Comic Con Viral Goodness Returns! (updated 7/24)

Originally published 07/23/09 at geekinthecity.com

Now that the 2009 San Diego Comic Con is in full swing, the inevitable presence of glorious viral marketing is leaking out from all corners of the Con floor. We’ll do our best to keep tabs on which ARG’s (that’s Alternate Reality Games) are worth your time, so keep checking back to Geek in the City for updates!

Tron 2

Update 7/24 (really freaking early)

It looks like the hints at a return of Flynn’s Arcade were true, as Comic Con attendees learned earlier this evening. Starting at 9:30 PM at a gathering point across the street from the Convention Center, hundreds of Tron fans began an elaborate scavenger hunt through the streets of downtown San Diego. Their final destination?

Well…

This reproduction of Flynn’s Arcade apparently included an impressive spread of retro gaming cabinets, including Donkey Kong, Mario Brothers… and Space Paranoids! Playing the Space Paranoids game unlocked a series of codes, allowing fans at home to enter them into a recently-discovered hidden section of the ‘Flynn Lives’ website. Once all five codes have been unlocked, the ARG will likely continue. If you’re reading this and are in San Diego for Comic Con, we’ve learned that Flynn’s Arcade will be open to the public every night of the Con from 9pm - 1am!

Not that playing Space Paranoids and helping to unlock more secrets isn’t enough of a reason to check out the Arcade, how about this? A full-scale replica of the new light cycles from Tron: Legacy!

More to come, we’re sure…

Original post 7/23

Last year, Disney shocked SDCC a

ttendees by premiering an unannounced teaser trailer for Tron 2. Since then, little has leaked on this heavily-anticipated sequel. Of course, studios attending Comic Con favor properties that are entrenched in hardcore fandom, which fits the Tron legacy perfectly. A week ago, writers for a number of websites received an unmarked envelope containing two things… a USB flash drive and a single token for “Flynns Arcade”. Further inspection of the USB drive revealed two new websites (click each image)…

The countdown clock at FlynnLives.com will expire at 9:30 Pacific tonight and shows a meetup location of “the cul de sac at 1st & J Streets”. This of course is directly across the street from the San Diego Convention Center. Could we be in store for another Joker-esque scavenger hunt? Whatever is planned, chances are it will stretch far beyond SDCC, as Tron 2 isn’t schedule to hit theaters until 2011.

2012

The Roland Emmerich-directed disaster flick is capitalizing on the popularity of our impending apocalypse by launching a few nifty websites in San Diego. ThisIsTheEnd.com chronicles the travels of Charlie Frost, a man determined to warn the rest of humanity that the Mayans were right. Also, the Institute for Human Continuity offers help in preparing us mortals for a post-2012 world.

District 9

This Peter Jackson-produced alien flick created quite a buzz at last year’s SDCC with its “Humans Only” signs plastered everywhere on the Con floor, from restrooms to hallways. Since then, a few websites have been launched allowing fans to follow along with the fiilm’s story. You can skim through the secret blog of an alien visitor, read the official site for the government body in charge of alien containment or catch a birds-eye-view of the District 9 itself. This year, District 9 takes center stage a massive truck (for containment?) and rumors of a special screening of the film tonight.

Do YOU believe in Harvey Dent?

Article originally published 03/04/2008 at popculturezoo.com

Well, its that time folks. The site (ibelieveinharveydent.com) has been updated with all manner of opportunities to allow you to immerse yourself in Harvey’s bid for Gotham District Attorney. Click on the ‘What To Do’ button for a few examples, but be prepared to spread the Word of Harvey to your hometown. There are banners and posters to download at the moment with promises of more to come. There’s even a Dentmobile that will be making its way around the country! It looks like Portland, OR will be one of its stops, so you can bet yer bottom double-sided dollar coin that PCZ will be there when it arrives!

~original post~

When Heath Ledger tragically passed away in January, fans were skeptic as to whether Warner Brothers and 42 Entertainment would continue their Joker-centric viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight. The ARG (Alternate Reality Game) had Bat-Fans scurrying around both the interwebs and their home towns searching for clues and solving puzzles left by Mr J. In light of Ledger’s passing, it only made sense that the marketing would shift its focus to another character. Or, maybe that was just ‘all part of the plan’?

Enter the site ibelieveinharveydent.com. This site isn’t unknown to players of the Dark Knight ARG. Originally launched last summer, this page was the catalyst to the eventual first look of Ledger as the Joker. Since then, it has remained as a largely dormant campaign advertisement for Harvey Dent’s bid for Gotham District Attorney. Of course, that all changed last Friday when the site received an update.

The site now claims that ‘We have the power to change Gotham City. Soon you’ll find out how’. It has been updated with fields allowing you to submit your email address and phone number (which is optional). Once submitted, you receive an email asking to confirm your address and saying that something will happen ‘in a few days’.

So, what are you waiting for? Join the fight to take back Gotham City!

www.ibelieveinharveydent.com

The Joker Returns to The Dark Knight ARG

Article originally published 05/30/2008 at popculturezoo.com

2ND UPDATE - 4/1

Well, the game is over. 28 ‘packages’ were found across the globe that included an engraved bowling ball, Joker playing card and a pre-paid cell phone. There was one in Portland, OR (home of PCZ HQ) but SoniaTheRed, our intrepid Publicity Dominatrix was thwarted from claiming it by what appears to be an inside job.

Once all 28 balls were recovered, fans were pointed to a new website (www.acmesecuritysystems.com/delos) where they were prompted for a name, phone number and email address. When entered, the given phone number would ring and would eventually reveal that the entire day’s events were an elaborate sting operation, courtesy of Jim Gordan and the Gotham PD!

What’s next for The Dark Knight ARG? Stay tuned to PCZ for all the breaking news as it happens!

UPDATE -4/1

A new game is afoot! At precisely 6:00 AM PST, clowntravelagency.com was updated with a list of 28 cities. Instructions on the site state that a package is being held at each of the locations, with actual addresses being posted every hour so far. According to reports, the package includes a leather bag, bowling ball and an evidence bag containing a new Joker cell phone. Once the cell phone is activated, the city’s listing on the site receives a passport stamp.

We will update this story with pics of the package once they are received.

What are you waiting for? Head on over to clowntravelagency.com!!!

UPDATE - 3/30

What’s in the case?

After a flurry of activity today, fans tracking The Dark Knight viral marketing campaign were rewarded with the promise of a new element of the game… to launch on April Fools Day!

Early this morning, 17 of the Joker cake cell phones (included the one currently residing at PCZ HQ) began ringing. The voice on the other end of the line told the ‘clowns’ that they had been narrowed down to 17 (from the original 22 phones that were scattered throughout the US) and that we were assigned a letter to ’share with the rest of the clowns’.

As fans scurried to determine what the letters meant, reports were filed by the rest of the Joker phone holders. Each phone-holder received a letter and when all 17 letters were finally placed in the correct order, a new website was unveiled:

www.clowntravelagency.com

In addition to the Joker’s return, Harvey Dent contacted supporters via phone and his website to address the ’slanderous charges’ that have been made against Dent by a new group. This led to a host of new in-game websites that feature additional phone numbers to call and email addresses to contact.

Josephcandoloro.com - Joseph Candolro is a lawyer and founder of ‘Concerned Citizens for a Better Gotham’

Trustgarcetti.com - Roger Garcetti is running against Harvey Dent for Gotham City District Attourney

So, now the waiting continues. The envelope on the Clown Travel Agency clearly states a ‘departure date’ of 4/1. What will April Fools Day bring? A new challenge that will send fans scurrying across the country for more clues? Stay tuned to Pop Culture Zoo as we provide extensive coverage of this next chapter in The Dark Knight viral campaign!

For a complete rundown of new and updated in-game websites, check The Dark Knight ARG Wiki.

Original Story - 3/27

After what seems like an eon of waiting, today Batman fans were treated to a flood of new content for The Dark Knight ARG (Alternate Reality Game). The game, a viral marketing campaign for the upcoming Batman film, had appeared to be on a quasi-hiatus after the tragic passing of Heath Ledger, who portrays the the Joker in the film.

The game had originally appeared to be Joker-centric, involving a number of tasks (both online and real-world) that sent fans scurrying about and ‘auditioning’ to be in the villain’s gang. The culmination of this was an epic challenge early last December that involved the recovery of 22 specially baked cakes scattered across the country. The lucky few who were able to retrieve one of these cakes received a cell phone (hidden inside the cake) for their troubles. After the phone was activated, the ‘clown’ was told to await further instructions.

Fast forward three months…

Now, after a cross-country tour involving faux campaign rallys for Harvey Dent’s impending bid as Gotham City’s District Attourney, the Joker appears to have returned. This morning, all 22 Joker phones received the following text message…

“Hey clown! Long time, no crime spree! Well, put on your floppy shoes and answer this question: are you ready to get to work? (ReplyY/N)”

After sending a reply of YES and waiting a few minutes, another message followed…

“Glad to see you’re still alive and kicking. I’ll be in touch before Poisson d’Avril.”

So, April Fools Day certainly seems appropriate timing. Pop Culture Zoo is lucky enough to have in our posesion one of the 22 Joker cell phones, so we will be updating the site will all developments as Mr. J’s plans unfold next week!

Other developments discovered by fans today:

• A new edition of The Gotham Times has been received in the mail by a number of fans. The newspaper’s website has also been updated with the new issue.
• A number of Gotham-related viral websites have been uncovered, including Danaworthington.com, Maidenavenuereport.com and Citizensforbatman.org.
• A number of existing confirmed in-game viral websites have been updated with new content, including gpdiad.com and gothamusd.net.

If that isn’t enough, Harvey Dent was also in touch with fans via email, announcing that he had made his decision to run for Gotham City District Attourney…

(from email)
We did it! Harvey Dent has officially announced he’s running for Gotham District Attorney! And it’s all because of you — your support.

Your rallies, your petition drives, your videos, your enthusiasm. The Dentmobile brought our message of change for Gotham City to every neighborhood. But it was your energy that brought a message of support to Harvey Dent himself.

And he heard you. Harvey Dent heard the fierce desire all of you have for change in Gotham. And that’s why, today, Harvey Dent announced that he’s running for Gotham DA.

Now, the real battle begins. We all must join together to make sure that Harvey Dent gets the chance to take back Gotham City from crime and corruption.

Talk to your neighbors, your friends, your coworkers. Tell them why Harvey Dent is the one man who can save Gotham.

And keep on checking www.ibelieveinharveydent.com for news of the race.

Harvey Dent thanks you all. With your help, we can take back Gotham.

Sincerely

Allan Cypes
Media Manager, Harvey Dent for Gotham DA

Want to learn more about how to get involved with The Dark Knight ARG? Check out this wiki, which has an extremely well-organized rundown of all developments within the game.

The Dark Knight ARG - Free Pizza Summons Two-Face

Article originally published 06/9/2008 at popculturezoo.com

Third Update 6/16/08

What a day it has been for fans following the Dark Knight ARG. The viral marketing campaign took an interesting turn this morning when it was revealed that free pizzas would be distributed throughout the country, courtesy of Dominoes. Only available through the Gotham City Pizzeria website, strategic Dominoes locations were given a mystery prize pack that was to accompany the first pizza ordered online from from their store?

This prize pack (one of which we were able to get our hands on) contained a Citizens For Batman rubber bat-cowl and a note containing a clue to be shared with ‘other concerned Gotham citizens’. Once all the clues were found and pizzas delivered, fans gained access to a secret level of the Citizens For Batman web forums (hint: nycticeious/merritt).

Of course, since this game started with a text message from the Joker, it only seems fit that he should have the final say.. right?

Oh man… does he ever!

Second Update 6/13/08

The day’s Dark Knight ARG madness culminated with yet another clue. Around noon, the Joker cell phones began receiving a number of cryptic text messages that included an image and a note to “Share this piece where *any* clown can find it”.

Our cell phone received one as well, which included this image…

After a bit of research, it was determined that all the pictures received spelled out a new message.

DOMINOES COMMERCIAL 6/16

Also unveiled at mid-day were a new edition of The Gotham Times, which announces that Harvey Dent has won the election for Gotham District Attorney. The issue also included an advertisement for Gotham City Pizzeria, a new business whose website promises a “special promotion” on June 16. Closer inspection of the site reveals that it ‘powered by Dominoes Pizza’.

What could this mean? Well, the Gotham Cable News site was updated with a message saying that the latest edition of Gotham Tonight would be appearing online on Monday at noon. Fans are expecting the Dominoes commercial to be available then.

To make a little more sense of this madness, these images were slipped in our inbox. Could this be what is in store for people who place an order with Dominoes on Monday?

Update 6/13/08

The first episode of Gotham Tonight is available to Comcast customers via their On-Demand service. Not a Comcast subscriber? You’re in luck…

Want more? How about a new trailer? Not much new footage here, but there are a couple new voiceovers by the Joker. Good stuff!

Original Story - 6/9/08

Here we go again! At 11:47 AM PST we received the following text message on our Joker cell phone…

“OK clowns, are you ready for some laughs? (y/n)”

We of course replied with an emphatic YES!!!

A few minutes later came this response…

“You make me smile. Hope you’re not superstitious”

What does it mean? Where will the game go next? I think its safe to assume that whatever Mr. J has up his sleeve, it will be unveiled this Friday the 13th. You can bet that we’ll be providing step-by-step coverage here.

Also, a few other sites involved in The Dark Knight ARG have been updated…

The Gotham Election Board - Where you can register and vote for Harvey Dent!
Maiden Avenue Report - Site has been ’shut down’ pending a takeover by a ‘major media company’.
Gotham Cable News - Is live and fully functional!

Plus, we just received this email from Harvey Dent’s campaign manager…

It’s been an incredible last few weeks. Ever since the vicious smear campaign collapsed and Harvey Dent’s remarkable courage at the hostage crisis at Rossi’s Deli, our campaign has ridden a wave of support I have never seen in all my political life.

Our Headquarters reopened and thousands of volunteers show up here every day, every night, fighting for change. Fundraising has reached incredible heights, with over 100,000 Gotham citizens contributing their hard-earned money in support of Harvey Dent’s vow to take back Gotham.

We’ve expanded our reach, opening branches in neighborhoods that haven’t seen political campaigns take them seriously for decades. And we’ve harnessed the incredible grassroots support by sending volunteers to knock on doors throughout the city. Amazingly, we will achieve our two millionth door knock sometime in between now and Election Day.

Harvey Dent has committed himself to lead the charge to take back our city, face down the criminal and corrupt and restore hope for our future.

Now, we need your help. We need to get out the vote!. And we need you to vote yourself. If you can’t make it to the polls, go to www.gothamelectionboard.com and find out how you can vote online. Working together, we will take back Gotham!

Allan Cypes

Media Manager

If you need to get caught up on this Alternate Reality Game, head on over to the Dark Knight ARG Wiki.