Sony Pictures has become the latest big brand to buy a spot on Twitter’s trending topic list, using the microblogging site’s new ad platform to promote the trailer for The Social Network, which hit the Web on Thursday.
As a result, Twitter users this morning are seeing the trending topic “#SocialNetwork,” which when clicked, shows a promoted tweet on top for the upcoming movie about Facebook’s controversial beginnings.
The company is using the promoted tweet to drive people to 500MillionFriends.com, a site that houses the film’s trailer, music and the movie poster featuring the tagline, “You Don’t Get to 500 Million Friends Without Making a Few Enemies.”
You might think The Social Network would be better off spending its ad dollars on Facebook itself, and, you’d probably be right. However, ads that reference Facebook aren’t allowed on Facebook, and not surprisingly, the social network isn’t bending the rules to accommodate.