iClickNation.com

Warner Brothers, with the help of 42 Entertainment, has recently launched a very impressive viral campaign to promote The Dark Knight (the next installment in the Batman franchise). This promotion incorporates outdoor ads and a few cryptic websites to produce something quite intriguing. A great step-by-step rundown of this campaign can be found at Pronet Advertising. What I really find interesting about this campaign is how they fueled the viral wave with human curiosity.

After providing an email address, the visitor is rewarded with an email containing a unique link. This link allows the visitor to remove one pixel from the site. Each visitor is only allowed to remove one pixel. That’s how the a viral wave begins to build. In just one day, thousands of pixels where removed! Shortly after that, the mystery was revealed. The new Joker will be Heath Ledger.

I love it! They developed a mystery that can only be solved if visitors get their friends involved. I love when viral campaigns directly tie the payoff to the act of spreading the message!

With a whole lot of emails in their database, joker cards popping up in major cities, and the URL www.seeyouindecember.com already registered, I think the game has just begun. I can’t wait for the sequel…to the viral campaign.