The Dark Knight A LiTTLE HELP WiTH THE GAMES PLEASE?

[MissHush]

hey guys, i'm writing a psychology/advertising paper on this campaign, but I only began following it in early November. I've read the wikibruce site, but i'm a little sticky on the joker games and the ComicCon thing. can someone PLEASE fill me in? just a description of the games, what they entailed, how the outcomes affected the viral marketing, who and what it included, anything you think would fit well or tie into psychological aspects of advertising. THANKS A BUNCH!!! XOXO. :heart:

 

[mehrunis]

well at comicon there were dollar bills that whysoserious on it and that started this whole thing once there it was a treasure hunt with face paint and what not..
as for the games theres...alot check on superherohype.com and look for the old news (viral updates) i think those are only for in november and up but if your more specific i can help (plus im restricted at school right now)

 

[MissHush]

what did the RorysDeathKiss game entail?

 

[vlkers54]

what did the RorysDeathKiss game entail?

A run down of everything can be found here: http://batman.wikibruce.com/Home

 

[William_C]

RDK game - was the picture game. People would paint their faces, Joker-esque style, and take themselves, or friends up to a unlimited amount to a famous and/or historical place in their town and take a few snapshots of themselves and post them on the RDK site for everyone to see. If they were in the top 5 [or however much it was] in their numbered section [How many people they had in the pic] - then they would win a prize once the contest was over, the prizes were cards, clown makeup, and goon masks I believe.

 

[baTT]

hey guys, i'm writing a psychology/advertising paper on this campaign, but I only began following it in early November. I've read the wikibruce site, but i'm a little sticky on the joker games and the ComicCon thing. can someone PLEASE fill me in? just a description of the games, what they entailed, how the outcomes affected the viral marketing, who and what it included, anything you think would fit well or tie into psychological aspects of advertising. THANKS A BUNCH!!! XOXO. :heart:

How are you structuring this paper?

 

[FlyingMonkey]

Indeed, more info on what/how you intend to write this paper might lend us to provide you with more detailed info. I've been a part of this ARG since the SDCC game, so I've experienced pretty much everything up to this point.

Also, the wiki is a great source of info for getting up to date.

 

[MissHush]

Indeed, more info on what/how you intend to write this paper might lend us to provide you with more detailed info. I've been a part of this ARG since the SDCC game, so I've experienced pretty much everything up to this point.

Also, the wiki is a great source of info for getting up to date.

here, i'll post the paper, sans photos and boring intro on advertising.

While most viral marketing campaigns practice delayed gratification, Warner Brothers (the WB) took a unique twist on viral marketing for the movie, The Dark Knight (known throughout the campaign as TDK), in theaters next July. The marketing campaign for the upcoming sequel to the not-so-advertised Batman Begins, began with websites first appearing in the summer that have been actively updated since. The Joker, an arch nemesis of Batman, has been the one "running" this campaign which has become quite a chase for fans and spectators throughout the world (see below).

Beginning at the ComicCon comic book convention in San Diego, CA in early August, fans were given fake dollar bills with the words “Why So Serious” written on them. This was step one of this huge campaign. Adding the .com onto the phrase took fans to the first website which featured a hunt for “clowns” willing to fit The Joker’s preferences at the ComicCon convention. The note (seen below) gave the coordinates of a location in San Diego. After this initial hunt, the first website updated with a teaser trailer (the “give away”) and a link to RentAClown.com, the Joker’s entertainment company. Both this website and IBIHDT.com became “Page Not Available” sites, covered with hidden laughter and hidden messages, “Made you look” and “See you in December.”

With fans on the edge of their seats waiting for more, WhySoSerious released a photo of a pumpkin featuring the Joker’s smile with a candle. As the days got closer to Halloween, the pumpkin slowly rotted, and on Halloween, revealed another game. This game had coordinates for 49 locations throughout the country, and once all locations were found, a message saying, “The only sensible way to live in this world is without rules” and a link to the newest website, RorysDeathKiss.com. Here, fans were asked to take photos at city landmarks painted up like the Joker. Fans who submitted pictures on the site then received an issue of the Gotham Times, and were asked to wait until Thanksgiving for the next step in the interview process, which ended up being a quiz, asking questions such as “Do you have any mental illnesses? Check the most interesting,” and “What is the most important attribute in a henchman?” This resulted in a fortune teller-like game with your results (seen below) that continued the Joker’s mad-clown carnival idea (which plays out further later in the game).

For some in between fun, the Joker set up “mini games” where fans were asked to solve little puzzles to find more sites, such as “the Perfect Getaway”, where fans were asked to find “the quickest escape route” from various locations in Gotham City and once found, the routes spelled out “Out of Time”, leading to another WhySoSerious site containing the toe tag of Frederick Adler, a criminal Batman had stopped according to the Gotham Times.
In the most recent of the games, after a countdown to 12pm EST on December 4, fans were asked to pick up cakes at twenty-two bakeries throughout the United States and Canada. Each cake came with a number to call, and when called, the cake itself rang. After digging inside, fans found a note from the Joker with a cell phone to “keep charged and with them at all times.” After all cakes had been picked up and the phones called, another evidence file came up with two Joker cards, one containing the link to the newest movie poster (shown below), and the other containing a link to free tickets for six showings of I Am Legend, with a six minute intro to the Joker before the movie.

While you may think this advertising technique can only affect those who would already see the movie, it is surprising how many people it can influence to go out and see the movie. Most of the people following this campaign are superhero nuts striving for information, but what about the outsiders such as the baker who was asked to bake a clown cake filled with an evidence bag, the worker at the Alamo seeing people painted like the joker, the innocent by-standers seeing signs outside of bakery's saying, "Robin Banks has been picked up,” and every person involved with one of the superhero nuts, excited to tell them the latest findings? This psychological type of advertising reconnects the basic human need for social interaction and the emotional attributes of curiosity and humor. It is a classic example of word of mouth advertisements.
Viral marketing is like cigarettes. Once you start paying attention to it, it is a VERY hard habit to break. Advertisers want you to become addicted. The more people they have following their campaign, the more people they will tell and so on. Triggering our basic instincts can be beneficial to the success of a marketing campaign. As for The Dark Knight, we will find out on July 18, 2008 just how successful this unique and costly campaign really is.

anything i missed?

 

[Hush]

Looks good babe, I know it will be good in the end.

 

[baTT]

Sounds very good indeed! Possibly the best interpretation of fanboys on paper to date. Horny pimple faced virgins everywhere are suddenly confident that they will one day find that sweet sweet girl willing to put up with the constant refrences to sector 2814.

 

[MissHush]

Sounds very good indeed! Possibly the best interpretation of fanboys on paper to date. Horny pimple faced virgins everywhere are suddenly confident that they will one day find that sweet sweet girl willing to put up with the constant refrences to sector 2814.

i'll admit it. i'm a sucker for a superhero. i mean hey, i was the high school cheerleader choir girl with the nerdy, batman obsessed boyfriend. (i :heart: you hush!)

 

[Monster]

That's very good Miss Hush, keep up the good work!

- QGen

 

[baTT]

i'll admit it. i'm a sucker for a superhero. i mean hey, i was the high school cheerleader choir girl with the nerdy, batman obsessed boyfriend. (i :heart: you hush!)

You are gonna have to let us know what you end up getting on the paper, including what the teacher has to say about it.

 

[MissHush]

You are gonna have to let us know what you end up getting on the paper, including what the teacher has to say about it.

he's quite the *****ebag, so i wouldn't be surprized if i don't get it back with comments, plus he doesn't take points off for anything. but thanks for the help!