Launched in the summer of 2014, the DIY Drunk History contest gave viewers an opportunity to pay tribute to the age-old tradition of inebriated, factually dubious storytelling. Via Facebook and on-air promotion, we invited fans to produce their own historical re-enactment videos using audio from Drunk History narrators. The objective was to increase engagement and awareness during Drunk History's sophomore season while giving the show's superfans the chance to fully nerd out over their favorite show. Of the 35 entries submitted, five received enough votes from the community to be deemed fan favorites, and the grand prize winner was chosen by Derek Waters himself. The winning entry was featured on air during the Season 2 finale, on cc.com and across social media platforms. The five finalists were also featured on cc.com. To finish the contest up with class, we also created a video mash-up of all the entries and posted a video from Derek congratulating the winners and thanking everyone who submitted.
| Besides turning Drunk History fans into full-fledged filmmakers, the DIY Drunk History campaign gave participants a tangible way to be part of the show, with their work featured in the season finale. The contest also energized fans by presenting a challenging creative task: to re-enact a wasted person's words, mumblings and all. Excitement continued even after entries were submitted: the second phase of the contest solicited votes for viewers' favorite videos. Over a one-week period, we received 3,400 votes, and we're pretty sure at least half of those were cast while sober. But the most brag-worthy part of the campaign is that throughout the duration of the entry period, only one post was sponsored on the Comedy Central Facebook page. The majority, if not all, of our entrants were true Drunk History fans reached through unpaid media. Through a partnership between Comedy Central and Drunk History, the DIY Drunk History contest:
Total Fully Produced Video Entries: 35 Total Entry Views: 17,745 Total Fan Votes: 3,450 Total Unique Visits to Contest Page: 22,006 |
