So far with Warner Brothers’ viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight we’ve seen some amusing and (if you like treasure hunts) addictive stuff, but not everyone has the desire to spend time sifting through websites like those for the City of Gotham Police Department and the new Gotham Police Major Crimes Unit.
That’s what the Superhero Hype forums are for. A poster there dug up a neat little video clip of Gotham’s ADA, Rachel Dawes speaking to the press about the value of Harvey Dent. It’s not our first real look at Maggie Gyllenhaal as Dawes (there was a trailer you might have seen) but it is the best look we’ve had at the character, and the first major use of a primary actor in the viral campaign.
A word about the viral stuff. Every time we post one of these, the comments section is littered with insightful commentary suggesting that this material won’t do anything to draw in a broad audience for the film — effectively, that this isn’t marketing.
Does anyone actually think that WB is targeting anyone but the web geeks with this collection of websites and clips? This campaign represents one basic idea: Christopher Nolan and Warner Brothers know what hardcore fans expect from The Dark Knight, and they think they’re going to deliver. None of it is required viewing. This is supposed to be fun stuff for the fans that plays to their expectations, nothing more. If you’re not interested, or just want to see the film, by all means move along.
Here’s the Dawes clip.
And if you want more of the deep role-playing viral stuff, here’s an audio interview meant to support the case against Harvey Dent.