The Mark Of The Beast, Murdoch-Style

Cashing in on 6-6-06

By Susan Carpenter, Times Staff Writer
LA Times April 24, 2006

Anyone living and driving in L.A. the past few weeks has seen them. Looming over the city, black and ominous, the billboards and posters announce "You Have Been Warned" and "The Signs Are All Around You." Each is anchored with the date "6/6/06."
Drop the "0," and you get 666. That's "the number of the beast," according to the New Testament's Book of Revelation, just one of many interpretations though all of them are dark and frightening. For some Armageddon believers, it represents the date upon which the Antichrist will spread universal evil over the Earth.


For marketers, 666 has also become an ideal date — to launch movies, records, books and other products or events, particularly those with religious undertones. In the case of 20th Century Fox, which is responsible for the omnipresent apocalyptic ad campaign, it's a once-in-a-century opportunity to unleash the remake of "The Omen,"