How Internet Buzz is Affecting The Dark Knight
A Look At the Viral Marketing Campaign Behind the Film
Jul 4, 2008
Promoting a film on the internet is a no-brainer. It's the easiest, most cost-effective way to reach the widest audience, while at the same time hooking them onto some marketable facet of the film. The Dark Knight, sequel to the 2005 film Batman Begins, is no exception to the trend. Not only has the movie been generating buzz of a posthumous Academy Award nomination for Heath Ledger's role as the Joker, but it has been receiving critical accolades from the media, and the movie has not even been released yet.
Beginnings of the Viral Campaign
Flashback to May 2007, when with the help of the simple tagline "Why So Serious?", curious web surfers were enticed to explore the first website centering around the fictional character Harvey Dent and his political campaign for district attorney in Gotham. The "I Believe in Harvey Dent" website veered off to a vandalized version of the site titled "I Believe in Harvey Dent Too" where slowly, based upon email participation, the first official image of the Joker was revealed. Over time, hidden messages replaced the image, which only made fans even more anxious for the film's future release.
Success with the "Why So Serious?" Viral Campaign
In July 2007, 42 Entertainment, in a move to further promote the film, launched a new site called WhySoSerious.com. Through this new site, fans went on a scavenger hunt in order to uncover a teaser trailer of the film as well as a new image of the Joker. The site also cleverly imbedded an image of an animated jack-o'-lantern with a bat shaped mouth. To further keep fans' attention, as time passed the candle in the jack-o'-lantern melted down leaving only a deteriorated pumpkin. This only fueled more speculation of the dark themes surrounding the new Batman film.
"Why So Serious?" Campaign Expands it's Realm
In October 2007, the "Why So Serious?" website was revamped to include another scavenger hunt which included hidden messages prompting fans to search for clues throughout the U.S. The clues were then combined to show yet another new image of the Joker, and revealed an mp3 recording of the Joker (Heath Ledger) urging them to visit another website. This new site, Rory's Death Kiss asked fans to photograph themselves in Joker costumes and makeup and submit them to the site. To keep the viral marketing going, fans who sent in their photos were given a copy of the fictional paper, The Gotham Times, which led to the discovery of more websites.
Heath Ledger's Death and its Impact on the Viral Marketing of the Film
When Heath Ledger died in January 2008, the subsequent movie promotions were almost entirely focused on the character of the Joker. Under normal circumstances this would have gotten a lot of web surfers naturally curious about the film, and more specifically the Joker character. Add to it the buzz already floating around the internet with all the viral campaigning done so far and there was little doubt of the film's success. At this point, the movie was still seven months away from being released and the web was full of tributes to Ledger. Even the viral sites jumped on the bandwagon and paid their respects. WhySoSerious.com overlaid a black ribbon intended to memorialize Ledger on top of the photo collection on their site.
Other movies have followed in The Dark Knight's footsteps in utilizing viral marketing to promote their films, though none has been as elaborate or well-crafted. Only time will tell how triumphant the film will be, but if the success of the web campaign is any indication, this film is sure to be a summer blockbuster.
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