2. The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight’s advertising launched it to having, at the time, the largest
opening weekend, though it has since been surpassed.
Several audiovisual trailers were released, mostly focusing on the Joker as well as
the action codes throughout the film, such as explosions and guns. This draws the
viewer in both because they want to see the Joker, an iconic character, and
because the action codes show that the film will be exciting. These feeling were
helped by some screenings of I Am Legend featuring the Joker’s bank heist from
the movie, which makes the viewer want to see more.
A six flags ride called “The Dark Knight Coaster” was released a few months
before the film, simulating being stalked by the Joker through Gotham. A tie-in
animated film was released around the same time, featuring several big names
3. The Dark Knight, cont
like Kevin Conroy, bridging the gap between Batman Begins and the Dark Knight.
These brings the viewer into the universe, making them want to see the new film.
The print advertising for the film focused mostly on the joker, such as the poster of
him behind foggy glass writing “Why So Serious?” in blood, a line now
synonymous with the character. Some of these posters are minimal, mainly relying
on the contrasting colours to grab attention and the promise of the
joker. However, some, like the iconic poster for the film with the
burning batsignal, are more elaborate, showing off the scale of the
movie. The tagline “Welcome a world without rules” shows the
anarchy that is to be expected of the joker, and highlights that he
is somewhat successful.
4. The Dark Knight, cont
The most important part of The Dark Knight’s advertising, however, was it’s ARG-
Why So Serious? An ARG, or Alternate Reality Game, is a method of cross-media
advertising that tells a story, usually in order to promote a product (though some
are standalone products themselves, such as Perplex City). “Why So Serious?”
specifically centred around both the Joker and Harvey Dent, with the players
joining the antagonists against Batman, all the while becoming double agents for
the Gotham Police and even the caped crusader himself.
This began at SDCC 2007, when “jokerised” dollar bills
were found around the convention. This lead to a
phone number written in the sky, and soon most of the
convention attendees where in on the game, creating
an active community around it. This continued to grow
until the game had 11 million players from 75 countries.
5. The Dark Knight, cont
As the ARG continued, 22 people ended up with cakes from the Joker containing
phones and hundreds of people ended up on real-life marches for fictional
politician Harvey Dent. By the end of the experience, not only did players get free
merchandise for the film, but they saw Heath Ledger’s Joker first, the original
trailer first, joker-themed bowling balls, and some even got free pizza from
Dominos. The original Joker Dollars are now incredibly rare, and the game is so
iconic that people are willing to pay $600 for them, showing that the community is
still alive today. This form of viral marketing was successful
as it brung people together over a popular franchise in a way
that, while it had been done before, felt new and fresh
because of the scale. It also filled gaps in the film’s timeline,
making it feel worthwhile for those who played the game
then watched the movie.
6. The Dark Knight, cont
The Dark Knight faced a very unique problem with its marketing: the death of a
main character. Heath Ledger’s tragic death before the film’s release was a
marketing nightmare- for example, there was a phone that rang with messages
from the film’s villain, which drags you into the experience. But when he dies, it
become absurd and disrespectful. As a reflection of this, the ARG was paused for
30 days and a black ribbon decorated the main website while they figured out
what to do (They ended up switching focus to Harvey Dent, the film’s other
antagonist).
The rest of the marketing team decided that there was a simple solution- excite
people with the Joker, but sell them with Batman. For example, many of the
trailers for the film were “wall-to-wall” Joker, but much of the merchandise planned
for the film, such as Joker Cameras, were scrapped and Batman was given a
marketing push instead, such as a dark chocolate Reece’s flavour.
7. Halo 3
Halo 3 used several different avenues for marketing.
Firstly, it used tie-ins with food and drink companies, such as Mountain Dew and
Burger King, where the packaging would feature the game. This meant that it was
fairly common knowledge that the game was coming.
Secondly, they used an alternate reality game. Iris, the name of the game, was
much smaller than I Love Bees (a similar game for Halo 2), but was still deep
enough for the fans to dissect and work together on decoding, building a sense of
community within the fandom.
They also held a public beta for the campaign, allowing thousands to play the
game early. This almost month long event caused a spike in pre-orders.
8. Halo 3, cont.
Finally and most crucially, instead of the usual explosion-filled audiovisual adverts
usually used by similar franchises, Halo 3 took a different approach. They created
a fictional museum for the events of the game and had actors playing veterans of
the in-game military tell stories of their service. At the centre of the “Museum of
Humanity”, as well as the marketing campaign, was a large diorama of a battle in
the game. This model was made from scans of real faces, and so is almost
haunting. It shows a much more realistic, gritty
depiction of war than most adverts for similar
games- for every model positioned like an
action hero, a dozen are screaming in agony.
This series of ads, known as the “Believe”
campaign, is a highly emotive way of
advertising the game, and so sticks out from
other games.
9. Halo 3, cont.
The believe campaign also had a clear message- to believe in Master Chief, the
game’s playable character. The way they presented the fictional war was that,
even though it was a scarring experience for everyone involved, they won
because they had hope. This was an especially powerful message at the time
because of the ongoing Iraq war. It could also be seen as a call to action- in order
to show you believed in the Chief, you had to
buy the game.
10. Flex Tape/ Seal
Flex tape is a very strong tape used for repairs, and flex seal is the spray/ liquid
version of the same compound. While Flex Tape is a relatively small and new
company, having been founded on March 1st 2011, it has become famous for its
crazy audiovisual adverts. These feature a short showcase of the product in
normal uses, such as sealing cracks, while Phil Swift, one of the company’s two
co-founders, narrates. The adverts then end on Phil doing something crazy, such
as sawing a boat in half, fixing it with Flex Tape, and then riding it in the ocean.
This generated a lot of traffic, as they are outrageous, especially when popular
Youtuber JonTron made a video about the adverts, which has amassed 33 million
views since its release in September 2017.
11. Push Doctor
Push Doctor is a service that allows you to see a doctor remotely. A recent
advertising campaign featured posters that mentioned its doctor were NHS
trained, leading to an ASA ban because the company was not in any way
associated with the NHS. The company responded to this ad by pointing out that
the advert only ran in London ran for 2 weeks, 8 months before the ASA’s ruling,
and had been voluntarily changed to be less misleading. The text is small and on
the side of the poster, which means that it is
harder to read at a glance, and most people will
not read all of it and be uninformed about the
service.
