Online 'Oscar' for charity's video spoof that fooled the world

A SCOTTISH charity has triumphed over the world's leading marketing hotshots to land an internet "Oscar" for an online "viral" video that caused a global sensation among film fans.

Animal charity OneKind has come out on top in the annual Movieviral awards for a fake film trailer called They're Here.

Conceived by the charity's web manager, John Robertson, the fake trailer fooled millions of science-fiction buffs into believing that a major studio was about to launch an alien adventure film.

Starring Edinburgh-based actor Angus MacInnes, who appeared in the 1977 film Star Wars, the internet-shared video - known as a viral - led to Mr Robertson being interviewed by sci-fi magazines desperate to speak to the movie's "director".

It was later revealed as a hoax trailer, designed to highlight the work of OneKind, previously known as Advocates for Animals. The viral received millions of internet hits and gave a big boost to the charity's rebranding.

• Watch the video on YouTube

Now the viral has landed an international honour, winning the Christopher Johnson Prize in the Movieviral awards, defeating major advertising departments despite the fact that it was conceived in a small office above a Chinese restaurant in Queensferry Street, Edinburgh.

Other winners of this year's awards - which are voted by industry professionals - include Tron:Legacy in the film category and Lost, Glee and Dexter in the TV category. The Johnson Prize is awarded for virals outside the film and TV industry, and includes videos conceived by global advertising agencies.

A spokesman for the Los Angeles-based Movieviral awards, said: "OneKind's They're Here campaign had us all on the edge of our seats thinking it was for an alien invasion film, then gave us a great twist that shows that entertainment media don't have to be the only kids on the viral marketing block."

The award came as a pleasant surprise to the Edinburgh-based charity. Mr Robertson came up with the idea over a coffee and convinced some well-known figures - such as MacInnes and Bafta winning director Matt Brown - to take part.

"It was a lot of work putting together a Hollywood film trailer, but it was worth it as the response was fantastic," Mr Robertson said.

"We think the trailer was as good as anything the big film studios could manage.

"Our desire was to make people reflect on just how incredible the animals are who we share our everyday lives with, and the vital role they play in our world."

The video features strange creatures with superhuman abilities. The punchline reveals that the creatures are in fact animals, rather than aliens.

The charity were unapologetic about stringing along the world's sci-fi movie fans.Chief executive Fiona Ogg said: "We never expected to get such a large audience for these trailers, but the whole point is to highlight the amazing creatures we already have around us."