by Mandy J Watson

Posted: 1 October 2009 << Previous Page

View Comments  Next Page >>

Share

Tweet

Many web sites were launched as part of the online viral-marketing effort to promote District 9. In this showcase we will look at those sites (collectively referred to as "The District 9 Movie Experience"), and more, to see how they related to, and complemented, the real-world marketing campaign. (Plus, for fans, find out about some amazing items and downloads you may have missed on each site.)

Requirements: Flash
Recommendations: Headphones/speakers

"MNU...a name you can trust". The home of the corporate powerhouse is filled with the kind of corporate blegh that only human-resource practitioners and company directors can love. From the "MNU Employee Profile" to the "Past", "Present", and "Future" sections, this site has it all, mocking online corporate presences gloriously. Unfortunately the entire site, which looks like an HTML setup, is buried in a Flash interface and I'm not sure if that was on purpose, to mock bad corporate web design, or if this really is just bad corporate web design. I think it's the former because there are a number of "Page Unavailable - We're sorry, the page you are trying to access is temporarily unavailable. We apologize for the inconvenience as we prepare to for the launch of our 20th Anniversary site updates." links, which is also an easy way out of generating content.

The first thing you'll notice when you visit the site is another MNU tour video featuring the same MNU drone employee as can be found on the MNU Local Alert System site [ read about it here ]. "Welcome to Multi-National United - the global leader in technology innovation. At MNU we are committed to bringing humankind the benefit of tomorrow's technology today." The video runs through what is available on the site and is quite hilarious (look out for the ethereal pointing to the access link when she discusses the "careers" and "past, present, futures" pages, for example). This video then runs into your typical corporate showcase video that explains some of what MNU does and how it is awesome (to paraphrase), complete with heartwarming stock music and PR spiel about solar power and it's CSI computer donations to schools in South Africa. It beautifully mocks corporate feel-good videos, ending with the logo and a stock lens flare that will amuse design professionals.

You can view the two videos here:

• MNU Intro (5.3 MB Flash Video)
• MNU Tour (4.9 MB Flash Video)

The site is resplendent in its MNU corporate colours of white and sky blue, which are reminiscent of the Peace Corps, and I wonder if that was the intention. There's quite a bit to look at on the site - for example "past" lists company milestones, "present" lists current accomplishments that are "shaping the future", and "future" lists future milestones, as only a corporation with time-travel capabilities and/or the ability to warp space/time would dare.


The careers section, which the MNU Local Alert System web site redirects to via the "careers" and "labor" passwords, allows you to research various job openings for both human and non-human applicants. On the human side they include such gems as "non-human language translator", in which you'll spend time "visiting regional MNU offices in and around District 9 to assist with processing of legal documents". Oh, the joys! Whichever job may interest you, the remuneration is quite high.

On the non-human side one of the jobs is non-human dorm janitor. The non-human jobs pay noticeably less, although they actually still pay much more than what the majority of South Africans earn, so that's a mistake on the part of the site designers in that they didn't do their homework properly to ensure that the non-humans really come off as repressed.

You can also register for updates on the site. (If you click the "Learn More" links for any of the careers it also leads you to this page.) I never did register so I don't know where this leads and by now I would presume that it no longer works.

Various other sections include an about section, peaceful-living guidelines to ensure the harmonious co-existence of humans and non-humans, another list of all the MNU Rules & Regulations in both English and the alien language, once again buried in Flash (but as a list, rather than you having to access each item separately as is the case with the MNU Local Alert System, but you still can't copy and paste it to read it offline or to save it, should it interest you - however there is a 172 KB PDF of the text buried on the d-9.com site, which you can print). The Employee Profile links to an interview with Koobus Venter from the MNU Security Force. Koobus is one of MNU antagonists in the movie.

Also buried on this site is a downloads section where you can get MNU-branded banners for you web site and wallpapers and icons for your computer.

Finally, there's the Multi-National United Training Simulation, which I will discuss on the next page.

The MNU corporate web site is well done, although the alternate-reality immersion is broken by a large sign on the right-hand side of the page that states "In Theatres Now: District 9".

Web: http://www.multinationalunited.com/

On The Internet

Official Site: District 9