Questions to consider when researching the viral campaign for The Dark Knight (2008)…

What is the ‘narrative’ of the campaign?

Perhaps the most pioneering example of a film-related viral marketing campaign came from Christopher Nolan’s 2008 superhero film, The Dark Knight (United States), which served as the sequel to his first adaptation of the beloved DC Comics character in 2005’s Batman Begins (United States).  The  promotion was designed as a 360 degree, fully formed alternate reality experience that played out over 15 months leading up to the release of The Dark Knight.  Spilling out over a multitude of different platforms, this deep immersive campaign recruited the audience to become real citizens of Gotham City with an integrated campaign where every element worked together to create a seamless experience, through a various number of “touch points”.  The campaign was launched in May 2007, by Alternate Reality Branding Company 42 Entertainment.  The project, titled “Why So Serious?” included the first official reveal that both The Joker and Harvey Dent would be making their returns to the big screen, taking fans all over the world by storm.

What role does the audience play?

As the campaign rapidly gathered traction, more than 10 million people became a part of a real world Gotham City.  Dozens more websites were found that built a living, breathing city, with extra devoted fans being distributed special collectibles and physical mock newspapers of The Gotham Times, a full newspaper detailing crime and corruption in the city, revealing small details about the upcoming film.  Text messages, voice calls and puzzles also were sent out to mobile phones, connecting players directly to the major characters.

Organised live events gathered participants together, unleashing Gotham City onto real city streets.  At the 2007 San Diego Comic-Con, players gathered to take their first orders from The Joker.  Working with others online, they scavenged for clues, hitting the streets dressed as their leader, as Gotham City began to spill out into the real world.  Players known as Joker Henchmen who submitted photos in costume were mailed further copies of The Gotham Times.  Clues in the articles led participants to the address of real life bakeries, of which players were able to collect Birthday cakes, with a hidden package baked inside; a mobile phone to keep in constant contact with the world of Gotham City.

Following the sudden and tragic death of Heath Ledger in January 2008, the campaign’s promotional focus was adjusted to concentrate on the character of Harvey Dent.  Harvey Dent contacted players by phone and email and asked them to show their support.  The response was overwhelming.  In March 2008, Harvey Dent’s fictional campaign informed fans that actual campaign buses nicknamed ‘Dentmobiles’ would tour 33 cities across America to promote Dent’s candidacy for District Attorney.  Citizens took to the streets, marched, protested, rallied, screamed and chanted.  The immersive marketing campaign was reaching a critical mass.  Participants were at last rewarded with an exclusive trailer for the film for their efforts, before finally, during the week of film’s premiere, hundreds dressed as Batman and gathered in downtown New York City, to witness The Bat Signal projected onto the side of a building.

How was the idea of the ‘remix’ and the ‘database’ employed here?

Like almost every other film based in a pre-existing universe, and in particular superhero films, not only does The Dark Knight draw almost all of its characters from the Batman canon, but also utilises various plot lines from the original comic book stories, such as Batman: The Long Halloween, The Joker’s Five-Way Revenge, and Batman: The Killing Joke.  As such, many may see the film as far from being original, and perhaps little more than a variation of what had already come before; simply, a ‘remix’.  This potentially inspired the film’s creative minds to give audiences an experience like they had never had before in the world of Batman, leading to the creation of the interactive advertising campaign.  This campaign follows the same criteria as a ‘database’, in which audiences must “uncover [the] underlying logic” of each piece of the campaign, decrypting an algorithm to derive the narrative from these segmented pieces.  Manovich describes the database as a world which is “represent[ed]… as a list of items and… refuses to order this list”, and as such audiences are left to establish the connections between each piece.

 Make a list of as many artefacts/objects/’bits’ of the campaign as you can.

• Multitude websites establishing the world of Gotham City, including a faux political campaign for Harvey Dent as District Attorney.
• Posters for Harvey Dent that were later vandalised, teasing both the character of The Joker, and Harvey’s eventual transformation into the villain Two-Face.
• Private emails teasing upcoming events and the film’s release.
• Special collectibles and mock The Gotham Times
• Text messages, voice calls and puzzles sent to mobile phones, connecting players directly with major characters of the film.
• Cosplay scavenger hunts, organised by The Joker himself.
• Clues led participants to the address of real life bakeries, of which players were able to collect Birthday cakes, with a hidden package baked inside; a mobile phone to keep in constant contact with the world of Gotham City.
• Protests and rallies supporting Harvey Dent, with ‘Dentmobiles’ touring 33 cities across America to promote the events.
• Exclusive film trailers.
• The Bat Signal was projected onto the side of a New York building during a Citizens of Batman march, before being ‘defaced’ by The Joker.

What role does each ‘bit’ play in the overall narrative?

Each section of the campaign would lead on to another, which encouraged audiences to first become and then remain involved in the project, by offering them more teasers, clues and collectibles as rewards.  At the same time however, should audiences miss a hint for the next piece of the puzzle, they would be easily able to rejoin the narrative at the next available opportunity to stay involved, rather than being left behind.

How do you think the team went about planning this? Think logistics.

It is obvious that an enormous amount of planning went into the campaign, as well as an extensive budget.  Although events were organised, taking place across all of America, much of the campaign was dedicated to online areas, which could be accessed and participated in by an even further amount of dedicated – and even not so dedicated – fans.  It’s hard to estimate just how much benefit the campaign had on a movie that was destined to make millions at the box office, but the hype it created for those who in no way participated in the project would surely have made a significant impact.

How does this campaign fit into the narrative of the film?

At first, I doubted the ‘narrative relevance’ the campaign had on the film itself.  I believed that while mock articles in The Gotham Times, which are filled with “Easter eggs” and direct references to Nolan’s The Dark Knight universe, the Bat Signal being projecting over a city as the ‘Citizens of Batman’ gathered below was simply a marketing ploy for the then upcoming film. And while bonus scenes of a news bulletin on a Gotham television network featuring a press conference with Harvey Dent actor Aaron Eckhart which became viewable to fans could easily slip into the universe’s canon, ordinary citizens of the real world rallying for the “I Believe In Harvey Dent” cause, was not.

However, one of the first scenes in The Dark Knight involves some Gotham City residents, dressed as Batman, trying to take down Scarecrow, before the real Batman intervenes.  This is synonymous with the final act of the film’s campaign, where the ‘Citizens of Batman’ gathered in city streets beneath the Bat Signal.  At the same time, the rallies that had been conducted in real life, supporting Harvey Dent as Gotham’s new District Attorney also coincides with the film, as we learn Harvey has recently been elected for the role.  In this way, the promotional campaign for the film could arguably be seen as a prequel itself for the film, taking place between the events of 2005’s Batman Begins, and The Dark Knight sequel three years later.