VIRAL NEWS

1

So far, I do not find the obviously staged text comments exciting at all. This along with the fact, I am not sure if any of what this website is showing is true or not. Oh well... we'll see.

Billy on Jul 8, 2008

2

This is pretty impressive. For some reason they can't get the Chicago one to work or maybe it's just a bad angle. Should be interesting to see if this makes the main stream press, local tonight and I would assume national tomorrow morning. Thanks for posting about this, it's cool.

Moviegimp on Jul 8, 2008

3

What was the point of all this? Is there going to be something special at the end?

thedarkknight on Jul 8, 2008

4

It looks like that was the something special... and the staged text traffic related to activities on the ground in NYC and CHI... Honestly.. the online was just to give us a taste of what happened at those sites... If you followed the story line of this viral campaign... i.e. ARG - Alternate Reality Game... you would be seeing that these are the Citizens For Batman.. supporters of Batman rallying and showing a message of support... etc. I am not that HUGE into it.. but that is the 'story' behind this activitity tonight. Pretty sure that this is the climax of this event though.. unfortunately... guess we have to wait to see what the Joker has planned for Thursday

Dusty on Jul 8, 2008

5

can we buy the those shirts they are wearing...? i really want one...

sean on Jul 8, 2008

6

Hey, i just got back from the NYC rally. Basically, it was just chaos. There were 200 maniacs running around in crosswalks in the middle of traffic and yelling at one another. ONE person found a clue at each area we went while hundreds of others tried to listen to what was going on from that one person. Everyone then ran in all different directions. Not to mention, they gave out, or should i say threw shirts at us from a SUV that would show up randomly, only to incite mini stampedes as we were waiting for ten o'clock to come. The best thing i thought, besides the bat symbol at the end, was the Gotham Times newspaper which was handed out. The paper was really well done with a lot of funny oddball stories in it. In closing... we're sheep i tell u, we're all just sheep! BAAAAA

mike on Jul 8, 2008

7

hey number 6 and 7, i was wondering if there was any way to get those t - shirts because i live in cali. and feel its not fair because we didnt get a chance to get those shirts!

sean on Jul 8, 2008

8

I just got back from the Chicago rally and was really disappointed along with most of the people we walked back with. We arrived about 8:30pm and there were about 300 people there. T-shirts were being sporadically thrown into the crowd as a guy with a bullhorn ran around. they also passed out issues of The Gotham Times with a title reading "BATMAN: Savior or Menace?" A little after 9pm they started handing out a few Domino's pizza boxes that were jet black. Stapled to them were instructions on where to go next. Here's when things went to hell. Whoever the first guy was that read the instructions took off running with what had swelled to about 800 people down the street to Lower Wacker. Lower Wacker is one of our streets here that runs underneath part of the city, you can see it in the first film when the Tumbler is driving underground. Well, all these people ran down the ramp underground and brought traffic to a halt. They ran for about 4 blocks and then they realized that they had read the instructions wrong. We needed to be at 600 S. Wacker not 600 N. Wacker. So everyone ran back up the ramps and then down the street. The police cars started to show up herding people back onto the sidewalks. We walk a few blocks until the crowd stopped and saw what appeared to be the bat symbol projected onto the Sears Tower. Unfortunately the office lights were still on where it was aimed so you couldn't see anything. They did pass out some small metal pins featuring the Citizens for Batman logo, maybe about a couple hundred of those got out. The cops were really cool and didn't harass anyone except to keep people from getting hit by agitated cab drivers. We stood around for about half an hour and nothing happened. Then we noticed that a few of the marketing people just seemed to walk off, without telling anyone anything. That's about when the crowd mostly dispersed. It was very disorganized and anti-climactic. I felt bad for this one lady that drove all the way from Detroit with her kids and all they got was a pin. Hopefully everyone had a better time at the New York one.

Askie on Jul 8, 2008

9

You said "This will definitely be a night to remember!" It was one of the worst pieces of shits i ever had to do. WE FUCKING RAN AROUND TO SEE THE BATSIGNAL????!!! fUCKING BULLSHIT!!!

REAL6 on Jul 8, 2008

10

I just got back from the Citizens for Batman rally in Chicago and it was very anti-climatic. Rather than having a real rally where someone was preaching support for batman or getting people to chant for the dark knight, swag (which was cool) was given out and then they delivered pizza. After which, everyone began to ran as clues that most of us never saw were given out telling us to go north or south depending on who you followed. What ensued was a mad dash through upper and lower Wacker drive, admittedly a great memory despite the end result. People were hoping barriers, jumping 10 -15 feet from upper to lower Wacker and sprinting all out for the next clue or what we hoped would be something worth our efforts. As would be expected, Chicago's finest showed up to try to control the crowd of over 200 people and eventually everyone made their way to the Sears Tower. This is where things fell apart. A message was left on a radio that someone found, or so we were told, that said to look north. Everyone did and for an hour plus everyone watched as a light flickered on and off. No one working the event would give out any information on whether or not there would be a reason to stay or if the problems would be fixed. Many disgruntled fans left before the problems were solved and the bat symbol finally came into view. Do not be fooled by the video on citizensforbatman.org of the Chicago location, as of 11:15 pm CT it did not look anywhere near as good as it does currently on the site. Maybe they fixed it even more after I left but after already waiting for an hour and half at that location as well as having run my ass off through the streets, I had given up on this poorly executed event. This viral marketing campaign has easily been one of the most enjoyable experiences I've had while preparing for the release of a movie and if things would have gone as planned tonight, it would have been cool but not great. The biggest issue was the lack of communication between the organizers and the fans. I understand not breaking the fourth wall or giving away too much but when things are not working someone needs to let people know what is going on. All that being said, the swag is great and running through the streets of "Gotham" was an exciting experience. The end result could have been better and considering that we heard New York went off without a hitch, wouldn't be nice if the real Gotham City of the film would have gotten a better effort?

Mike on Jul 8, 2008

11

Even thought nothing else happened, I was so frerakin' excited when they finally appeared on those buildings. This is so freakin' cool how they are inviting EVERYONE, that is willing, to be a part of this remarkable time in movie history! I bow down to the marketing genius or geniuses who came up with this one. Can anything get better than this? Probably not.

Brian on Jul 9, 2008

12

i feel the same way, i was at the chicago event and was a tad disappointed. especially compared with the last viral event where we got to see the trailer a week before it was released. i left before the bat symbol was in full view, but i do agree, it was poorly executed. hopefully the joker will have something better planned for thursday!!

atg2040 on Jul 9, 2008

13

Does this ARG have anything to do with the movie? What I mean is, if you don't follow it will you miss references in the movie? If not, then this whole thing looks like a giant waste of time just so some people can get t-shirts, pins, stickers, etc (I mean the whole thing. Not just this event).

Viper on Jul 9, 2008

14

After this was all done it seems like a interesting way to advertise the movie, that is what this was all about after all, but it didn't seem to work. Besides people who already are planning on seeing the movie and those of us who come to these sites no one outside of Chicago and NY even know about it. I base this on the fact that I can't find one story on any main stream press site, CNN, MSNBC, ABC or CBS about anything. Something this big, at least with all those people running around, should have been a least a blip on the media radar. Maybe on ET later. Is viral marketing considered a success if it just preaches to the choir?

Moviegimp on Jul 9, 2008

15

I had fun at the Chicago one. I think its a lil snooty to come on here and bash this marketing campaign. I understand if its not your thing. but for some of us we are enjoying it and hope they do this stuff with more movies. It's interactive, better than just some trailer or pics posted on a site. I got tons of free stuff from these events that no other collectors ,but those that were there, will have. I do agree the batsignal was pretty weak on the sears tower, but that was probably not there fault. Stupid people leaving office lights on and what not was probably the reason. Can't wait to see what the joker has planned for us thursday, cause you know ill defiently be onboard for that one!

Agent Jrb on Jul 9, 2008

16

The event was absolutely awesome! Not exactly what i expected but just the brotherhood and camaraderie of hanging out with Batman fans was exhilarating! Go Batman!

Dan on Jul 13, 2008