The ‘bat-tags’ out in full effect on the streets of Ann Arbor, outside the Cupcake Station at 116 E. Liberty St. (Jared Angle/The Washtenaw Voice)
Editor
After a grueling wait for fans “The Dark Knight Rises” campaign kicked off into full gear on April 30 with a series of Bat graffiti placed stealthily in hundreds of locations around the globe—including Ann Arbor.
Each piece of graffiti resembled a chalk marking made by one of the movie’s main characters, beat cop John Blake (Joseph-Gordon Levitt), in order to signal the Batman’s return.
The marketing campaign focused on a viral game on thedarknightrises.com that allowed fans to go to various addresses, provided by the Gotham City Police Department, to snap pictures of the markings. Once captured, fans were told to tweet the images via Twitter with the hashtag #Tdkr07202012, symbolizing the picture’s release date.
The locations included 310 S. State St., 166 E. Liberty St., and 551 S. Division St.
The Gotham police would then “use the evidence” to hunt down the Bat in a fictitious investigation into his crimes at the end of the last movie, “The Dark Knight.” Each picture unlocked a new frame of the long-coveted third and final trailer for the film. The trailer was set to be released on May 4 in front of DC Comics competitor Marvel’s “The Avengers” team-up movie.
Eager fans unlocked the trailer some four days before its slated release.
Some wondered whether Warner Bros. Studios and director Christopher Nolan would ever begin a marketing campaign outside of casually allowed screenshots, teaser photos and on-set video segments.
Finally, Bat-fiends can rest assured that the campaign, like darkness before the dawn, is coming.
