• Hotel Searches For Fictional "Black Panther" Country Wakanda Rises 620%

    From Ubiquitous@21:1/5 to All on Thu Mar 15 05:12:03 2018
    XPost: alt.stupidity, rec.arts.movies.current-films

    Have people grown so disenchanted with the real world that the instant
    they hear of a fictional, fantastical place, they Google to book a
    hotel there? This "if only it were real" infatuation first occurred
    with James Cameron's "Avatar" and now it's happening with "Black
    Panther."

    According to the Daily Mail, two hotel booking sites report that
    searches for Wakanda — the Marvel character's fictional African country
    — has gone up 620%.

    "Hotelscan.com reported that the number of people landing on its
    Wisconsin Wakanda Water Park page is up by 620% and Hotels.com reported
    that searches for neighboring Wakanda Park are up by 55% year on year,"
    reports TDM.

    A spokesperson for Hotelscan.com said that their site has become a
    gateway for people to learn that Wakanda does not exist.

    "The fact we've seen such an increase in the number of site visits to
    the Wakanda Water Park destination page on our website since the launch
    of Black Panther suggests that, until people visit our website
    searching for trips, they're not aware it's a fictional destination,"
    said the spokesperson.

    "Either that, or people are more interested than ever in attending the
    Water Park, but we think that the movie has something to do with it!"
    he added.

    Over at Hotels.com, the site has seen a surge in Wakanda searches
    globally, including a 25% surge in ones for Wauconda, Illinois. Another Illinois city, Makanda, has seen a 40% search surge in the past year.

    Believe it or not, none of this is exactly new. Following the release
    of "Avatar" in 2009, audiences began reporting of what the media deemed
    a "post-Avatar blues," as people became depressed over not being able
    to travel to the fictional planet Pandora.

    "Ever since I went to see 'Avatar' I have been depressed. Watching the wonderful world of Pandora and all the Na'vi made me want to be one of
    them," said a man who contemplated suicide after seeing the film. "I
    can't stop thinking about all the things that happened in the film and
    all of the tears and shivers I got from it. I even contemplate suicide
    thinking that if I do it I will be rebirthed in a world similar to
    Pandora and the everything is the same as in 'Avatar.'"

    --
    Dems & the media want Trump to be more like Obama, but then he'd
    have to audit liberals & wire tap reporters' phones.

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  • From Quadibloc@21:1/5 to Ubiquitous on Sun Jul 8 14:19:36 2018
    On Thursday, March 15, 2018 at 3:12:11 AM UTC-6, Ubiquitous wrote:
    Have people grown so disenchanted with the real world that the instant
    they hear of a fictional, fantastical place, they Google to book a
    hotel there? This "if only it were real" infatuation first occurred
    with James Cameron's "Avatar" and now it's happening with "Black
    Panther."

    According to the Daily Mail, two hotel booking sites report that
    searches for Wakanda — the Marvel character's fictional African country — has gone up 620%.

    A real-world holiday destination had taken to calling itself "Paradise Island".
    I wonder if the recent Wonder Woman movies have done them any good.

    John Savard

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