So here's a little of what I know. This guy Rob was gonna leave New York to go work for Tagruato, the big Japanese conglomerate that's involved in a whole bunch of things, like undersea drilling, medical research, and Slusho, that new drink that everybody's talking about.

So there was a going-away party for Rob and one of the guys at the party was shooting a video of everything when the shaking started. Really intense shaking! Was it an earthquake? In Manhattan? No! But a bunch of people from the party ran up to the roof and looked up at the NYC skyline, and all kinds of crazy stuff was going on, including loud noises and crashing sounds.

So everyone ran down to the street, and hundreds and thousands of other people gathered and looked up and screamed, and suddenly a giant object came hurtling toward them! It was really intense, and everyone scattered to get out of the way but when it crashed into the street, it really freaked everyone out because it was the head of the Statue of Liberty! It looked like it was all scratched up and everything, before it was torn off and thrown into the middle of Manhattan.

By what?

Well, we finally got a look at it and it was a giant monster on a rampage! It was huge, and started knocking over buildings and bridges and everything else, and the police and army and everybody was scared you-know-what-less.

And then it got worse! Things started dropping off the giant monster and morphing into OTHER monsters that were smaller and scarier. Or maybe the people that drank Slusho were having the monsters pop out of them like in the "Alien" movies. It's not exactly clear where they came from, but those smaller monsters start eating people. Eating them alive! And they were hungry! And they multiplied like crazy! It was horrible... and.. and ... and..

That's the gist of what's out there right now for Cloverfield, a movie produced by "Lost" and "Felicity" brainiac J.J. Abrams, set for release in two weeks. For the last few months, it's been subject to a viral marketing campaign like no other, with multiple websites, leaked audio and video, mySpace and Facebook profiles (hey, how about MOLI?), leaked and possibly fictitious plot summaries with spoilers, character websites, fan-generated sites, YouTube postings, and everything else you can imagine.

The movie itself is said to have had a minuscule budget, more like an indy film than a SFX-filled mega-blockbuster. And plot-wise, it might even be a ripoff of The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms.

Viral marketing is VERY tough to do and must have an air of authenticity to it, even if — like Cloverfield — it's total BS; a work of fiction. And it won't work for every product and with every audience. But Abrams has shown that he's adept at tapping into the geek gestalt, so Cloverfield represents a perfect convergence of product, market and marketing.

The power of effective viral marketing means that when it's done properly, the virus infects people who may not ordinarily even care very much about that sort of thing. (Monster movies? Like I give a crap!) Then, they spread the idea all over the place, which is why as a method of marketing, it's so effective.

Does it work? You tell me. After all, you read this far, didn't you?