The Secret Behind 'The Dark Knight' Viral Campaign: How 42 Entertainment Brought Gotham City to Life

The Secret Behind 'The Dark Knight' Viral Campaign: How 42 Entertainment Brought Gotham City to Life

Creators Susan Bonds and Alex Lieu Available for Commentary on Immersive Entertainment Experiences

LOS ANGELES, July 28 /PRNewswire/ -- WHAT: 42 Entertainment (www.42entertainment.com), the award-winning immersive entertainment agency, has just completed an extensive alternate reality game (ARG) to promote the next installment in the Batman series, 'The Dark Knight'. This experience played out across off/on-line platforms and attracted fans from over 70 countries.

WHO: 42 Entertainment is the leader at creating and producing the world's best participatory and cross-platform entertainment experiences.

Susan Bonds, Chief Executive Officer, has built a successful career producing and designing innovative storytelling products across various platforms.

"Our goal was to tell the story of what was happening in Gotham City between the end of 'Batman Begins' and the beginning of 'The Dark Knight'," said Bonds. "It struck a chord with a broad audience and the results have been fantastic."

HOW: The 42 Entertainment team was tasked to create a fictional Gotham City, invite Batman fans to become a part of it, but also extend the reach to the broader movie going public, especially women and non-comic book fans.

Highlights included:
-- A live scavenger hunt at Comic-Con 2007.

-- In December 2007, fans picked up cakes with cell phones inside at bakeries in over 20 cities. The joker used these phones to communicate instructions to his fans.

-- Campaigning for Harvey Dent for Gotham's District Attorney in 33 cities around the country, eventually clearing him of a high-profile smear campaign.

-- Gotham City was built out through in-fiction media outlets like "The Gotham Times" and Gotham Cable News, as well as over 40 websites, including the Joker's www.whysoserious.com

WHEN: Launched in May 2007, 'The Dark Knight' ARG played out over 15 months with millions of players participating online and attending live events, and reaching hundreds of millions through internet buzz and exposure.

"The goal was to extend the epic themes of the film beyond the screen and into people's everyday lives," said Alex Lieu, Chief Creative Officer. "We gave people a chance to become a Gotham citizen and the response was overwhelming."

ABOUT 42 ENTERTAINMENT:

42 Entertainment (www.42entertainment.com) recently won the Cyber Grand Prix award at the International Advertising Festival for their similarly immersive ARG to launch the Nine Inch Nails album 'Year Zero'. Located in Pasadena, CA, the agency is responsible for some of the most innovative participatory entertainment experiences on the web.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: 42 Entertainment

CONTACT: Samantha DiGennaro, sam@digennarony.com, or Mary-Elisabeth
Ghanem, maryliz@digennarony.com, +1-212-966-9525 both of DiGennaro
Communications for 42 Entertainment

Web site: http://www.42entertainment.com/
http://www.whysoserious.com/

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