Black humour film promotes region

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See creatives' juices being extracted

Advertising agencies are being lured to the South West with a black humour video that has become an internet hit.

The film, produced with £10,000 from the South West Regional Development Agency, shows people being dumped on a trailer and squashed by a cider press.

A farmer then shows how the creative juices are bottled for consumption.

The video, which aims to attract creative industries to the region, has been watched more than 135,000 times by viewers on Youtube.

It's got people talking about the region from around the world Chris Garcia, RDA

The video, called Creatives grow better in the South West, was launched on Youtube by the Regional Development Agency (RDA) last year and has spread by word of mouth, e-mail and blogs.

The aim of the four-minute "viral" video is to promote the region as a place for creative types - from advertising agencies to sculptors - to set up shop.

The video shows creatives being grown, harvested and pressed for their juices on a farm in the idyllic-looking South West countryside.

Media workers are dug out of fields, squeezed in the presses, bottled and shipped off to agencies on the back of a truck.

Chris Garcia, head of creative industries at the RDA, told BBC News: "We wanted to spark conversations online that would show the South West as a thriving hub of creative work.

"It's not something you would expect from a government agency but it is often something like this which works best."

He said that compared with traditional advertising, the viral video had been good value for money.

"It gets passed on without us having to pay for it.

"And it's got people talking about the region from around the world.

"That's much more effective than the South West RDA putting out a press release saying how great we are."