Zombies will appear in 26 cities around the world on Tuesday in a global publicity stunt organized by AMC and Fox International Channels promoting the premiere of The Walking Dead TV series on October 31st (see “Walking Dead on Halloween”).  The zombie invasions will occur during peak morning commute hours in each city beginning in Taipei and Hong Kong and moving around the world, culminating at the show’s Los Angeles premiere. 

U.S. cities involved in the stunt include New York, Washington, DC, Boston, Chicago, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

Zombies will appear at major landmarks in the targeted cities, including the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, Big Ben in London, the Prado Museum in Madrid, the Bosphorus Bridge in Istanbul, the Acropolis in Athens, and so on. 

The global publicity campaign makes sense because The Walking Dead is premiering worldwide the same week in 120 countries, 33 languages, and an expected 250 million households. 

The first season is only six episodes; a second season has already been greenlit (see “The Walking Dead Gets a Second Season”).

The graphic novels on which the show is based have been selling well in the run-up (see “Top 10 Q3 Genre Properties”).