About the Project
The Colbert Puppet Challenge is a unique, atypical, campaign, designed to increase the exposure of Hoggworks Studios immensely, by enlisting the fans of one of the most popular television shows currently in production to help us leapfrog our way past the usual rules and constraints of the network TV system, and land us on a national TV show, while at the same time offering up a compelling offer, dynamite creative, and some genuinely funny content along the way.
The Stephen Colbert Puppet Challenge is an attempt to start a movement. First, the design and construction of the Colbert puppet was extensively documented online, both out of a genuine desire to share the process, but also to get people interested in what we were doing before we’d done it. Then, when the puppet was built, the challenge began in Earnest: in a series of short videos, the puppet Colbert challenged the REAL Stephen Colbert to volunteer his time to be a guest-voice on season two of dotBoom, in exchange for allowing the puppet to come on the show, accompanied by Brian Hogg. If the real Colbert is up to that challenge, the puppet will allow himself to remain on the set forever.
This audacious, improbable, and flatly ridiculous gambit is one designed to create attention and buzz. The sheer scope of the challenge – that the puppet, in the truest spirit of Colbert, could get on an internationally syndicated show seen by millions every night, simply because he wants to be, is just about laughable, but it’s that spectacle that’s exactly the point. The Colbert challenge is very specifically crafted in the style that Colbert makes of his audiences. Here the tables are turned, and the audience is being asked to help get something to Colbert.
What might look at first blush to be little more than an attempt for an uber-fan to get more attention than they’re deserving is actually a specifically calculated to fit in the style of the show the puppet is seeking to appear on, and the pomposity shown is very much in keeping with the style of the show’s host.
The success of the challenge depends on the people; the videos implore its viewers to take the challenge, which is to spread the word of the challenge, to make noise, to share the video with as many people as possible. The challenge is still ongoing, and the word is spreading every day; every day more people are coming to the challenge website, and telling their friends.
In addition to the initial 5-minute video announcing the challenge, several other videos have been released, to help keep interest in the challenge growing. There’s a shorter version of the video, clocking in at 1:30, and also a series of “callout” videos, which feature the puppet Colbert chastising some very famous people – such as Steve Jobs, John Stewart, Johanne Kepler, and Joan of Arc – for not yet taking the challenge. These videos serve to underscore the ridiculous nature of the challenge itself, getting people to spread it even in the service of pointing this out, and it’s working. The callout to Steve Jobs was mentioned on the popular Fake Steve Jobs blog, which boasts over a million readers a month.
The Stephen Colbert Puppet Challenge is generating increasing buzz, and is being discussed not just online, but in print, as well. It is representative of the kind of creative, non-traditional thinking, and unbeatable creative strategies, that Hoggworks Studios offers to its clients.
What we Did
We built the Stephen Colbert puppet, performed him, did all of the writing, filming, and editing for the videos.
Credits
Puppet Designed and built by Brian Hogg.
Take the Stephen Colbert Puppet Challenge here.