The numerical translation for this year’s June 6 bears an eerie resemblance to 666, an infamous digit known as the mark of the beast or Antichrist in the Book of Revelation.
Marketing campaigns, sensing a chance to boost profits and stir up buzz, have taken notice.
From a horror film remake to books about the apocalypse and “godless liberals,” they’re all claiming 6/6/06 as their own.
“It’s one big marketing ploy,” said Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University. “It is so deliciously clever as to really kind of merit (people) talking about it.”
The eye-catching marketing campaign for 20th Century Fox’s remake of “The Omen” first grabbed the public’s attention about the date. Ominous posters and billboards featuring reading “6.6.06” started showing up this spring.
Film promoters adopted an unorthodox Tuesday release in order to make the 6/6/06 date stick.
Tuesdays often are used for book and CD releases, but the June 6 release date this year lends irony to some new products.
Ann Coulter’s book, “Godless: The Church of Liberalism,” is being released that day. Coulter said in an interview last month that the release date is her “little tribute to liberals.”
On the music side, David Lee Roth releases the cheekily named “Strummin’ With the Devil,” a bluegrass tribute to Van Halen. Death metal is also having a banner day, with the releases of albums by such groups as As Blood Runs Black and Deicide.
The Sunday Times in London reported in April that mothers-to-be have been gossiping about the potential due date on the Mother and Baby Web site.
“Left Behind” gets in on marketing
One June 6 event claims it’s not like the others. The popular “Left Behind” series, a Christian collection of novels about the apocalypse distributed by Tyndale House Publishers, is using the date to release “The Rapture,” the series’ 15th installment.
“Left Behind” marketing manager Cheryl Kerwin said Tyndale had planned for several years to release an installment on that date, and said the release of “The Rapture” “will bring some light to the number.”
“The end times are a dark and scary time and the Antichrist is a bad person,” Kerwin said. “But this book actually brings some hope and light to an otherwise dark world.”
But Kerwin also acknowledged that Tyndale chose the date “as a way to have some fun ... to create a hook to draw visitors to the stores and to create an event day.”
One Christian bookstore chain is doing just that. Through their catalogs, Parable Group is offering a special June 6 sale of old “Left Behind” paperbacks.
The price? $6.66 each.
Tim LaHaye, co-author of the “Left Behind” series, doesn’t think his readers will have a problem with the satanic sales price.
“Any time you get a solid paperback that’s been a best-selling paperback, and you get it for $6.66,” he said, “it’s a pretty good bargain.”
Western Recorder issue date: May 23, 2006
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