Let's end this now...

Well, after being away for a few days due to Passover, I'm back. I'm sure you've noticed that I've made a few changes around here. The most notable change is thar I'm no longer Matsuto77, but instead, I have become Mad Mark. Mark is my real name, and I tend to be on a first-name basis with everyone I meet. Thus, you, the readers of this blog, should be no exception to this rule. As for the mad bit, I just thought it sounded cool. Radio is my racket, so if I ever get another DJ job - I'm currently the community update reporter for a small station in Montreal - I might use it as my on-air handle.

Now, the original reason I started this blog was so that I could sound off about whatever was on my mind. However, the first two posts were dedicated to MuchMusic's phreak615 saga, my involvement in it, and my assumptions and analysis of the situation. This will be my final post about phreak615, as there are many other things I want to talk about here. phreak615 took up a bit too much of my time, and maybe I became a bit too dedicated to it. However, I'm going to end my involvement in this little viral marketing ploy with one final statement about it.

I think I have finally figured out what exactly Much is trying to promote here. As I noted earlier, the 615 in phreak615 seems to point to June 15th (6/15). I have learned that this is the date of the 2008 MuchMusic Video Awards (MMVAs). A user named tongue tied confirmed this on Mad Morten's Dabbler.ca blog at http://www.dabbler.ca/news/phreak615-the-plot-thickens-20080418/. He (or she) said, and I quote:

"The tag line for the MMVA’s is “the fans take over”, that would be in the theme of this for sure. I assume at this point it’s an ARG (alternate reality game) to provote the MMVA’s, a new show, or both, perhaps a segment will be on the MMVA’s to premiere it."

However, one Dabbler.ca poster, identified only as Wow, has other ideas...

"After reading certain statements on phreak615’s blog I’m not completely convinced this is being run by much. Plus I know all the facts and that it is unlikely to be a hacker but I have a gut feeling telling me something is going on..I strongly believe subliminal messages and riddles are being used..."

Well, I guess that sums it up. The phreak615 "hacks" seen on Much might simply be buliding up to the MMVAs in an inventive way, and a new category or show will be launched then. The tagline of "the fans take over" seems to fit perfectly with this scheme, as this phreak615 person - rumoured to be Much VJ / news presenter Devon Soltendieck, a fellow Montreal native, or his brother - is trying to "take over" the station's broadcasts so that he can promote some new aspect of the MMVAs, or the fact that the fans will be taking over in some way. Expect to see more fan voting and fan-favourite categories in the MMVAs as a result. Some of them may also allow fans to send in their own videos saying why they are voting for X, and why X deserves (insert name of fan award category here). phreak615 was testing this by telling fans to send him videos via YouTube, with the guatantee to put their videos on TV. That is what might happen at the MMVAs. Fans will be encouraged to send in their videos via YouTube or some other means, and their voting videos might be shown during the MMVAs. And there you have it. Of course, this too is merely a guess. I could be completely off, but hey, at least I tried. As Wow stated, this whole thing might not be a product of Much, but that remains to be seen. I'm willing to bet that it is, though, as the interruptions always occur during Much's original programming, and never during their syndicated shows or commercials.

And that's about it, I guess. This viral marketing campaign was designed to create viewer awareness about something new, and get viewers guessing, so it can be said that it was successful on all of those fronts. It certainly had that kind of effect on myself and several other people. Ad campagins are designed so that people will buy into them at some point, and I clearly fell into that trap. The phreak615 saga also kind of took over my life for a bit, much like this game called Polybius that he and others often made reference to. But now that the answer finally appears to be clear, there seems to be no need to continue taking guesses and creating controversy. phreak615, whose blog now features a video of him in Paris, will most likely have some snappy remark about me and whatever he's going to do next, along with yet another sub-30 second long video clip within the next few days, but I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, the myth has been busted, and the case is now closed.

You may now return to your regularly-scheduled lives, already in progress.