Viral Marketing The Dark Knight
Warner Bros. has already proven that they know how to go about viral marketing. Well, today, they truly outdid themselves with a synchronized scavenger hunt that fed clues to fanboys (and fangirls) at Comic Con in San Diego that were then relayed to people on the interweb who used said clues to gain deep access to the newest viral site for “The Dark Knight.”
It started with a timer and a set of coordinates that pointed to Comic Con at 10:00 PST this morning. From there came a phone number to call, which had as ominous recording that led to the first of nine passphrases. For every piece of the puzzle deciphered, another would pop up. The end result was merely the official teaser trailer, which was already leaked last night, via a crappy bootleg.
The teaser trailer is just that - a teaser. There are no images from the film, just voice-overs of Christian Bale, Michael Caine, and a very creepy-sounding Heath Ledger (though some have speculated that it could be Aaron Eckhart.) It works though. It teases you worst than a virgin on prom night. The official hi-res version of the trailer loads ridiculously slow but thankfully a friendlier version has popped up on YouTube.
Though the search is now over, here are the original steps for those that missed out on the greatest modern marketing campaign since the Iraq war.
1. Call this number: 800-395-9646 (trust me, it’s worth it)
2. Go here: whysoserious
3. first passphrase: ‘Inside Joke’
4. second passphrase: ‘Jack the Ripper’
5. third passphrase: ‘mountebank’
6. fourth passphrase: ‘head games’
7. fifth passphrase: ‘Gaslamp Dan Haslam’
8. sixth passphrase: ‘larceny’
9. seventh passphrase: ‘baseball bat’
10. eighth passphrase: ‘2971759′ (thanx to Blazer Manpurse)
Images from the Comic Con fandom frenzy:
surveillance
wannabees
Promotional Images
(click the first image for a slideshow)
IMDB | “The Dark Knight”
I believe in Harvey Dent
I believe in Harvey Dent too
USA Today | First look: Enter the Joker — in the IMAX format
Variety | Heath Ledger to Play The Joker
July 27th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
The last password is 2971759
July 27th, 2007 at 4:34 pm
WHAT DO I DO WITH THESE PASSPHRASES?
July 27th, 2007 at 6:05 pm
@ Blazer Manpurse, BFA
Thanks. The kids on AICN didn’t want to cough up the last password for some reason. I really hate that site sometimes. Awesome handle by the way.
@ DYL
I’m not sure if the passphrases are of any use anymore. There were clues and riddles that required people on the ground at Comic Con to relay the passphrases back to those of us online. I’m not sure if they’ll even work anymore. You can try for yourself at whysoserious.com
July 28th, 2007 at 4:02 am
Try this:
TDK viral marketing game was an amazing time killer
August 2nd, 2007 at 8:56 am
When I go on the page the only thing i got is the rent-a-clown business…Am I doing something wrong?
August 5th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
Whysoserious.com is no longer a functioning website since the completion of the “scavenger hunt” at Comic-con. The rent-a-clown site now takes its place displaying pictures of many who participated in the scavenger hunt in San Diego.