Warner Brothers is embracing the internet fan base for it's rebooted Batman franchise's sequel The Dark Knight wherein Batman (Christian Bale) comes face to face with his nemesis the Joker (played by Heath Ledger.) With a well planned viral campaign that started with a teaser shot of the new films logo. Later the logo became a link that will take you to www.IBelieveinHarveyDent.com with the ad campaign for Gotham's hopeful next District Attorney; Harvey Dent (played by Aaron Eckhart) After a few days the a new site was created www.IBelieveinHarveyDentToo.com with a picture of Dent vandalized with clown paint over his face. The website has since "crashed" and now states that the page can no longer be found. But, if you highlight the words while scrolling over the words on the page you will see a hidden message of a series of "HahAhAHAhahA" with 
letters hidden within them spelling out "See You in December." Ibelieveinharveydenttoo later became a link to another viral site "WhySoSerious.com" which in October began a countdown with a pumpkin that was rotting on one side (an homage to the Batman comic series "The Long Halloween" ) revealed a new challenge, or type of scavenger hunt for fans. The hunt revealed a message from the Joker saying "The Only Sensible Way to Live in This World is Without Rules," after the message was revealed a new picture of the Joker became available.The picture also became a link to "rorysdeathkiss.com" and for those who have been following the filming of The Dark Knight "Rory's Death Kiss" has been the hidden shooting title of the movie to avoid fans from sneaking onto the sets and taking pictures. Since it's link date in early November deathkiss has been a hub for pictures of fans responding to the Joker's challenge of taking pictures in their local areas most historic/popular spot. The campaign ended on Nov. 16th, and all the fans who participated were given a note on the site saying "What a crime scene! The clock's struck 12 and I'm sending something for each and every 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?" and special copies of "The Gotham Times" and were given links to a few websites:- TheGothamTimes.com
- TheHaHaHaTimes.com
- RememberingGina.org
- GothamNationalBank.com
- WeAretheAnswer.org
- GothamPolice.com
- GothamCityRail.com
- WhySoSerious.com/PersonalityProfile
This viral campaign for The Dark Knight is a not necessarily a new form of marketing, but the planning that has gone into this campaign by Warner Brothers has set a new standard for building up suspense. To the degree that we still do not know what "the Joker" means by "See you in December" in the first twist in the campaign.
It is believed to be referring to the IMAX 7 minute feature that will be appearing in front of "I Am Legend" But we shall soon find out.
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