20th Century Fox distributes fake Trump-Putin news story to promote new movie

Marketing folk working on new movie ‘A Cure For Wellness’ distributed a fake news story about Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin as part of its promotional drive.

The topical if not responsible move saw the headline ‘BOMBSHELL: Trump and Putin Spotted at Swiss Resort Prior to Election’ posted before story detailing an entirely made up account of how about Trump met Putin at a remote wellness centre in the Swiss Alps prior to the US presidential election in November.

Published on The Sacramento Dispatch, one of a number of outwardly legitimate but ultimately fake news sites (which also featured banner ads for the new movie) which appeared to have been set up specifically for the stunt, it quoted a member of staff from the Volmer Institute, the name of the fictitious facility in the forthcoming movie.

“I couldn’t, in good conscience, keep this information to myself. This is bigger than me, this is bigger than my job, and while I know I am very likely putting myself as well as my loved ones in danger of coming forward, I don’t know that I would have been able to live with myself had I kept quiet,” the story quotes employee Nathan Sjogren as saying.

In response to criticism on Twitter, the movie’s producers Fox said in a statement: “A Cure for Wellness is a movie about a ‘fake’ cure that makes people sicker.

“As part of this campaign, a ‘fake’ wellness site healthandwellness.co was created and we partnered with a fake news creator to publish fake news.

“As our movie’s antagonist says, ‘There is a sickness inside us. And only when we know what ails us, can we hope to find the cure.”

Other fake stories on the sites were written about Lady Gaga performing a tribute to Muslims during her Super Bowl show, and Trump temporarily banning certain vaccinations.

The stories and sites now appear to have been removed.

The movie, a psychological horror directed by Gore Verbinksi and starring Dane DeHaan and Jason Isaacs, is out in the US later this month.

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