novellhall Chapter 262 Ice Bucket Challenge [5000]
Chapter 262 Ice Bucket Challenge [5000]
Chapter 261 Ice Bucket Challenge [5000]
The moment the water hit him, Chen Xun felt a violent chill run down his spine.
A bone-chilling cold sensation exploded from the top of my head, quickly spreading to my neck, back, and entire body.
The T-shirt was instantly soaked and clung tightly to the skin.
Ice cubes hit my head and shoulders, some even sliding into my collar.
He closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and waited until the last drop of water drained away before opening his eyes and shaking the water droplets off his hair.
Water droplets splashed under the light.
He wiped his face and continued speaking to the camera: "I'm calling on Chris Hemsworth, man, it's your turn."
He reviewed the video and uploaded it directly to his Facebook and Twitter accounts: "Taking the challenge, donate $10! @ChrisHemsworth, it's your turn. #IceBucketChallenge #SupportALSAssociation"
Click send.
He put down his phone, ran back into the house trembling, and rushed into the bathroom to turn on the hot water.
He sighed with relief the moment the hot water hit his cold skin.
After showering and changing into his watch clothes, he picked up his phone while drying his hair.
Only fifteen minutes have passed.
That video has been shared over two thousand times.
"Holy crap! Chen Xun donated 100,000 yuan directly?!"
"The expression on his face when ice water was poured over his head was so real! It made me feel cold just watching it!"
"He specifically mentioned Thor? Hahaha, waiting for Hai Zong's reaction!"
"I checked the homepage of the initiator, Pete, and Chen Xun is following him."
Pete Fratzs himself retweeted his video: "@Chen Xun, thank you! Not just for the donation, but also because you saw me, which means something special to me and other ALS patients!"
Following this repost, many people started clicking into Pete's profile to learn what ALS is.
-
Twenty minutes later, Chris Hemsworth replied.
He posted a meme of himself.
In the movie, Thor has a completely bewildered look on his face, as if to say, "Are you kidding me?" He says, "I just finished working out! @ChenXun, meeting you was one of the worst decisions I've ever made (heart emoji), just you wait!"
An hour later, Chris's video was released.
The location is in the backyard of his home in Australia.
Thor was only wearing a pair of athletic shorts, revealing his muscular upper body.
In front of him was a larger blue plastic bucket, filled with ice blocks piled up like a small mountain.
"Chen Xun, you're ruthless."
Chris gave the camera a vengeful grin: "I'm donating $100,000, and now I'm going to pass this love on @ChristineStewart. Honey, you have to share the blame for the mess your boyfriend made."
In the video, Chris yells and lifts the bucket, then pours it over his head.
The force of the water was so great that he stumbled and the ice shards shattered and fell to the ground.
After watering the plants, he gasped for breath, his muscles glistening with water, and gave the camera the middle finger.
"Thor takes on Christine" instantly became a new hot topic.
Christine's response came an hour and a half later.
She was in her hotel room.
She was wearing a white tank top and denim shorts, without makeup, and her hair was casually tied up.
In front of me was a metal ice bucket used in hotels, filled with ice and water.
"@Chris Hemsworth, I'll remember you."
17
Christine rolled her eyes at the camera: "Donate 100,000! Then @Jennifer Lawrence, Jennifer Lawrence, it's your turn. Don't blame me, blame Chen Xun and his bunch of bad friends."
She poured the ice water with more elegance than the two men.
She tilted her head slightly, letting the water mainly splash on her neck and back, but she still shivered from the cold, her teeth chattering.
At the end of the video, she wrapped herself in a large towel and said to the camera, "Chen Xun, you'd better sleep with one eye open at night."
The #IceBucketChallenge# topic, which was originally spreading only in a small circle, began to gain popularity at an alarming rate.
Jennifer Lawrence also posted a video an hour later.
She completed the challenge in her own backyard, wearing an exaggerated cartoon onesie pajama, and donated 100,000!
Then Captain America, Chris Evans, was named.
This relay race has become an event watched by the entire nation.
The participation of celebrities brought in an incredible amount of traffic.
Fans excitedly followed the chain of events, speculating who would be the next to be mentioned.
Media outlets began reporting: "The Ice Bucket Challenge suddenly went viral, starting with Chen Xun and sweeping through Hollywood!"
The ALS Association's official account tweeted with overwhelming gratitude: "Thank you @ChenXun @ChrisHemsworth @ChristineStuart @JenniferLaurence and all the participants for your generosity! In just a few hours, we have received more donations than we did in the past month!"
The video of "The Rock personally demonstrating how to organize a home emergency kit," which was just released this morning by The Collapse, has now been pushed out of the top ten.
The latest comment below is: "The Rock, when are you going to take on the Ice Bucket Challenge? (doge)"
Under the official account for "The Ancient One," fans are jokingly asking, "Would the Ancient One use magic to heat up ice water?"
Can the Vishanti Shield block icy water?
"I bet Karuru will just swallow the ice bucket whole with the void."
At Warner Bros. headquarters, Michael Carter stared at the plummeting popularity curve of "Collapse" on the screen, his face ashen.
He just approved another supplemental budget, preparing to launch a new wave of survival skills short videos tonight.
Everything's been disrupted now!
"Were they doing it on purpose?"
Sarah, standing nearby, said somewhat uncertainly, "The timing is too perfect!"
"So what if it was intentional?"
Michael's voice turned cold: "All the hype is on their side right now! We spent millions on promotional slots, and it's all been used to benefit this damn Ice Bucket Challenge!"
He stared at the video on the screen of Chen Xun pouring ice water on himself.
After watering the plants, the Chinese actor wiped his face with a calm, even indifferent expression.
It seems like they weren't dealing with a marketing crisis at all, but just doing something they felt they should do.
The more indifferent he seemed, the more Michael felt a sense of being belittled and annoyed.
"Can we participate too?"
A young marketing specialist whispered a suggestion: "Let's have Johnson take on the challenge too. It'll give him some buzz and show his approachability at the same time."
"And then donate 100,000 to the ALS Association?"
Michael interrupted him: "Do you know what this means? We're admitting their methods are more sophisticated, that we're being led by the nose!"
The meeting room fell silent.
"So what do we do?"
Michael stared at the graph for a long time.
"wait!"
He squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth: "This kind of viral spread comes and goes quickly."
"Wait until this gust of wind passes!"
"Our promotional schedule has been disrupted, but the film's quality remains, and the word-of-mouth from the preview screenings is still there. We'll let the first week's box office figures speak for themselves."
He paused, then added, "Keep a close eye on them during this time. I don't believe Chen Xun was just doing charity work on a whim."
Michael waited in the conference room all night.
He refilled his coffee four times, filled the ashtray with cigarette butts, and every fluctuation in the real-time public opinion monitoring curve on the screen made his temples throb.
The curve started to rise at 3 a.m.
At 4 a.m., the #IceBucketChallenge# reached the third spot on Twitter's trending topics in the United States.
I reached number one at 5:30 AM!
The #DoomsdayCollapseSurvivalGuide#, which was originally firmly in the top five, has dropped to twelfth place and is still declining.
Michael stared at the screen, his eyes bloodshot. Sarah pushed the latest printed data report in front of him, speaking cautiously: "The donation channel on the ALS Association's website has received over 40,000 donations in the past six hours, bringing the total to over three million dollars."
"Their servers crashed twice!"
Sarah clicked on the headlines of several mainstream media outlets:
The Ice Bucket Challenge: A Public Service Virus Spreading from Hollywood
The Cold Water and the Warm Heart of Celebrities
ALS Patients: We Are Finally Being Seen
"see?"
Michael scoffed, "What they see are photos of celebrities getting wet and funny videos! Who really cares about ALS?"
Before she could finish speaking, Sarah started playing a trending video that had just been pushed to her.
-
It's Captain America, Chris Evans.
He was in his garage, wearing a sports vest in the colors of the American flag, with a huge industrial ice bucket in front of him.
He smiled at the camera, then took a deep breath and gripped the edge of the bucket with both hands.
"Whoa!!!"
The force of the water made him shiver, and icy water splashed all over the ground.
He shook his head, splashing water droplets everywhere, then wiped his face and gave a thumbs-up to the camera.
Video caption: "Donate 100,000! Tagging @Robert Downey Jr., Tony, it's your turn. Don't cheat with your armor. #IceBucketChallenge#"
The comments section exploded: "The captain's pecs!!! (screams)"
"He specifically mentioned Iron Man! Wow, this is an epic collaboration!"
"So, will the next step be the entire reconnection effort?"
What's the official account for "Collapse" doing? Isn't Dwayne Johnson going to make an appearance?
"Upstairs, Johnson is probably thinking about how to heat up ice water with his muscles (doge)"
""
Michael snapped the screen off.
He felt a strong wave of nausea.
A sense of helplessness washed over me as my carefully constructed sandcastle was casually kicked down.
"We analyzed the transmission chain."
The data team leader pulled up a relationship diagram, with Chen Xun prominently displayed at the center: "Starting from Chen Xun, to Hemsworth, to Stewart, to Lawrence, to Evans, and then to Donnie—they are all related people."
"Stewart is Chen Xun's girlfriend, Lawrence and Chen Xun have worked together and have a public close relationship, Evans and Downey are Marvel colleagues, this is a closed Hollywood network of acquaintances."
"So Marvel is behind this?" Michael asked.
"Doesn't look like it!"
The person in charge shook his head: "The timeline is too tight, the reaction too fast; it's more like Chen Xun's personal actions triggered a chain reaction, while..."
Wei capitalized on this surge in traffic, look here————
He pulled up the data from the official account of "Ancient One".
Within two hours of the Ice Bucket Challenge trending at number one, the Ancient One account gained 18 new followers.
The latest educational video explaining the Karuru handprint has gone from only a few thousand views to over two million, with the comment section flooded with new viewers: "I came from the Ice Bucket Challenge, when is this movie coming out?"
"Is the lead actor that Chinese guy who poured ice water on the screen? I'll donate 100,000 to him and buy a ticket."
"Do monks also feel cold? (Funny)"
"So what's this movie about? Is there a trailer?"
"The initial estimate for the conversion rate from passersby is around 18:1."
The person in charge said, "One out of every eighteen people who became aware of Chen Xun because of the Ice Bucket Challenge will become a potential viewer of 'The Ancient One,' and this percentage is still rising."
Michael closed his eyes.
-
He recalled the Tibetan Buddhist philosophy that Chen Xun had added when he revised the script for "The Ancient One".
Now he understands!
This Chinese actor has a way of doing things that doesn't follow Hollywood rules, yet always manages to strike a chord with the public.
"Can't we also take on this challenge?"
He opened his eyes, his voice weary: "Could it be like the push-up challenge in the ruins, with Johnson doing a hundred and nominating others?"
Sarah paused for a few seconds, then said tactfully, "Following suit now would be seen as a poor imitation, and the public is already tired of the marketing for 'Collapse.' Our previous survival skills video series is starting to get the same old stuff in the comments section. Can't we come up with something fresh?"
"So we're just going to do nothing?"
"We can only wait and see how the quality speaks for itself based on the opening week's box office!"
Sarah repeated his previous words, but her tone had lost its confidence.
The Ice Bucket Challenge didn't come and go as quickly as Michael had hoped.
-
It's becoming increasingly popular!
When Chen Xun woke up in the morning, the first thing he saw on his phone was a live news report from The Hollywood Reporter.
"The Ice Bucket Challenge Sweeps the Globe: Marvel Cast Joins In – Fast & Furious, Twilight, and Harry Potter Actors – Charity Extravaganza or Marketing Miracle?"
The article lists some of the celebrities who have already participated:
Marvel Avengers: Chris Hemsworth, Kristen Stewart, Jennifer Lawrence, Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo, Jeremy Renner — almost the entire original Avengers.
Fast & Furious: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Michelle Rodriguez, Jordana Brewster.
Twilight series: Robert Pattinson, Dakota Fanning, Taylor Lautner.
Harry Potter series: Emma Watson, Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint —
The article concludes: "A small initiative that began with ALS patient Peter Fritz was ignited by Chen Xun's involvement and evolved into a global cultural event within 24 hours."
"To date, the ALS Association has received over $5 million in donations, with more than 100 celebrities participating!"
"The Ancient One: Shadow of Vishandi, starring Chen Xun, has generated a lot of buzz even before its release, with social media discussion increasing by 300%."
Chen Xun stared at his phone, somewhat bewildered.
He simply poured a bucket of ice water on himself before going to bed.
Why did Hollywood look so wet when I woke up?
He scratched his head and opened Pete Fratzs's homepage.
The latest update is a photo of Pitt sitting in a wheelchair, holding up a handwritten sign.
The sign read: "Thank you all, because of you I can schedule a new rehabilitation session today. The doctor said I'm in a much better mood, which is very helpful for my condition!"
The comment below reads: "Go Pitt!"
"After reading your story, I donated too."
"Chen Xun did a good deed."
"So what exactly is ALS? I looked it up, and it's terrifying. We need more research funding."
Chen Xun liked the post.
He logged out of Twitter and opened his email.
It was a work email from Kevin, asking him to attend a meeting at Marvel.
He got up, washed up, changed his clothes, ate something simple, and drove to the meeting place.
The Marvel meeting room was packed with people.
People from the marketing department, public relations department, social media operations department, and even the finance department were there.
Kevin Feige was sitting in the main seat. When Chen Xun entered, he gestured for him to sit down.
"Everyone's here!"
Kevin got straight to the point: "As you can see from the data, the Ice Bucket Challenge went viral globally, and the discussion surrounding 'The Ancient One,' search index, and social media follower growth all exceeded expectations."
Kevin looked at Chen Xun: "Chen, you truly are a marketing genius. You've executed a textbook example of viral marketing."
Chen Xun spoke frankly: "It was a lucky accident!"
-
"That's the most brilliant part."
The marketing director chimed in, his tone excited: "The public buys into this! They're tired of blatant commercial promotions!"
"So our next strategy is to capitalize on this wave of popularity, amplify Chen Xun's personal influence, and transfer some of the public's goodwill towards the Ice Bucket Challenge to 'Ancient One'."
The PR director continued, "But we can't make it too obvious."
"An additional donation of $200,000 to the ALS Association in the name of the official Ancient One production team, signed by all members of the Ancient One production team."
"We'll release a series of light science content on the themes of magic and science, such as whether Karuru's handprint can heat up ice water or the physics behind the Vishanti shield, using fun methods to capitalize on current trends."
"Arrange for Chen Xun to have a video call with Peter Fritz, where the conversation will not involve movie promotion, but will only discuss ALS and attitudes towards life. This will help solidify Chen Xun's public image."
Kevin nodded and looked at Chen Xun: "Chen, I need your cooperation. It will probably take place next week, is that alright?"
Chen Xun nodded: "Okay!"
"Warner Bros. has been thrown into disarray by the popularity generated by the Ice Bucket Challenge."
Kevin said with excitement, "The marketing budget for 'Collapse' is higher than ours, but the effect is starting to diminish. This morning they tried to launch a Dwayne Johnson tough guy challenge, imitating the Ice Bucket Challenge, but it didn't get more than a thousand shares, and the comments section was full of mockery. Our window of opportunity has arrived."
He pulled up the screening schedule: "I've communicated with the theaters, and the pre-screening rate for 'The Ancient One' has been increased from 18% to 22%. Although it's still lower than 'Collapse' at 35%, it's a huge improvement."
"If the positive word-of-mouth continues to grow after the premiere, we have a chance to make a comeback in the second week!"
The meeting then discussed the details for another half hour.
After the meeting, Kevin kept Chen Xun behind alone.
"Well done! You're now a core asset of 'The Ancient One,' keep it up!"
It was noon when Chen Xun left the Marvel building.
He got into the car, but instead of starting the engine, he glanced at his phone first.
Christine sent a screenshot of the comments section under the latest tweet from the official "Collapse" account: "The Rock, take the challenge! Don't be a coward!"
"With such a large marketing budget, donating $100,000 shouldn't be difficult, right?"
"Where did the tough guy go? He can't even handle a bucket of ice water?"
"Having come from the Ice Bucket Challenge, do your movies only teach people how to pack their luggage? (laughing and crying)"
The most upvoted comment under the latest video analyzing Karuru's handprint on the official account of "The Ancient One" is: "So when is this movie finally going to be released? I've been following it since the Ice Bucket Challenge, and now I'm interested in magic."
Chen Xun smiled and replied to Christine, "When are you coming back? Let's have dinner together!"
Christine replied instantly: "I'm going to get revenge for being doused with ice water!"
Chen Xun almost died laughing when he saw Christine's reply to the message.
It seems that Christine has suffered quite a bit from this Ice Bucket Challenge.
"How are you planning to take revenge?"
Chen Xun replied.
A mischievous grin was added after it.
"You better cook me something delicious!"
"OK!"
Chen Xun readily agreed, started the car, and drove into traffic.
While waiting at a red light, he caught a glimpse of the TV screen in an electronics store on the side of the road, which was playing entertainment news.
In the footage, Emma Watson gracefully completes the challenge in front of the Oxford Library, followed by Daniel Radcliffe being ambushed on set by a colleague who drenches him with a bucket of water, creating a chaotic and hilarious scene.
The anchor's voice-over, tinged with amusement, says: "The Ice Bucket Challenge has spread from Hollywood to the rest of the world, becoming the undisputed cultural phenomenon of the week —"