Highlights
- Anne Hathaway referenced a viral Minecraft horror character in a promotional video for Verity, the psychological thriller based on Colleen Hoover’s novel.
- The clip echoed a line from ‘It’s Me, It’s Verity’, a fan-made song that became a viral internet meme.
- The unexpected crossover raises questions about whether the unusual campaign was a clever marketing move or an awkward fit for an adult thriller.
Anne Hathaway has taken an unexpected approach to promoting her latest psychological thriller, Verity, by embracing a viral Minecraft horror meme that has spread across social media.
In a promotional clip shared on the film’s official TikTok account, Hathaway looks directly into the camera and whispers, “Hey, it’s me. It’s Verity. Ask me anything.” The line echoes ‘It’s Me, It’s Verity’, a fan-made song inspired by a horror character from a Minecraft web series.
The reference is an unusual choice for a film based on Colleen Hoover’s bestselling psychological thriller. While Hathaway plays the troubled author Verity Crawford in the film, the internet-famous character is a sinister artificial intelligence assistant from an entirely separate story. The two have no narrative connection beyond sharing a name.
The crossover has nevertheless given the film an unexpected place in online conversations, demonstrating how an internet trend can find its way into a major Hollywood marketing campaign.
What is the Minecraft Verity meme?
The viral character originated in VERITY™, a horror web series created by YouTuber ThatMob. The story follows a Minecraft player who installs a modification featuring an AI assistant named Verity, depicted as a floating yellow smiley face.
Initially appearing helpful, the character gradually becomes obsessive and threatening, turning against the player when it feels abandoned.
The series gained a following among Minecraft fans, but the character became even more widely recognised after YouTuber Horror Skunx released the fan-made song ‘It’s Me, It’s Verity’ in July 2026. The track became a viral meme, inspiring edits, remixes and jokes across social media.
The song’s memorable opening phrase and the character’s distinctive yellow smiley face became recognisable elements of the trend. The popularity of the meme eventually caught the attention of the marketing team behind Hathaway’s film.
By using the familiar phrase in the promotional clip, the campaign tapped into an existing internet joke rather than creating an entirely new one.
What is Anne Hathaway’s Verity about?
The film adapts Hoover’s 2018 novel, a psychological thriller centred on Lowen Ashleigh, a struggling writer hired to complete a successful book series after its original author, Verity Crawford, is left unable to work following an accident.
Lowen moves into the Crawford family home, where she encounters Verity’s husband, Jeremy, and their young son, Crew. While searching through Verity’s papers, she discovers an unpublished manuscript containing disturbing revelations about the author’s family and the deaths of her daughters.
As Lowen becomes increasingly involved with Jeremy, she begins to question whether Verity is as incapacitated as she appears.
Hathaway stars as Verity Crawford, alongside Dakota Johnson and Josh Hartnett. The film’s dark subject matter contrasts sharply with the playful internet reference used in its promotional campaign.
Hoover’s novels have attracted a substantial following through BookTok, the online reading community that helped popularise her work. However, her writing has also prompted debate over its treatment of difficult themes and its positioning within the romance genre. Verity takes a different route, leaning into psychological suspense, family secrets and uncertainty.
Clever marketing or an awkward crossover?
The campaign is an example of meme marketing, in which brands and entertainment companies use established internet jokes to connect with online audiences.
Rather than introducing a new slogan or trend, the Verity clip draws on a meme that already has an audience. Hathaway’s participation creates an unexpected crossover between a Hollywood thriller and a character popularised through gaming videos and fan-made music.
However, the choice raises questions about the audience the film is trying to reach. The Minecraft series and its accompanying song have attracted younger internet users, while Verity is an adult psychological thriller dealing with disturbing family secrets and traumatic events.
For viewers unfamiliar with the meme, the reference may seem confusing. Those who recognise it, however, have an additional reason to share the clip, make reaction videos and discuss the film.
The strategy also reflects how online trends can travel beyond their original communities. A character created for a gaming horror series can become a social media in-joke before being picked up by a major film campaign.
Whether the crossover directly translates into cinema ticket sales is harder to establish. Online engagement does not automatically mean audiences will buy tickets, and the effect of this particular promotional choice cannot be measured from the clip alone.
Still, Hathaway’s willingness to embrace the joke has given Verity a marketing moment beyond its conventional trailers and posters. For a film built around secrets and unsettling revelations, one of its most unexpected promotional twists has come from an entirely unrelated horror character inside Minecraft.
