LOS ANGELES, CA – June 18, 2015 - USA Network today announced an expansive partnership with Twitch, the world’s leading social video platform and community for gamers and the official livestream partner of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3), for its new hacker drama MR. ROBOT. The network started to “hack” into Twitch’s E3 livestream on June 16 with a series of tease messages and today kicks off a campaign that will erase more than $100k in consumer debt through an innovative “hacktivation” unfolding over the next 72 hours.
This debt deletion campaign brings to life the show’s central themes of income inequality and mounting consumer debt among the 99%ers. It builds on the key mission of a central character in the series, as played by Christian Slater, who wants to, “set in motion the single biggest incident of wealth redistribution in history.”
“Twitch is a rapidly growing platform that has become a go-to destination the most dedicated gamers in the industry, many of whom are in the millennial sweet spot of our target audience,” said USA Network EVP of Marketing and Digital, Alexandra Shapiro. “This ground-breaking partnership leverages how gamers natively use Twitch and taps into the highly engaged live stream culture in a way that perfectly aligns with the themes in MR. ROBOT.”
During the past two days, Twitch’s E3 livestream was mysteriously “hacked” with messages from the fictional “fsociety,” an underground hacking collective featured in MR. ROBOT. The hacks tease the group’s mission to help free people from the burden of their debt, take back control from the 1% and level the playing field for all. Examples of these hacks are available here and were broadcast from a custom built lair located in an undisclosed location.
Starting today, immediately following Twitch’s E3 livestream, Twitch users can go to twitch.tv/whoismrrobot to watch a 3-hour livestream of “fsociety,” where hackers will reveal a code every 30 minutes that can be used to enter to win one of hundreds of cash payouts. Up to 50 winners will be selected every half hour, with instant payouts, via paypal, ranging from $10 to $5000. The campaign will continue on June 19 and 20, with the fsociety hackers continuing to delete consumer debt in real time during two six-hour livestreams that take place from 6pm – 12am EST on WhoIsMrRobot.com.
"The Twitch community has been very receptive to television content that is aligned with their interests," said Anthony Danzi, SVP Sales, Twitch. "We are now seeing more marquee brands recognize this alongside the growing appeal of live social video, making USA Network’s Mr. Robot a perfect fit for our platform."
This campaign builds off of USA’s partnership with Twitch in late May around the pre-linear release of the MR. ROBOT pilot, where the site featured an interactive streaming of the pilot followed by a live Q&A with the series cast. Twitch made available and promoted a TV-MA version of the series premiere from May 27th to June 5th.
Another debt deletion stunt will unfold on Wednesday, June 24 leading into the MR. ROBOT linear premiere.
Through June 24, fans also have the chance to view the premiere episode of MR. ROBOT – prior to its linear debut -- via On Demand platforms including Xfinity On Demand, USANetwork.com, the USA Now App (iOS, Android, Xbox One), Hulu and YouTube, iTunes, Amazon Instant Video, Google Play, Vudu, XBOX Video, PlayStation Video, and M-GO.
MR. ROBOT follows Elliot (Rami Malek, “The Pacific”), a young programmer who works as a cyber-security engineer by day and as a vigilante hacker by night. Elliot finds himself at a crossroads when the mysterious leader (Christian Slater, “The Adderall Diaries”) of an underground hacker group recruits him to destroy the firm he is paid to protect. Compelled by his personal beliefs, Elliot struggles to resist the chance to take down the multinational CEOs he believes are running (and ruining) the world. The series also stars Portia Doubleday (“Her”), Carly Chaikin (“Suburgatory”) and Martin Wallström (“Simple Simon”).
