The Dark Knight Rises Viral Marketing - Are Warner Bros Missing A Trick?
I think we can all agree that this time around the magic just isn't there for WB's The Dark Knight Rises viral campaign.
I feel guilty even writing this because I know I am not owed anything from the Nolan team or Warner Brothers, but I really miss the viral marketing from the Batman front! I felt during the build up to The Dark Knight in 2008 that I was actually trying to solve the mystery of the Joker's internet attacks. Ok so, the truth is yes, I felt a little like the great detective himself in those days. That was the power of that marketing campaign. Im sorry to say now to you all that I am not in fact Batman. It was a hard reality to face to be sure but in the end at least my understanding of the Dark Knight world was so much more intense than that of my fellow bat-compatriots. The marketing helped the story for me. When everyone around me in the theater was confused by the Batman copycats at the opening of the film, I knew them already and was even asked by them to join up with them via marketing. This made me more connected to Batman than I have ever been in my 25 year love affair with the character. Let's think for a moment about the viral marketing for The Dark Knight. At one point, the Joker himself was sending me emails. He was sending me Gotham newspapers and then marring them on his own website. For a brief moment in time, I was a Harvey Dent constituent. I voted for him (even though I knew of the inevitable outcome.) Now I realize that I can never get those days back. As I recall all of these memories now I can't help but feel serious tones of nostalgia and sadness. Nostalgia comes from the reality that at that moment in time, I knew I was a part of something bigger that not everyone knew about. Sadness comes from the fact that it isn't quite happening again this time around. Sure Doctor Pavil absorbed my life for one beautiful day some months ago. Operation: Early Bird made me so excited that my girlfriend had to hear all about it for 24 hours straight for no real reason. My Uncle and my best friend Pete were alerted by frantic phone calls from a lunatic screaming about how it has finally begun! When the clock finally ran down on the first viral game of the Rises era, I was let down by the outcome that it was all just to announce the prologue at select IMAX theaters a few days early. I live in New Jersey and couldn't justify the train ride to NYC to see a prologue I knew would be on the Internet not 6 minutes later. Amazing gift to some lucky fans no doubt but where was the theatricality? Where was the Harvey Dent campaign pin burned on one side? 
Again I don't deserve any more than what I have... Please remember that, as nothing that follows will seem humble in the least. I just miss the fanfare. Fan being the operative word. We all know that the viral marketing for The Dark Knight was directed at the fan. My mother never delved into the excitement of whysoserious.com and she saw the film in theaters nevertheless. Clearly I was still going to see the sequel to Batman Begins without ever getting a newspaper in the mail. By that logic, where is the marketing for The Dark Knight Rises? The Dark Knight Rises needs no extra publicity. Obviously. But The Dark Knight didn't either. If that is the case for Warner Brothers, then I just don't quite understand. In a way it hurts my feelings. At the time of The Dark Knight, I felt that the powers that be truly cared about the fans who made this character profitable today. What other reason could have lead them to promote a film to fans who were already going to see the movie several times in theaters? Love for the fan. Did that love dry up? 
My honest opinion is that since Rises has been so secretive, that we won't have much marketing until the film is closer to release. Last time around, the marketing centered on characters like Harvey Dent and the Joker who are both not the most secretive characters in Batman lore. Perhaps that's why no one at Warner Brothers felt that there would be any harm in showing us these characters early. Last time we even could get a grasp of the plot just by knowing the characters. Its not like the Joker wasn't going to kill people or Harvey not get half his face burned off. The Joker was also easier to fit in with a viral game as was the district attorney campaign. I can't imagine Bane being too concerned with sending people cell phones hidden in birthday cakes. I wouldnt mind Catwoman calling me every now and then, but I understand if she doesn't. Over all I understand the lack of marketing to an extent. But that doesn't change the fact that Warner Brothers set the precedent of having one of the best marketing campaigns of all time. Whether or not the marketing picks up close to the release date of Rises, I will be seeing it at midnight like everybody else in the Bat-fan world. But I think we can all agree that this time around, that magic just isn't there. It won't hurt the box office of course, but its still disappointing as a Bat-fan.