To build awareness of and drive purchase intent of “True Blood" DVD’s and Blu-ray for the holiday season, HBO created a @TrueBloodHBO promoted trend campaign in December of 2011. #GiftsGrandmaWontWant was based on a clever, viral internet campaign video. The short features a crazed “True Blood" fan that, in her excitement to share her obsession with her family and friends, attempts to sum up the idea of the show to her confused and horrified grandmother. While promoting “True Blood" on DVD and Blu-ray, HBO simultaneously created an opportunity for people to converse organically. The hashtag #GiftsGrandmaWontWant inspired Twitter users to get creative and come up with their own ideas of presents that a typical grandmother probably wouldn’t request for Christmas or Hanukkah. Overall, the hashtags delivered 36.6 million impressions, received over 42,000 mentions, and over 12.5K clicks. Throughout the promotional campaign, @TrueBloodHBO was mentioned four times more often than usual and resulted in thousands of new followers.
