Imagine this. You're going about your business on a quiet night in Austin, Texas. You've just gotten home from work, or maybe you're chilling out by playing some Elden Ring. You glance out of your living room window and suddenly there's a giant glowing QR code in the sky, displayed by hundreds of drones that are making a sound like you've just kicked the world's angriest beehive.This was a reality for the people of Austin on Sunday, as Paramount has taken advertising to a whole new level. First spotted by the Hollywood Reporter, this stunt is Paramount's latest attempt to get more people interested in the upcoming Halo TV show, a live-action adaptation of the original Xbox game released in 2001.The drones quite cleverly arranged themselves into a giant QR code that could actually be scanned, taking people to the official Halo TV show trailer on YouTube. The drones also turned into a snazzy-looking Paramount+ logo, closely followed by the air date of the Halo TV show. According to Hollywood Reporter, the display itself was 300 feet tall and over 600 feet wide, meaning that this was no small effort on Paramount's part.
Reactions to the display were quite understandably all over the place. There are several people who thought the stunt was "genuinely so cool" and a "smart idea," yet there was one less technologically gifted individual who "got scared and ran inside." To be fair, that's probably the most sensible reaction when faced with hundreds of glowing drones on your doorstep.
The Halo series is still set to air later this month on March 24 on Paramount+, but if you want to hear what we thought of the show's first two episodes, you can read our review here. We also have several different interviews with key members of the cast and production you can check out as well.