‘True Blood’ a Genuine Phenomenon
28 Jul, 2009 By: John LatchemOne of the notable news items out of Comic-Con this past weekend was confirmation that HBO’s vampire hit “True Blood” would spawn its own beverage.
On the show, TruBlood is a synthetic blood that weans vampires from feeding off humans, allowing them to join society openly. In real life the drink will be blood-orange soda, served in bottles like the ones on the show.
The marketing gimmick should come as no surprise and takes full advantage of a spike in the show’s popularity. Ratings for the second season are more than double that of the first, and the first-season home video .
And on the heels of the show’s success, author Charlaine Harris, who wrote the books upon which the show is based, signed a contract to write three more books through 2014.
A casual observer might assume “True Blood” is riding a new wave of vampire popularity sparked by “Twilight,” but I don’t think so. Judging by the negative reaction to “Twilight” at the “True Blood” panel at Comic-Con, I think the show benefits from being the perfect counter-programming to the vampire romance films. While there is undoubtedly a sizeable overlap in the fan bases for each franchise, I suspect old fans of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” (and I count myself among them) are gravitating toward Alan Ball’s show, which is nearly as smart and seems to employ a more similar and respectful vampire mythology than the Stephenie Meyer novels.