Social Media Winner of the Week – Walt Disney Pictures

I don’t think a whole lot about my Klout score until an enterprising company offers me something special because of it. Not too long ago, I was approached by Fox to spread the word about a new show they were launching called “Lone Star”.  I wasn’t particularly interested based on the premise, so I didn’t follow up/accept.  The show lasted two episodes, I think.

However, a couple of weeks ago, I got an email from Disney inviting me to attend a free advance screening of “Tangled”, which is set for release on November 24th.  It’s a 3D animated comedy based on the story of Rapunzel.  This is more my speed, frankly, so I readily accepted and I took my two older daughters (they are 9.5 and 4.5 years old).

We arrived about 10-15 minutes before the scheduled screening time of 7:30pm. I saw a gigantic line wrapping halfway around the building, and I was concerned.  As we were walking up, I asked someone if that was the line for “Tangled”, even though I already knew that it had to be.  My heart dropped a little bit.  I was worried about disappointing my little girls, since I didn’t see how everyone in that line could possibly fit into an average theater.

We took our place at the end of the line, and it began to move….slowly.  I noticed that most of the people around me were holding large passes. Was I supposed to have these?  Maybe I should have gone to the box office first.  Ugh.  Someone mentioned that they were hoping to get a seat, but if not, it was no big deal to them.  It was a big deal to me, since there was no talk of limited seating on the email or info I had received, and I had two girls who were stoked about seeing this movie.

As we approached the corner for the final straightaway to get to the actual door, a guy came around to the crowd and said this:

“If you received an email from Disney giving you front-of-line access, please come see me.”

Could it be?

I walked a few feet over to him, and I mentioned that I had received an email from Disney, but I didn’t know if it granted us special access or not.

“What’s your name, sir?”

I responded.

“Yes, you’re on the VIP list.  Come with me, please.  You’re in the special reserved section of the theater.”

Um….awesome?

I gathered my daughters and our hands were stamped, then we were whisked inside, leaving a couple hundred folks outside looking bewildered.

The sole complaint about the evening was the fact that I was forced to return to my car before the movie, since I had an iPhone with me and it has a built-in camera.  I think this could have been more clear in the instructions.

We all loved the movie, and I’ll write a separate review on one or more of my blogs sometime soon. It’s definitely worth seeing, and a few scenes were laugh-out-loud funny.  The animation was lush and beautifully rendered.  I was impressed.

They’re supposed to be mailing me a kit of “Tangled” goodies sometime soon, too, including a t-shirt, etc.  It didn’t ask for a shirt size, so I’ll be interested to see what they send now.  🙂  I think I’m supposed to include this rather official sounding disclosure, which is the truth, too:

I was given a free product or sample because I’m a Klout influencer. I was under no obligation to receive the sample or talk about this company. I get no additional benefits for talking about the product or company.

Congratulations to Disney Pictures!  You are the 210 Consulting Social Media Winner of the Week.  I have little doubt that your efforts will help “Tangled” to be a big-time success through the holidays.