The classic Dr. Seuss story, The Lorax, is being released by NBC Universal as a major motion picture today, taking aim at the young March break crowd. And, where there is a major kid flick, there’s usually an iOS companion app. The Official Lorax App is out and completely free, but unless you have a thing for mustaches, it really doesn’t do very much. It may help distract children while waiting for the lights to dim, but not much more.
The app has two modes: The Lorax Stache and Stache Yourself. In the former, you hold your iPhone in landscape orientation over your mouth and speak. A close up of The Lorax’s mouth with his bushy moustache doesn’t repeat what you say, but the mouth moves in sync to your words.
Stache Yourself is a bit more fun, allowing kids to grab a picture from the camera roll or snap one on the fly and add the same moustache to it. You can scale and rotate, and make friends look silly, but be careful with the sharing options. Posting to Facebook and Twitter promotes the app not the image. You do get two free postcards you can send using a promo code, but after that each card sent will cost you.
Free movie/app tie-ins like Doodle Jump HOP The Movie from last spring, and Tap Tap Muppets for the Muppet Movie this past Christmas, proved that promotional apps can do more than merely market a movie. Sadly, The Official Lorax App is so trivial even an older toddler will tire of it quickly.
