Exclusive: Chicago Police Break Up Harvey Dent Viral Marketing Campaign For ‘The Dark Knight’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 09:07:13 -0700

CHICAGO – As we reported would happen on March 12, 2008, “The Dark Knight” enthusiasts indeed congregated in Chicago (as others will across the country on various other dates on this “Dentmobile” tour) to show their fictional campaign support for Harvey Dent – played by Aaron Eckhart in the July 18, 2008 superhero monolith – running for district attorney.

Those familiar with the film’s extensive viral marketing campaign enjoyed keeping “in character” and confusing uninformed Chicagoans who weren’t aware that the charade was actually in support of a storied politician within Hollywood. We feature below exclusive photos of the morning campaign from longtime HollywoodChicago.com source Vlkers54.

The morning campaign, which was supposed to run from 8 to 10 a.m., was cut short due to a Chicago police breakup after three minutes flat. Vlkers54 has provided us with the following detail about the morning.

Hey, Adam! Cops kicked us out!

I was at the 8 a.m. stop. I got there at 7:30 a.m. and I sure am glad I did. At 8:03 a.m., the cops came and kicked us out! Only me and another guy showed up, but we did end up getting a lot of free stuff [including] bumper stickers, posters, buttons and a T-shirt. You should have seen the people as they were coming out of the train station:

“Who is Harvey Dent?”
“What is this all about?”
“Is this for that movie?” (We responded: “What movie? ‘No Country For Old Men?’ That’s a movie!”)

We kept “in character” and promoted Harvey Dent for [district attorney] as if he were a real person. Confusing people was a lot of fun. Some people did catch on to what was going on. Even middle-aged men who knew who [Harvey Dent] was were excited, [asked] for buttons and filled out the petition forms.

It was a lot of fun, but let’s hope the cops don’t ruin the 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. sessions. I can’t make the 11 a.m., but I will be at the 4 p.m. trail.

~ Vlkers54

From 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., the Chicago campaign will be meeting at Jackson Street and State Street. From 4 to 6 p.m., the Chicago campaign will be meeting at the Canal and Madison commuter station. A full list of other viral marketing cities, locations, times and dates can be found here.

“The Dark Knight” viral marketing site IBelieveInHarveyDent.com is publishing photos like the above from across the U.S. here.

Click here for our full “The Dark Knight” image gallery!

10:16 p.m. update on March 13, 2008: We have learned that yet another new viral marketing site for “The Dark Knight” just went live: GothamElectionBoard.com. Why? You guessed it. There will be an actual election process for Harvey Dent with real voter registration cards sent in the mail. See this comment below for more information. A screenshot of the new site is below.

10:43 p.m. update on March 13, 2008: When it rains in “The Dark Knight” land, it usually pours. We just learned of yet another new viral site related to this campaign: GothamCityClerk.com. It announces the formulation of competition for this election campaign and implies the launch of even more viral sites. Read more about this in this comment below. A screenshot is below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

‘The Dark Knight’ Viral Marketing Continues With Revamped IBelieveInHarveyDent.com

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 18:11:34 -0700

CHICAGO – I received a call to my cell phone at 7:02 p.m. from 000-000-0000 directing me to IBelieveInHarveyDent.com for more “The Dark Knight” viral marketing. Indeed, the site has relaunched itself with a new campaign. A screenshot of the revamped site is below. To hear it from yourself, the phone call can be listened to here (source).

At the updated site, a slew of new promotional campaign materials have gone live at a new downloads page. These are all below.

This campaign calls for enthusiasts to print out these materials and display them in creative ways on the streets of cities across the U.S. A “you in action” page has appeared to show submissions, which are due by March 26, 2008 at noon. Photos and videos can be submitted here. The site gives some suggested ways to play along and explains its reason for doing so:

Show your support for Harvey Dent! Gotham City is collapsing from a runaway crime wave and Harvey Dent can save it. But he has to run for district attorney first.

The only way he’ll run is if he sees an outpouring of public support. Let’s all get out there and show Harvey Dent he’s got support to take back Gotham! Let’s get those videos and [pictures] coming!

We can do anything – the bigger and more creative the better. Here are a few creative examples that you can take photos and videos of:

Get your friends together and spell out Harvey Dent in human letters
Get a video of your school’s cheerleading team yelling out chants for Harvey Dent
Try to cover every square inch of someone’s cubicle area with Harvey Dent posters
Write and perform a “take back Gotham” song
Make up a “Dent dance” routine
See if you can get up a Harvey Dent sign in every single window of your dorm building
Turn your own car into a “Dentmobile”
Arrange a Dent parade down Main Street
Make a human pyramid with other Harvey Dent supporters

Be creative. Harvey Dent wants to see that we want change and we are ready to work for change. Harvey wants to see that people are ready to throw out the old, break out of habits [and] really do something new and different! That’s what taking back Gotham will take.

We’ll feature the best examples of great videos and [pictures] on the site. The future of Gotham City is in our hands now, people! Let’s get out there and make some noise!

Visual examples from the site of what to do can be found below.

The site also announces the “Dentmobile,” which will hit the road in various cities across the U.S. While the site says specific dates and locations are “coming soon,” the following route map is currently revealed. You can submit your e-mail address on that page for periodic updates.

So you can see what it looks like when you receive one of these calls, I have taken a picture of my cell phone and am displaying it below.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com