Game of Thrones Season 7 premiere date announced through a prolonged Facebook Live stunt. Guess what? A bunch of people watched it too.
HBO held a Facebook Live publicity stunt today at 2pm ET for Game of Thrones Season 7. Sure, I love the show as much as anyone. However, I’d have called you damned foot if you’d told me yesterday that I’d be watching a block of ice melt today. For the announcement of a date. A date that I could peg with my eyes closed most likely. And, yet, there I was.
The event started in a stone room decorated in the Game of Thrones style. A block of ice sat on a small platform surrounded by those fire-bearing urns – the kind that Daenerys was so fond of knocking over. A blowtorch appeared just off the screen. Encased in the ice was the date no one knew we really needed all that badly. HBO instructed viewers to type “FIRE” to urge the fire along. Over the course of an hour, the event faded in and out. Many speculated that the production team freaked out over the duration of time. Who knew it would take that long to melt ice?
Cast members appeared and gave additional instructions. I left and rejoined, amazed at how long it took to actually melt ice. Amazed at the fact I was watching someone melt ice on Facebook Live. With cries of “DRACARYS,” another torch emerged, hopefully speeding the effect. All in all, it took around 1 hour 15 minutes to reveal the date: July 16, 2017.
You have to hand it to HBO, though. They know how to stoke publicity for their shows. At one point, 150,000 people were simultaneously watching, chanting, laughing, and bemoaning their lost time. Still, they watched, and so did I.
Here’s the official Game of Thrones Season 7 teaser courtesy of HBO via Facebook.