Cloverfield

Nerds the whole net over are in a lather at the moment over the latest viral marketing campaign.

It all started with this trailer which was shown before Transformers in US cinemas.

The movie's title isn't revealed, just the release date of 18 January 2008 and the fact that it's produced by J.J. Abrams (of Lost fame). IMDB.com lists the fake working title as "Cloverfield".

There's an official website at www.1-18-08.com, which has a pile of snapshots, gradually growing, that you can move around. As I write this, there are four pictures sitting there.

It's all prompted a ridiculous amount of commentary. One early theory was that it's a new Godzilla movie, until someone pointed out that Sony owns the rights to the big G, not Paramount. Another theory is that it's based on H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos. There's also some interesting (if convoluted) theories here.

At some point the mania was linked to www.ethanhaaswasright.com, a nifty little site with some cool flash puzzles to solve. But J.J. has officially denied any relationship between his trailer and this website. According to the erstwhile Harry Knowles, the Ethan Haas thing is promoting the role-playing game Alpha Omega by Mindstorm Labs. It's just a case of When Viral Marketing Campaigns Collide.

Back to the trailer. One of the guys at the party is wearing a "Slusho" t-shirt, and the other official website relating to Cloverfield is www.slusho.jp. This site has some odd Japanese flash animation promoting the drink Slusho, a bizarre history of the company, and the engaging tag "You can't drink just six!".

If you send a feedback email to Slusho telling them you're happy (they ask, you see) you'll get a response saying "Slusho! loves your mails!! You Can't Drink Just Six!!!". Cute. Presumably there'll be more emails coming.

Word is that the title of the film will be revealed at the San Diego Comic Con this coming weekend.

It's all very intriguing. Stay tuned.