HOUSTON - 20th Century Fox used fake news to publicize a film and as a result, discredited a Houston newspaper with a similar name.
The Leader, circulates 35,000 copies once per week to people in The Heights, Garden Oaks, Oak Forest and North Houston.
20th Century Fox created several fake news websites as part of a marketing campaign for “A Cure For Wellness” under the URL, HoustonLeader.com.
Before the Super Bowl, owner and editor of The Leader, Jonathan McElvy, started getting calls about his paper publishing untrue stories.
“The first call came in, I remember it because it was the lady I spend the longest on the phone with,” said McElvy. “It was like a 45-minute conversation.”
Houstonleader.com published articles about vegans becoming mentally ill, Lady Gaga planning a halftime tribute to Muslims and Donald Trump placing a 90-day ban on a childhood vaccine.
McElvy fielded more phone calls and email about the fake news stories.
“I said to her, I know Google says that we’re the Houston Leader because we are ‘The Leader’ in Houston but that’s not us,” said McElvy.
The fake news articles all directed readers to use the hashtag #cureforwellness on social media to create ‘fake’ buzz about the movie.
In a release sent to ‘The New York Times,’ 20th Century Fox apologized for the digital campaign calling it ‘inappropriate on every level.’