[The Smiler] Marketing discussion

[James]

The Smiler is a force, not a person - as that article suggests.

I fail to see how any of that is true. Most of it just seems to stem off strong rumours and discussions.

 

[AltonBuzz]

CupcakeMonster, that screenshot is from an Italian theme park website but I don't think it mentions anything particularly new or exciting unfortunately. I've had a quick read but like James has said I think its mainly speculation and rumors from English-speaking fansites! :

Here's the full translation...

Alton Towers has officially announced the name of the new coaster: will be called The Smiler , such as the smiley face and disturbing that virally invaded England roads, subways, sheep country, and even the Big Ben in London! (photo courtesy of: In Park Magazine) On closer inspection, the same face seems to appear also in the path of the ' Eurofighter Gerstaluer , designed by the intersection between the batwing and cobra roll . (photo courtesy of: Towers Times) It would seem, however, that the name The Inoculator (mysterious clue previously released by the park) is to be understood as a kind of trait d'union between the new coaster and theme of The Sanctuary , another novelty of Alton Towers for 2013. The Sanctuary is a horror maze , housed in the castle town of Alton Towers , which has already debuted during Scarefest 2012 and will return, since March 16, as a further renewal of the X Sector . The theme of The Sanctuary is the story of a fool Minister of Joy who performs experiments on the minds of human beings to bend them to smile. This seems to fit perfectly with the theme of The Smiler and his mechanical spider inoculum of joy. still has not been notified if The Sanctuary will remain for the entire 2013 season or only for a limited period. In all cases it seems that Alton Towers has decided to give its visitors this unexpected walk through to forgive slippage of the inauguration of The Smiler (March to May 2013 ) and entice visitors to visit the park in the early months the new season. For the occasion, the whole area X Sector will be restored. Even Oblivion will receive a new coat of paint (the same color black-gray used for the media and binary The Smiler ).

Source http://www.theparks.it/alton-towers-p132/notizie/2013/01/cosa-lega-the-smiler-e-il-labirinto-horror-the-san-n1344/

 

[Alastair]

I absolutely love the synonyms for normal phrases gained from Google Translate. "...To forgive slippage of the inauguration of The Smiler" - what a glorious way to say it.

 

[JAMMY_Jaunts]

Apparently, blipverts that pop up and show the logo and 'The Smiler' have been appearing on certain Sky channels. Might be worth a look.

 

[Andrew]

Can't seem to find one yet...

I'll keep a look out!

 

[Danny]

The full article:

 

[Islander]

Bloody hell, so it seems fan sites have latched on to this new trick of obscuring unimportant or known facts, just to make it seem that there are exciting facts/surprises that only they know about, but no one else does.

Nice to know that the integrity of this community (not TST, but the much wider theme park/roller coaster community) is continuing to fall :-\

 

[Sam]

Can someone possibly link me to a high-quality translucent version of the Smiler logo, for use on top of signatures and stuff? I could really do with that!

(i.e. not the version with the black background, but the one currently used as the TST background, on top of the purple )

 

[Fredward]

just get the one on black background delete the background and adjust the translucency or hue, depending on what effect you want.

 

[Sam]

just get the one on black background delete the background and adjust the translucency or hue, depending on what effect you want.

It's really difficult to delete the background (using a standard 'magic wand' tool to select it) because it gets so detailed towards the centre of each spiral and it sort of blurs into one.

 

[BigAl]

I made this the other day:

Not sure if it's a good enough quality though? :/

 

[Sam]

Thankyou pet, you are really a bit wonderful aren't you?

 

[cotda]

It's really difficult to delete the background (using a standard 'magic wand' tool to select it) because it gets so detailed towards the centre of each spiral and it sort of blurs into one.

Go to select, and choose colour range, pick the black one and adjust untill your happy!

Also, who's up for a super-highres smiler logo?? Still got black background, and looks a little weird when you get in close but meh. (1800x1513px)

Linky

Spoiler

Incase you're wondering why it looks a little off, it's cause I auto-traced it into a vector image in order to scale without losing quality!

 

[TheMan]

What's going on?

We had loads of fantastic, creative, crazy stuff going on in a short burst and then.....

That isn't what you may call "momentum". It seems to match the speed the track is being built at :twirly:

 

[James]

Fresh HQ promotional image, a variant of the image being used to advertise SW7.

You want it bigger?

 

[TheMan]

Makes me chuckle that people don't think that video was official.

Just a really fantastic guess to use exactly the same animation style? I meant to post this ages ago, that picture reminded me.

As for this though?

You want it bigger?

James, you should know better!

 

[PG Ricey]

Has anyone else noticed that the straight lift hill track in the poster doesnt have a chain? Backs up the launch theory, but then again it could just be the way the artist represented it...

 

[TheMan]

Has anyone else noticed that the straight lift hill track in the poster doesnt have a chain? Backs up the launch theory, but then again it could just be the way the artist represented it...

To be fair mate, it has Oblivion's test seat in it apparently. I doubt they will make an appearance either. An incredible amount of things still unknown about this ride given how close it is(n't) to opening. Be great to have a launched hill though

 

[Dave]

Never assume anything about a ride based on marketing promo images other than theme and marketing style.

 

[tayspru]

I was thinking, are we likely to see a sanctuary based advert between now and late April? I dont see how Alton would be able to run marketing focusing towards Smiler opening in May without losing business, so maybe a sanctuary advert with a little smiler add on would work?

-Tayler