In the modern era of technology and the Internet, the line between the virtual and the real world is fading. Subjects of viral videos, such as Antoine Dodson and Ted Williams, were able to launch careers based off of their hit YouTube videos. However, a new media appears to be creeping into the viral market space. Like viral videos, applications such as Angry Birds and Farmville infiltrate mainstream culture.
These viral apps attract millions of users. Angry Birds recently hit 350 million downloads, while Farmville, during its peak in 2009, gathered 32.5 million players daily. Even today, Farmville remains the third most popular app on Facebook. Due to the huge success of these games, it comes as no surprise that the market for app memorabilia and the creation of an entire brand based on these games emerges. The creators of Angry Birds have licensed and sell one million t-shirts and plush toys each month. Zynga, the company behind Farmville, sells rewards points at gas stations and other similar locations. These points can unlock bonus items in the game. Even Microsoft Word recognizes Farmville as proper noun without prompting spell check. It seems as though these electronic games have been accepted into our physical world and consumer culture at large.
Rozio, the developer of Angry Birds, has created and maintained a better brand than any other app-based company. It has created Angry Birds shirts, board games, toys, slippers, costumes and of course iPhone cases. Aside from creating extra revenue, these items show how an electronic development team can use its apps to market off of more than just the download sales alone.
The concept of Farmville seems fairly simple. The player must tend to growing and maintaining crops until their harvest in return for experience points and a simulated cash flow. There are no constant characters or a central plot line in the game. Therefore, while this movie may have the Farmville brand attached to it, it most likely will take only the brand name and the farm premise.
Due to the popularity of Farmville, the writers of the Toy Story series have begun to speak with Zynga about a script for an animated movie. This film would be the first motion picture built off of a Facebook app. Although there have been movies based on videogames such as Lara Croft: Tomb Raider, no film has used an existing online application to inspire a script.
Similarly, an Angry Birds movie is also in the works. Rovio recently bought the animation studio Kombo and hired the former head of Marvel Studios, David Maisel. Maisel worked on movies such as Iron Man, The Hulk and Captain America.
However, the issue of content remains; Angry Birds is even less complex than Farmville, and the prospect of creating an extended plot based on the app does not seem feasible. While we all can instantly recognize the iconic red bird as the main symbol of the app, the characters in Angry Birds speak in chirps, not English, do not have names and only desire the destruction of the evil pigs. Thus, a movie will need to expand even further upon the depth of the Angry Birds’ world. Even if the script can be made and a movie is produced, it will most likely turn out as a clichéd action movie of some sort. The movie could potentially cause Angry Birds to lose the originality and popularity that truly made it one of the better apps to date.
A look into these two wildly popular apps reveals how profitable and accepted electronic media has become. Corporations will always try to expand their brands and increase their revenue. However, a brand name, while valuable, does not ensure quality. (Just look at McDonalds.) The point of an app is for brief and blissful entertainment. As the development continues, the idea of the app might transform into a more complex goal.
