It’s not quite movie awards season yet, but we’re in the swing of “horror-movies-of-questionable-entertainment-and-production-value” season.

There are only so many times Hollywood can remake Michael Myers and Leatherface into somewhat terrifying features, but this year, Carrie hits the big screen again – and did a scream of a job promoting it, if you’ll accept the pun.

Carrie, originally a Stephen King novel, and released as a movie in 1974 is succeeding where other horror movie remakes have not, in that the promotion goes farther than a few promoted Twitter trends and carefully-placed trailers.

Instead, MGM, Screen Gems and Thinkmodo, a New York-based “viral video marketing agency,” decided to scare the bejeezus out of a few unsuspecting patrons of a Manhattan coffee shop. With the help of actors, the baristas and some clever rigging, the coffee shop was the scene of a seemingly telekinetic woman angered over her spilled java. In the video, she sends a man careening up a wall. Tables move and books fly off the shelves – and the customers panic. But don’t worry. After the hidden cameras capture the sheer terror, the actors and baristas clap and clue everyone in to the stunt.

The YouTube video has over 40 million views and ends with a promo for the movie, complete with the hashtag “FlexLikeCarrie.” This sort of marketing works because it breaks from the mold, especially because Carrie faces the challenges of making an old story new.

It’s a lesson in repurposing content. Thinkmodo spins it in just the right way (like Regan’s head in The Exorcist) to frighten and create talking points for the intended audience.

Alright, so Magneto’s scare factor is a little low on the charts, but the work we do for our clients is bright, relatable and has a long shelf life, if that’s the goal. TV spots we’ve done for NW Natural focus on natural gas and its benefits to customers. These spots have the ability to run for years, in some cases.

On the other end of the spectrum, we’ve promoted programs for NW Natural in unusual ways. NW Natural’s “Bring the Heat” video contest and the Smart Energy Climate Cow – which resides in the Oregon Convention Center – are examples of outside-the-box, unconventional work that gets attention while maintaining NW Natural’s brand promise and identity.

No matter the project, we like to think in “brand-centric” terms and work to elevate the brand – whether repurposing content or introducing it for the first time.

Our take from the Carrie “prankvertising?” Very cool, very effective and very memorable. Do we want to see the movie because of it? Very likely.

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