Dark Knight: The Joker’s Game Continues on Black Friday *UPDATED*

Posted by Neil Miller (neil@filmschoolrejects.com) on November 23, 2007

Since right before Comic Con this August, the folks in the Warner Brothers marketing department have been weaving an intricate web — a web that has delivered one of the finest viral marketing campaigns in recent history. At the heart of this campaign is the clown prince of crime himself, The Joker. It is appropriate, seeing as Heath Ledger came under some initial scrutiny for being chosen as The Joker. Fans didn’t believe that he was the right choice for The Dark Knight, but thanks to a wicked cool marketing campaign, at least we’ve got something else to talk about.

This week’s update comes as a result of the RorysDeathKiss.com game, where Joker minions sent in their pictures from all over the world. Fans had from Halloween until November 17 to send in their pictures and in return The Joker was going to send them “something”. A message on RorysDeathKiss.com said this: “What a crime scene! The clock’s struck 12 and I’m sending something for each and every one of you clowns who made my list by the deadline. The fun-filled times should roll in shortly after the bird’s been carved! Don’t you just love the taste of envelope glue?”

This week fans began posting pictures of that “something” over at the SuperHeroHype! Boards. Their special packages included 25 copies of “The Gotham Times”. You can view the pics below by clicking the thumbnails below.

As you can see from the picture, there is a small classified ad that reads: “Charming handsome man with dazzling smile seeks amateur clowns for discreet encounters. No previous sense of humor nexessary. Criminal record a plus. Interested? Write to HumanResources@WhySoSerious.com in the full understanding that we have your email address and might send you alarming, disturbing, or annyoing material at any moment.”

If you send an email to the address, you get this reply: “See you found my little message. So, do you think you have what it takes to be a part of my circle of friends? Are you a backstabbing, self-promoting, ambitious clown who will do anything to prove yourself to me? If so, the first step of your application process awaits…if you know where to look.”

Based on all of the information at hand, everyone has turned their attention to TheGothamTimes.com. It is due to get an update on Friday. Speculation would say that it will be an online version of the articles from the newspapers. But then again, it may be something else. We will be tuned in. Will you?

UPDATE (Friday 11/23 @ 1:13pm) - TheGothamTimes.com has updated with 4 newpaper pages with various articles. The headline on the first page reads: “CITY AT WAR”. At first glance, this is really just setting the stage for a Gotham City in peril — could this be the work of The Joker? I’m sure he has something to do with it. If you spot anything interesting or see any clues in the paper, feel free to leave them in our comment area below.

A phone number was also found: 1-866-237-6480. If you dial 1, you can leave a message.

Isn’t this fun?

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