Streetwear and sneaker retailer, Footasylum, is leveraging video in new ways to sell in lockdown, launching a new social media reality show, “Locked In”.
The show, which started on the 4 November 2020 is set to run exclusively on the company’s YouTube Channel, which has more than 600,000 subscribers, for two weeks. Starring some of the UK’s best known YouTubers, Locked In’s housemates will face the challenge of being totally stripped of all tech devices, leaving them with no connection to the outside world. They will compete against one another in the fly on the wall format in daily challenges and secret tasks, chosen by the audience, for the chance to win money for their chosen charity.
Two years ago, the Footasylum YouTube channel saw a relaunch in order to be seen as an entertainment company by their core audience. Since then, the channel has seen an impressive 600,000 subscriber increase, in addition to, a combined 107,000,000 views and the channel has now celebrated reaching 1.1 Billion impressions. Footasylum are a leading brand on social media, communicating direct with their core audience and creating viral content that gives back to the online communities their audience is part of.
With a combined reach of more than 6 million subscribers, contestants include popular Football YouTuber SV2 (1.57 Million subscribers), YouTuber and MMA fighter JMX (2.5 million subscribers), and mystery crime / make up vlogger Eleanor Neale (1.13 Million subscribers) to name a few – the cast have a combined 1.58 billion views on YouTube. In another world first, the audience will be influencing these housemate’s lives from the comments section. Ex-Big Brother contestant and JaackMaate (1.37 Million subscribers) will be entering the house in the second week (n.b.this is embargoed until 6/7th Nov).
Si Lloyd, Culture Marketing Manager at Footasylum comments: ‘We are thrilled to be announcing an exciting addition to our stable of original content with the launch of Locked In. Our most ambitious project to date, it will give our audience a full immersive experience and allow them to drive the narrative. The runaway success of our Footasylum YouTube channel is clear evidence of the growing appetite our Gen Z audience has for original content consumed on social media. We believe that this is an environment where we can create a genuine connection with our audience, learn from them, nurture them as loyal customers and this new format will give them a reason to unite and have a proper laugh in an otherwise difficult time.”
CEO of Cowshed and executive producer George Cowin, adds: “Locked In is by far the most challenging project we’ve worked with for Footasylum, particularly with the current Covid 19 conditions that we, as a nation, are having to navigate. We have taken a typically conventional TV show format and flipped it on its head – reformatting it for the social world, all whilst having to work to very strict guidelines, put in place to keep our teams and the cast mates safe.”
From wake-up calls to challenges for food, the power is in the audiences’ hand as they test to the limit the resilience and ingenuity of their favourite YouTubers from the minute they enter the house with challenges such as the “Flatpackers”. This will see the housemates having to build their beds without any instructions. If they can’t do it, they won’t have a beds to sleep in.
These challenges will set the tone for each day with all housemates taking part and being taken to and sometimes beyond the limits of their endurance. Secret challenges will be tailored specifically for certain housemates, with the purpose of disrupting the “peace” and granting certain housemates privileges. With secret challenges and fan reactions developing across the 14 day period, the winner of “LockedIn” will be decided on the basis of an overall score which is determined on the contribution of housemates in challenges and their success within these challenges.
The Housemates lives will be captured using remote head cameras which will enable a true “fly on the wall” experience which will be less intrusive and thus allow housemates to be more natural. This will enable the audience to see the real side of the housemates rather than an edited version that they create for themselves. The freshly built “stock room” will allow Housemates to share their thoughts and feelings in private direct to camera.
Journalists from all media platforms will have the opportunity to have real-time interviews with housemates throughout their time on “Locked In”. To ensure the social bubble created by the housemates is not broken, interviews will take place through video meeting platforms.
Cowshed Social, the production team behind Locked In have taken every precaution to ensure the web series complies with current government COVID-19 guidelines and have done so through working with a current government advisor.
Cast and Crew will have COVID-19 tests prior to entering the house and will be placed in an isolation period to ensure the bubble is not broken. Upon entering the “Locked In” house, cast will have no contact with the outside world for 14 days.
Additionally, the crew will be working and living in their own COVID safe social bubble to ensure no one on the production side is at risk of contracting the virus.
