the use of special effects to transpose characters like Ben, Locke, Sawyer and Kate from the show onto the chessboard motif. And how about that Four Toed Statue piece, brought down with a proverbial hand of God with so much thunder and shake! The poem definitely evokes the famous season 1 scene when Locke taught Walt about backgammon: “Two sides. Two players. One is light, the other is dark.” (Watch that scene again: not only filled with Jacob/Man In Black resonance, but just really, really, really poignant/creepy/cool.) I could do a big Doc Jensen investigation into the ad–but instead, I’m going to direct you to a Lost fan named Ms. Teri, who has a blog called “Lost For A Reason” and who has just posted a pretty great analysis of the promo and the poem. After you digest her sweet scholarship, come back here and check out my new column, which includes news about the forthcoming Lost season five DVD and some theory about Jacob and MIB. But before you do ANYTHING, answer these two questions: 1. What do you think of Lost’s minimal-to-no-advertising strategy? 2. What do you think of the Spanish promo?
So good. I loved how they showed everyones eyes opening and i liked how every word they were saying corrosponded with what was going on (like when they showed juliet letting go of sawyer and it was like the peices are put back into the box) Definatly better then US promo
Totally agree with this. It’s always infuriated me how ABC drops the ball on promoting LOST. They mostly just cutting and flashing clips that it just screams “lazy”. ABC has sooo much material to work with: whether it is past footage or the many levels that LOST is about (philosophy, literature, fringe science, etc.) With Cuatro’s promo, they put together something that incorporated all of the above and shows how creative one can get if it goes beyond the generic cuts-and-flashes motif. The chessboard analogy: Brilliant (the hand of God slamming down Tawaret even more so!)
Step it up ABC and stop screwing around!!
In ABC’s defense, remember that it is the same marketing dept that brought us The Lost Experience, the ComiCon appearances, other ARGs, etc. They have given us amazing content across the board that rewards fans of the show.
I love the promo strategy for this season. I’m also really glad to see a lot of the fansites go spoiler free as well. It’s the last time we’re going to get to do this – to have the feeling of excitement for a new season. I’m glad to be (almost) in the dark.
I totally agree with you. As much as I want to hear info about the new season, I’m glad I won’t. It will be more surprising and exciting this way.
As for tease-free ads, my fav Lost promo of all time was the one where they were dancing around the wreckage in vintage clothes. I think that was a Brit one. I didn’t show a single scene, but was stunning.
I totally agree, that promo was fantastic!
i would love to see this! does anyone have a link?
i believe this is one of the uk versions julie is talking about: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XBtWYBPTns
Dude! I’d never seen that. Awesome, thanks for the link!
I have to disagree as far as it being a good promo. As a Dave LaChapelle photo shoot or experimental video, fine. As a promo, it wouldn’t have made me want to watch the show.
that one is beautiful
That was pretty cool and very creative.
this promo pretty much sums up everything about the upcoming season and the entire mythology of the show.. at least i think it does.. that’s lost for you
And I like the lack of clips from the upcoming season it adds to the suspense.
This promo is amazing!! It gives me chills, especially the 4-toed statue being thrust onto the board by the hand of God/fate. I think it is extremely important that the network respects the producers wishes that no new footage is shown. It is the last season, we don’t need to be spoiled it will be here before we know it! Any scene could completely give away the format of the last season so I’d prefer to stay in the dark completely until Feb. 2nd!
“Perdidos”!
The promo is great, there’s no denying that, and although I support the no spoilers, no images, no footage strategy, “Lost” has a great cast filled with beautiful people, why not go old school and have them looking at the camera telling us not to miss the last season while Hawaii is in the background, that way we at least see who’s coming back or at least there’s something new to look at.
Love the chessboard analogy. It was sucha great promo that I totally didn;t realize that no new footage was shown.
I loved last years promo featuring the Fray with clips to the upcoming season, so part of me is saddened at the idea of promos with no new footage. At the same time I think its a smart move by TPTB. Most Lost fans like myself will watch Lost no matter what, all we need is the day and time. Though I do hope ABC comes up with a cool promo of its own, as Cuatro and many You-tubers have shown it can be done with past season footage.
Smart;awesome
Well done ad. Definitely fits the tone of the show. I also like that they chose Radiohead’s aptly titled “Everything In Its Right Place” as the music.
“There are two colors…”
so that means ausiello will begin to review/reveal storyline by mid-jan?
i forgot to add that only jeff should be allowed to write anything to do with lost. thanks jeff, i think you’re great.
Oh I guarantee that douche ausiello will post the ending on the ew.com homepage with a photo of everyone who dies 3 months before the finale. I hope the Doc. gives him a “friendly reminder” to keep his mouth shut for once.
why does ew allow that guy to ruin everything?
some people like the spoilers & like to know everything ahead of time. Not sure why but they do.
I love love love this promo!
I put on my FB page I love it so much!
I did too!!!