Cloverfield, the new film opening 1-18-08 from producer JJ Abrams, took a page from Lost's online games, to create the background and set-up for the giant-monster-attacks-New-York-City movie.  Warner Bros., in promoting the Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight, took a different approach to the online viral marketing campaign, and ultimately sent fans across the globe on adventures that would give them reveals of the Joker, hints about previews and more.  Read details about the majority of the campaign here.

It all started last May 2007 with a comic shop in L.A. finding a bunch of playing cards displaying the joker (not THE Joker).  Online, a site went live called ibelieveinharveydent.com, with an image of Aaron Eckhart as D.A. Harvey Dent (who, in the comics, becomes the villainous Two-Face).  Another site went live, ibelieveinharveydenttoo.com, which looked like a hijacked page.  They took the image of Dent and drew black circles around the yes and a big red smile.  A game was played all across the globe that involved putting in your email, and a small pixel would drop away to reveal the terrifying image of Heath Ledger as the Joker. 

The image was promptly taken down, replaced with red text on a black screen saying that the page wasn't found.  If you hit select-all, a bunch of written HA HA HAs are seen.  Other letters were dispersed throughout, which, put together, said "See you in December."

For the San Diego Comic-Con, The Dark Knight didn't make a big appearance; they were saving that for a week or two later in Chicago at the Wizard Con, where they were shooting the film.  However, fans were treated to a game that involved them calling friends and family at home (or using their iPhones) to get clues on the web for a "treasure hunt."  They ended up getting their faces painted like the Joker and their pictures put online at whysoserious.com.

By October, a pumpkin could be seen on whysoserious.com, the mouth cut into the shape of Batman's bat emblem.  While the candle burned down to nothing, half the pumpkin rotted, hinting at Two-Face being in the movie (and a tip of the hat to the great The Long Halloween Batman comic series, though I doubt the movie is based on it).  No appearance from Two-Face (good, we need a surprise), but another hunt for fans in specific cities.  Find specific landmarks and take photos of the writing on the landmarks.  Soon, a message was written, ransom-note style, that read, "The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules."  If you click on the photo below, which is still online, fans were treated to the Joker's scary voice plus another website, rorysdeathkiss.com (the movie was titled Rory's First Kiss to elude the media and fans while filming), where they were asked to find a major landmark, and take photos with Joker make-up on.

After a few weeks, the game was closed, and fans were mailed fake Gotham City newspapers, with a cover story about Batman saving a family, and more.  Other games were posted which hinted at something big in December.  Soon, key fans and movie news websites, like batman-on-film.com, were receiving actual birthday cakes from local bakeries.  Inside was found an evidence bag which contained all sorts of interesting items, along with a special invitation to a screening.  If you saw the hit film I Am Legend in IMAX, you know that the special screening was the first 6 minutes of The Dark Knight, which director Christopher Nolan has called "the rise of the Joker."

It's all a lot of fun, and though I didn't really participate, I certainly enjoyed what they did and continue to do.  They premiered the latest trailer exclusively in front of I Am Legend which, along with the IMAX preview, helped put the Will Smith-starrer into the largest December box office opening ever!  The trailer (but not the 6 minute preview) premiered online at yet another "viral site," atasteforthetheatrical.com.  (Heck, it worked for Beowulf and the Cloverfield trailer; both Cloverfield and The Dark Knight waited until Sunday night to premiere their respective trailers online.)

So what's next?  One can only guess, but in some ways, it'll probably be a little quiet.  I doubt they'll reveal Two-Face's look until the movie opens.  Plus, I feel like all the viral marketing mostly led up to the December trailer and 6 minute preview premiere.  Suffice to say, viral marketing campaigns are here to stay, and a great way to get fans and the media talking about a film coming out.  It's great to see the studios embracing the web, whereas a decade ago, they attacked it.

Posted at 09:41AM Dec 17, 2007 by Heath McKnight in Entertain  |  Comments[0]