Hitting the streets for the fall shows

The networks always devote a lot of TV promotion time to their upcoming new fall shows during the summer. But all those ads start to run together.

To really capture people’s attention, they need to do something different.

Enter the clever out of home stunt.

A really creative OOH stunt can help a show stand out from the other fall launches. Plus, if it’s smart enough it will get coverage on TV, online and in other media, increasing the number of people who are exposed to the stunt.

Media Life pulled together the best stunts so far this year for shows premiering in the fall.

Real screams for Fox’s ‘Scream Queens’

To promote “Scream Queens,” its upcoming horror-comedy from “Glee” creator Ryan Murphy, Fox delivered real screams at Comic-Con in San Diego.

The network set up an amusement park-style thrill ride, which slowly elevated riders to the top of a tower, then dropped them to the ground from 120 feet in the air.

The ride included special cameras that captured riders’ screaming reactions to post on social media, with an appropriate hashtag making the screams/”Scream” connection.

Nearby street teams distributed “Scream Queens” branded gear, and there were also “Ice Cream for ‘Scream Queens'” carts handing out free treats to those who delivered the best screams.

ABC rocks a block party tour

To drum up interest for its new shows, ABC literally took the shows on the road.

The network promoted new programs “The Muppets,” “Quantico” and “Blood & Oil” with a six-city “Summer Block Party” tour, which featured a massive 91-seat mobile cinema within a 53-foot double-expandable trailer meant to recreate a movie theater experience.

The network screened pilots of “Quantico” and “Blood & Oil,” and also aired a short preview of “The Muppets.”

ABC also gave away free items at the events, such as “Blood & Oil” hats, “Quantico” T-shirts and “Muppets” pins.

NBC’s ‘Blindspot’ tats up Comic-Con

In another stunt at Comic-Con, NBC promoted its new mystery-thriller “Blindspot” by giving out tattoos similar to the ones a woman in the show wears.

What they handed out were temporary tattoo sleeves that you slide up your arm, giving the impression of an arm fully tattooed.

They also invited people to take a photo of their head and have it Photoshopped onto a body resembling the program’s Jane Doe character, the one with all the tats.

People could also take part in a scavenger hunt, in which they searched for tattooed models dressed like the Jane Doe character and texted a photo to a certain number for the chance to win $1,000.

Hotel for ‘American Horror Story’

In anticipation of the latest installment of FX’s horror anthology “American Horror Story,” this one titled “Hotel,” the network created a replica version of the titular hotel and made it available to tour.

The exterior of the hotel was a dingy gray, while the lobby was clean and bright white and featured street team members dressed like bellhops.

The network distributed branded souvenirs, including branded hotel key cards with the show and network’s logos.

Tags: abc, alternative media, american horror story, blindspot, fall TV, fox, fx, nbc, out of home, scream queens