It was a bit fun to see Hollywood tackle word of mouth marketing done to the extreme in the 2009 movie The Joneses. The story was about a family that moved into a well-to-do neighborhood and became very social with the locals. However, when they entertained, they also recommended products in an effort to promote certain brands in the neighborhood. Right now it has a 6.5 out of 10 rating on IMDB. Not bad.

Well, in a reality show driven world, someone was bound to try it in real life…more or less. A real family’s house was loaded up with hidden video cameras and microphones. The family hosted friends for parties and casual get-togethers, all the while telling their guests about products that they liked. The results were very interesting.

In a rare mix between focus group and social experiment, this project actually drew some interesting data. Once the project was finished, the friends rated the influence of the recommendations at 10 out of 10. Pretty impressive.

Read more about the project, which was detailed in the book Brandwashed, at Fast Company