USA Network’s The Purge is based on the hit movie franchise from Blumhouse, a series that imagines a world where - for one night a year - all crime (including murder) is legal.
Season 2 of The Purge explored a new side of Purge culture - telling the story of this dystopian America BETWEEN annual Purge Nights and what happens the 12 months until it all starts again. It’s a storyworld that Purge fans have long wanted to see explored - what happens when the unthinkable is normalized, even celebrated - and our marketing was designed to introduce that idea in social, easy-to-understand segments that rode the carrier wave of pop culture as a springboard into this dystopian universe.
For Season One of The Purge, USA Network created The Purge Shopping Channel - a faux infomercial network featuring two ebullient presenters hawking fake purge products. This year we brought back one of those presenters, but instead of relying on the popular trope of TV infomercials, we picked another medium familiar in every household - The Television Morning Show.
“Morning Time, America” was a fully realized Morning Show set the morning after Purge Night, split into multiple lifestyle segments for easy online consumption, that was meant to tout this seasons theme and engage fans in this unique storyworld. Our wide-eyed presenters greeted America as it awoke the morning after the Purge, with segments covering news, traffic, weather and fashion. All segments were rolled out across digital and social platforms in the days leading up to premiere, in conjunction with “Morning Time America” merchandise prize giveaways - coffee mugs and Purge Away stain removing pens as seen in the segments.
And to complete the subterfuge, the entire show was edited together and broadcast the morning after the S2 premiere on USA Network in the 7am morning slot, to further bring this concept into the real world and entertain fans with the satirical marketing they’ve come to love from this franchise.
“Morning Time America” segments that aired on USA and SYFY the morning of premiere at 7am delivered great ratings for both networks. For USA P18-49 ratings were up 53% over the prior 4 weeks and for SYFY P18-49 viewership was up 11%. “Morning Time America” segments were distributed on YouTube which yielded 21% stronger view rate and 2% lower cost per view compared to The Purge Season 2 trailers. “Morning Time America” amassed 1.3 million views across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube. In addition, fans loved the humorous spoof content and took to social media to share their appreciation with comments like “I am excited for this different angle of The Purge. I feel like there are so many different ways to tell a purge story. Hopefully it can continue for many seasons to come!” and “Love this - you guys need to do so many episodes of this morning time America show!! Awesome I have my very own Purge Away stick now :)“
