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The troubled online universe isn't dead yet, claims the gullible Hollywood Reporter. The Tinseltown trade, spun like a top by Second Life creator Linden Lab's denial campaign, reports on a marketing "success" story. Brand agency This Second Marketing employed virtual street teams in Second Life to promote the 3D Imax version of the latest Harry Potter movie. After 840 hours of handing out digital tchotchkes and evangelizing the flick, the team managed to reach 15,099 avatars. This only sounds impressive to Hollywood scribblers who can't do simple math.

If you crunch the numbers, you'll figure out that This Second Marketing's two dozen "brand representatives" managed to talk to a mere 18 people an hour. Worse yet, Imax actually paid the street team a real-world wage for its work. Honestly, you should be able to do better hawking Harry Potter. Even in as barren a terrain as Second Life.