'The Handmaid's Tale' is making SXSW 100 percent more unsettling

Cosplayers from the television series "The Handmaid's Tale" are seen during 2017 SXSW Conference and Festivals on March 10, 2017, in Austin, Texas.

Credit: Hutton Supancic / Getty Images for SXSW

Credit: Hutton Supancic / Getty Images for SXSW

Cosplayers from the television series "The Handmaid's Tale" are seen during 2017 SXSW Conference and Festivals on March 10, 2017, in Austin, Texas.

One way to promote a TV show at South by Southwest: opening a pop-up chicken restaurant. Another way: terrifying people to death. Hulu's "The Handmaid's Tale" went for option No. 2 this weekend in Austin, Texas.

As Statesman Shots co-hosts Omar Gallaga and Tolly Moseley explained in an episode of the podcast Saturday, they came across stoically marching ladies in red on their way to the Los Pollos Hermanos installation promoting AMC's "Better Call Saul." They were not the only people startled by the guerilla marketing for the dystopian drama.

>> For complete SXSW coverage, head to Statesman.comMyStatesman.com512tech.com and Austin360.com