Channel 4 brings The End of the F***ing World to life

7 November 2019

Channel 4 is promoting The End of the F***ing World’s highly anticipated return this week with a unique fan focussed press and marketing campaign.

The acclaimed first series ended on a cliff hanger which resulted in its legion of fans taking to social media to share their theories about the fate of the show’s two main characters, James (Alex Lawther) and Alyssa (Jessica Barden).

Fan theory animations

Responding to a brief from Channel 4 Marketing to excite these engaged fans about the series’ return and to build anticipation in the run up to its launch, without revealing any spoilers, Channel 4’s award-winning in-house creative agency 4Creative worked with Picnic Studios to create eight bespoke animations inspired by the fans’ theories which can be viewed here.

These unique animations formed Channel 4’s social media marketing campaign for the show across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat and YouTube.

Creative Directors Rasmus Smith Bech and Jonas Roth said: “The imagination of The End of the F***ing World fans is incredible – and really deserved to be brought to life. This was quite a tricky brief to answer as there were so many spoilers to avoid. The fan theories really helped us steer away from giving anything away about series two whilst keeping the anticipation and conversation going.”

MCM Comic-Con

The fan theories were illustrated and collected into a limited-edition magazine which was distributed at MCM Comic Con in London. The last few pages were left empty, inviting readers to imagine their own theories which were then hand drawn by illustrators Ricardo Bessa and Thanh Tran, providing fans with their very own unique collectors’ item.

Channel 4 partnered with pop culture publication and fan of The End of the F***ing World Den of Geek to sponsor their ‘Chillout Zone’ at MCM Comic Con from the 25th to the 27th October.

The End of the F***ing World branded area invited attendees to dress up in the costumes of the series’ heroes Alyssa and James on the American Diner set featured in the show and were treated to sneak peeks of series two.

Riyad Emeran, head of content strategy at Dennis Publishing said: “Working with Channel 4 to promote series two of The End of the F***ing World was a fantastic experience. Taking a show that Den of Geek’s readers are already highly engaged with, then creating stand-out activations like the fan theory comic-book, and interactive stand at Comic Con made for a very effective partnership.”

The press campaign saw The End of the F***ing World writer Charlie Covell and stars Jessica Barden and Naomi Ackie participate in a panel at Comic Con where they reminisced on the brilliant first series and looked ahead to the second, while Ackie teased the audience with information about her new character, Bonnie.

World premiere event

On Monday 4th November, Channel 4 hosted the world premiere event for series two on the day of its TV debut, designed to drive further anticipation for the show whilst retaining mystery around its plot.

Guests were greeted by a smoking banged-up vintage car outside the venue before walking into the world of the show, where they were encouraged to don costumes and enjoy an immersive experience that brought to life iconic scenes and sets from the show including the American style diner, woodlands, suburban living room and convenience store.

Exclusive Graham Coxon vinyl

As part of the press campaign, Channel 4 commissioned another unique collector’s item in the form of bespoke red vinyl featuring two previously unheard Graham Coxon songs from the second series’ soundtrack. Guests at the premiere event received these as a gift.

James Walker, Marketing and Media Controller said: “The first series of The End of the F***ing World built a dedicated fan base who are highly engaged with the show on social media. This innovative and integrated campaign re-engages them in a really imaginative way whilst enticing new viewers to the series thanks to the excellent collaborative execution by 4Creative, our Marketing and Press teams, as well as our creative partners.”

The End of the F***ing World is All 4’s best performing original exclusive ever and one of All4’s most-binged shows.

The wider marketing campaign aims to bring new viewers to series one and two and

consists of TV trailers featuring clips from the show that will air across Channel 4’s portfolio of channels as well as All 4; posters; print, including a cover wrap of the Evening Standard; cinema and radio spots.

Ends.

Further content from across the campaign is available.

Notes to Editors

A trailer re-capping series one, which is available stream on All 4 can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/1_qxsSG0vso 

CREDITS

Campaign title: The End of the F***ing World

On-Air / Off-Air / Digital / Social

Creative

Acting Head of 4creative: Chris Wood

Head of On-air: Dan Chase

Creative Directors: Jonas Roth, Rasmus Smith Bech

Creatives: Bethany Wood, Shannon Cripps

Designers: Nathan Smith, James Woods

Artworker: Rob David

Account Management

Account Director: Sarah Davies

Production

Executive Producer (Off-air): Lucy Bugiel

Executive Producer (Digital):  Christos Savvides

Senior Producer (Off-air):        Tabby Harris

Producer (On-air):                      Charlie Bettice

Producer (Off-air):                     Shizuka Hata

Producer (Digital) :                     Madeline Smith

Social Video Director:               Charles Barclay

Digital Production Assistant: Jasmine Stradling

Marketing

Controller of Marketing and Media:   James Walker

Deputy Head of Marketing:                   Laura Ward-Smith

Marketing Manager:                                 Alan Moss

Marketing Executive:                              Maya Padhya

Press and Publicity

Publicity Manager, Drama, Comedy & Acquisitions: Georgie Hobbs

World premiere event

Production: elevenfiftyfive and Create Productions

Location: Genesis Cinema