Smile 2 Curses Twitch
After the success of 2022’s viral marketing stunt for Smile - which featured unsettling smiling actors in live sports broadcasts - Paramount aimed to elevate the concept for Smile 2. This time, the curse moved into the digital realm, targeting the world of live streaming to engage A18-34 multicultural horror fans on Twitch, a platform where suspense & scares thrive.
In collaboration with United Talent Agency, the campaign starred top Twitch streamers in the horror category. The goal was to unleash the Smile curse through a Twitch Terror Raid: A supernatural, interconnected set of sponsored streams designed to spook streamers and their audiences, while driving engagement and awareness for Smile 2.
Our approach
The campaign brought the curse to life with personalised "Terror Toolkits" tailored for each streamer. Effects were controlled remotely by an admin panel, allowing the stream producer to build suspense and trigger spontaneous scares. To help create the chilling illusion that the curse had entered streamers' physical spaces, each kit included:
• Stylised hallucinatory overlays, eerie SFX, and technical VFX glitches
• Jump scare appearances by smiling characters from the film, made possible by motion segmentation
To maximize narrative engagement and special effects impact, we acted as showrunners - equipping talent with a structured three-act script:
• Introduction: A live reaction to the Smile 2 trailer
• Gameplay: Released for Halloween, gamers used "Possessed" Smile 2-inspired skins whilst playing Call of Duty’s Haunting Season 6
• Climactic Raid: Each streamer ended with a possessed smile, passing the curse to another via Twitch’s native Raid functionality; this automatically sent their viewers to the next channel to continue on the narrative journey
By urging fans to stay tuned as the curse "selected" subsequent creators, we built a daisy-chain effect that maximized viewer retention. Integrated stream banners with native QR codes enabled seamless, real-time ticket purchasing without interrupting the view.
The results
This campaign set the record for the longest continuous Twitch raid chain - spanning over six hours and seamlessly connecting three high-profile streams. Despite the technical demands of live production, the stunt delivered exceptional engagement:
• 650K+ Twitch Views: Continuous raid handoffs drove peak viewer retention and minimized drop-off across all three streams.
• 14K+ Chat Mentions: The Smile curse dominated live Twitch chat, generating a viral ripple effect across the platform.
• 295K Social Views: Highlights repurposed for TikTok extended campaign reach and fueled broader community conversation.
By expanding Smile 2’s guerilla marketing strategy through live interactive stunt work, the campaign drove strong box office performance in a crowded horror market - proving the franchise can captivate audiences in bold, unmissable ways.
