The viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight included creating fake newspapers and websites to promote the film and its characters like the Joker, sending fans on scavenger hunts to uncover clues and content online and in cities, and partnering with Burger King for a "Dark Whopper" promotion to bring out fans' "dark side." The world premiere featured a black carpet in honor of Heath Ledger and aspects of the film on display, while the teaser trailer consisted of the breaking bat logo with the words "coming soon." Warner Bros also capitalized on the film's popularity through an extensive line of official merchandise available for online purchase.

1. The Dark Knight – Marketing Campaign

2. The Film Posters ….

3. Viral Marketing …..
In 2007 Warner Bro set up a viral
marketing campaign by setting up a
“fake” newspaper named “The
Gotham Times”. An interactive
document online made to look real –
however in Chicago they actually gave
out hard copies of this newspaper –
helping to promote the film.
This campaign utilized the films
tagline “why so serious?”
The site aimed to interest fans by
having them earn what they want to
see. – where emails sent by fans
slowly removed pixels, revealing the
first official image of the joker.
The link is:
http://www.thegothamtimes.com

4. Viral Marketing Continued …..
During the 2007 San Diego Comic-
Con International, 42
Entertainment launched
WhySoSerious.com, sending fans
on a scavenger hunt to unlock a
teaser trailer and a new photo of
the Joker. On October
31, 2007, the film's website
morphed into another scavenger
hunt with hidden
messages, instructing fans to
uncover clues at certain locations
in major cities throughout the
United States, and to take
photographs of their discoveries.
The clues combined to reveal a
new photograph of the Joker and
The link is: http://whysoserious.com/
an audio clip of him from the film
saying "And tonight, you're gonna
break your one rule."

5. Viral Marketing Continued …
Completing the scavenger hunt
also led to another website called
Rory's Death Kiss (referencing the
false working title of Rory's First
Kiss), where fans could submit
photographs of themselves
costumed as the Joker. Those who
sent photos were mailed a copy of
a fictional newspaper called “The
Gotham Times”, whose electronic
version led to the discovery of
numerous other websites. Those
who sent photos were mailed a
copy of a fictional newspaper
called The Gotham Times, whose
electronic version led to the
discovery of numerous other
websites.

6. Merchandise – Burger King …..
Fast Food franchise ‘Burger King’ linked up with
‘The Dark Knight’ to produce a burger named
the ‘Dark Whopper’ – this followed with a series
of adverts of Burger King “customers” doing bad
things branding the words “bring out your dark
side” to coincide with the films name. The fast
food franchise also designed a kids menu which
came with a free toy of different characters from
the film such as ‘batman’ & ‘the dark knight’.

7. Film premiere …..
At the world premiere of The Dark Knight, instead of
the traditional red carpet it was black in honour of
the late Heath Ledger. The cast also dressed
appropriately in dark coloured outfits. Inside the
premier an orchestra performed extracts from the
films score , complete with a light show featuring a
Batman signal. Outside the premier aspects from the
film were on show such as the iconic ‘Batmobile’.

8. The Dark Knight Teaser Trailer ….
A theatrical teaser was also
released with non-IMAX
showings of I Am Legend, and
also on the official website. The
sequence was released on the
Blu-ray Disc edition of Batman
Begins on July 8, 2008.
The teaser trailer was no longer
than a minute long and
consisted of the bat logo in front
of bright light, gradually breaking
up, revealing – “coming soon”.

9. Behind the scenes …..

10. Official Merchandise …
The film in line with Warner Bros
released a range of official
merchandise in fans could
purchase from their online
website.
This ranged from things such as
‘mugs’ & ‘phone cases’ all the
way to ‘costumes’ & ‘clothing’.