I stumbled upon 2 creative promotions while strolling down Hollywood Boulevard today. One was publicizing the return of Big Love to HBO, and the other was promoting the premiere of the new Fox drama Lie to Me. What I found remarkable is that both setups, separated by less than half a block, tinkered with the idea of uncovering lies and hidden truths. Here’s what I mean:

Big Love

Zoomed In

The Big Love display invited people walking by to plug their headphones into this huge wall that had multiple plug-in ports. Depending on which port you plugged into, you could listen to the inner thoughts of different characters featured on the wall.

Lie to Me

This one was my favorite! Lie to Me is about a guy who can read people’s truths by decoding their facial expressions. So each passerby was ushered into a photo booth where he or she was told to convey different emotions each time the camera clicked. Once you stepped out, you were given your photos and a t-shirt (score!). Plus you could choose to take a quiz that tested how well you could read people. Not to brag, but I tied for the high score of 70%!

My Photo Sheet

I guess that truth’ll be trendy this TV season!

• The ‘Glee’ Team Storms Hot Topic
• Skating With ‘Ice Age 3′
• ‘Lie to Me’: How To Decode A Phony Smile