Devil Baby Prank Scares The Life Out Of New Yorkers [Watch]

A wicked devil baby prank has been unleashed on the unwitting residents of New York who have been scared out of their skin by the clever marketing ploy.

The prank is designed to draw people’s attention to the 20th Century Fox horror movie, Devil’s Due, which is set to be released later this month. The marketers want to target social media, and have focused their attentions on YouTube, where they posted a video of the devil baby prank on Tuesday.

The prank itself is pretty simple, but highly effective. The mechanized, devil-like baby you see in the image above is set in a stroller on a busy New York street with plenty of foot traffic. The sound of a baby crying loudly is emitted from the stroller as curious passers-by approach for a closer look.

At this point the baby doll, red eyes and all, pops up suddenly and screams like crazy as hidden cameras record the hysterical reactions of the prankees.

This isn’t by any means the first, or I dare say the last, clever marketing ploy to get the public’s attention ahead of the latest Hollywood blockbuster. Advertisers know that in this day and age social media is where it’s at as far as getting a message across widely and effectively is concerned.

Apart from anything else it’s cheap, as companies potentially save millions of dollars on ineffective and outdated advertising strategies. Back in November of last year, a well known Toronto based ad agency put together a video which spoofed social media advertising.

Are you a fan of social media advertising like the devil baby prank, or do you prefer more conventional marketing methods? Some people have said that the prank was “distasteful” do you agree? Share your comments in the feed below.