Mission Impossible 4: Paying Fans to Market the Film?

When it came to the marketing of the fourth installment in the Tom Cruise famed action series Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol, the film's distributor Paramount supposedly went to great lengths in making it appear as if the long standing franchise still had a dedicated fan base. Last month, rumors swirled throughout the web that Paramount had paid 200 Indian extras to cheer and applaud at Cruise's several public appearances in Mumbai.

Now, it seems as if this trend has gone viral. Did Paramount reportedly pay fans via Twitter to tweet positively about MI4 in its opening weekend? The answer, probably not. The minds behind the marketing of the film took a successful gamble in buying a promoted Twitter word, which can be seen worldwide by Twitter enthusiasts. So many of the tweets were positive that the 15 year old franchise may have just reignited a fan base, keeping Cruise and the series relevant once again.