MarketingInsideOut.com

Sony Pictures is selling a high-pitched ringtone that only the young can hear as a way to promote The Messengers — the film about a teen who hears voices that her parents can’t.

The ultrasonic technology, originally developed in Europe by a security company (and dubbed the ‘Mosquito’ because the sound resembles that of a buzzing insect) to chase loitering teens away from malls, has been promoted the last several months as an adult-proof ringtone inaudible to people over 25.

Used mainly by teens in places where cellphone use is forbidden (like in class), the high pitched tone capitalizes on the phenomenon that adults lose some of their high-frequency hearing as they enter early middle age.

When I played the ringtone it drove my kids and dog nuts, but all I heard was a slight buzz and had a weird pressure sensation in my ears. I certainly can’t hear the obviously annoying tone, but…early middle age??? Screw that, I prefer to chalk it up to too many concerts and loud music over the years.

How’s your high frequency hearing? Listen for yourself.

YouTube is planning an online countdown to 2007 through a partnership with Warner Music Group that will include highlighting new videos every hour on Dec. 31 from artists across the globe. Chevrolet is the official sponsor of the New Year’s Eve Countdown.

From AdWeek:

During the countdown, video footage from a variety of New Year’s Eve concerts featuring Warner Artists will be posted on the site’s home page, in some cases within minutes of the completion of select live performances that will be recorded on mobile phones. Featured artists will include The Flaming Lips and the Goo Goo Dolls performing in Los Angeles and My Chemical Romance from New York’s Times Square, among others.

YouTube also plans to post special New Year’s-related video messages from several of the site’s well-known contributors on its home page.

The site will also launch an official New Year’s Eve channel that will house various comedy skits and musical performances.