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Truck Carrying a “Captive Monster” Is Seen on Streets Around the World, Turns Out It’s a Movie Ad Campaign

By Emma Taggart on September 28, 2021

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It’s amazing what moviemakers are doing with special effects and CGI these days. But while the action is usually confined within the theater and TV screens, there are some fictional monsters who seem to have encroached on our reality. In a promotional stunt for the Amazon Prime sci-fi thriller, The Tomorrow War, a dangerous alien species called White Spikes was filmed being transported in a cargo truck in Tokyo’s Shinjuku, Shibuya, and Harajuku.

The Tomorrow War—starring Chris Pratt—follows a group of time travelers from the year 2051, who have returned to the present day to warn mankind about a global war against White Spikes, a deadly alien species. The promotional stunt—which happened during June and July 2021—makes the film’s storyline even more chilling. We’re able to actually see a world where the military attempts to control the havoc-wreaking monsters.

As well as the alien chained down inside the see-through glass truck in Japan, other White Spikes were captured in Hollywood & Highland, Venice Beach, and Huntington Beach. These creatures were seen with their long tentacles hanging out of trucks, accompanied by “military convoys.” There was even a sighting in Wembley, UK, of one particular White Spike roaming freely in a forest. The terrifying footage might look real, but these videos are actually just clever illusions.

Jared Goldsmith, global head of action and thriller marketing at Amazon Prime Video, said the international promo took plenty of strategic planning. “We’re available in over 240 different countries, so it was translating and localizing into multiple languages,” he reveals. “But it also takes creativity and all the teams aligning around a strategy and being able to develop creative that’s going to resonate globally, but still have local relevance.” Hype was definitely achieved—several months after the White Spikes appearances, people are still talking about it online.

Check out the promotional videos for The Tomorrow War below, and watch the movie now on Amazon Prime.