DMB. and the Volkstheater invited audiences to the premiere of The Merowingians; or, The Total Family for an evening of collective outbursts of rage.
In Heimito von Doderer's The Merowingians; or, The Total Family a number of angry people come together. They could even be described as really angry citizens, such as the irascible protagonist Childerich, whose outbursts of rage are set to be cured with anger management therapy.
To promote the premiere at the Volkstheater, DMB. took on the plot, transported it into real life and searched the city for more angry citizens. Vienna is supposed to do the same as the play’s protagonist and simply let its anger run wild.
We set up padded ad signs and mobile punching bags, sent out baseball bats and organised an anger room especially for the campaign. With our advertising material, the people of Vienna were allowed to strike, hit and punch; it was even expressly asked of them.
The outcome: During the campaign, hundreds of angry citizens let off steam in the anger room. The biggest media channels in the country reported on the event. The campaign brought the Volkstheater around 7.5 million impressions, an earned media value of more than 100,000 euros and a sold-out premiere.