The Dark Knight was released in July 2008 and is currently rated 9.1 out of 10 on IMDb. The film has won two Oscars and is ranked in the top three movies of all time. The movie is part of a trilogy, written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Following the success of the first film, Batman Begins, fans eagerly awaited the release of The Dark Knight.
The Dark Knight was a risk for Nolan, considering the criticisms, potential for negative reactions and the possibility of financial loss. This led to the development of a marketing campaign that is now known as one of the most viral and iconic campaigns to this date.
In May 2007, 42 Entertainment created the phrase, “I Believe in Harvey Dent.” The marketing company hung campaign posters for the iconic Batman character, Harvey Dent. They also hid Joker playing cards with the phrase inside of comic books in stores around the United States. These cards led to a website, where fans could submit their email addresses to reveal a first-look image of Heath Ledger as the Joker. The website received more than 100,000 email submissions.
This was the start of the “Why So Serious?” campaign which was a real-time video game experience that played over 15 months leading up to the movie’s release. This campaign was successful because of its draw to make fans into real citizens of Gotham City, specifically more than 11 million participants in more than 70 countries. The contributors were given little tasks that gradually led to bigger tasks over a yearlong.
The campaign ended up being a massive success because of the marketing team’s ability to capitalize on current fans and target the campaign to superhero fans around the world. The campaign also utilized both traditional and digital marketing, helping it go viral across multiple platforms and attracting a variety of individuals. The more than a yearlong campaign sparked passion within fans and created a worldwide buzz of excitement for the upcoming movie release.
