Assuming the company hasn’t actually been taken over by an unknown cosmic entity, one known only as “The Button,” Bad Idea is launching a new viral marketing campaign to promote its upcoming release “ENIAC” #1. According to the a trailer on the company’s YouTube channel, a mysterious button has taken control of the publisher, demanding one billion clicks before allowing them to release their first book. Anyone wishing to help in this matter can do so at ServeTheButton.com. An animated counter on the website shows how many clicks the button has received. As of this writing, the count stands just past 388,000.
The race to one billion clicks is only a small part of this viral campaign, according to Bad Idea. The publisher states that “The Button will be issuing commands and challenges, and revealing its many enigmas and mysteries, daily on Bad Idea’s social media channels.”
Bad Idea was founded by former Valiant creators earlier this year with Dinesh Shamdasani and Warren Simons as its co-CEOs. “ENIAC” #1, the company’s first release written by Matt Kindt (“Mind MGMT”) and drawn by Doug Braithwaite (“Paradise X”), was originally scheduled for a May 2020 release. However, concerns over the coronavirus pandemic affected the entire industry and forced delays. The book’s new release date now appears to be when The Button has collected one billion clicks. The story centers around the real-life Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer evolving into a rogue A.I. bent on global destruction.
In the few months since its inception, Bad Idea has made challenging comic book shipping and marketing norms a focus. Rather than go through distribution giant Diamond, they’ve chosen to self-distribute their comics to a select list of 50 (original 20) comic shops worldwide. These stores can be located through WhereIsBadIdea.com, where “ENIAC” #1 can be pre-ordered as well.
