We couldn't be more excited about Batman: The Dark Knight... or more sick of Warner Bros.' marketing campaign for the movie. When it was just sky-writing planes over Comic-Con and "Jokerized" dollar bills, we were sort of amused. But when Warner started baking Joker-cakes, we got indigestion. A gallery of weird schwag and a rundown of crazed marketing, after the jump.
The cake-baking was our first clue that Warners had gone over the edge. The viral marketing for Knight involved following clues on various websites, which led you to even more websites, which led you to phone lines. Eventually you would be led to a bakery, where you could pick up a free mystery cake. Baked inside the cake was a cell phone, and further instructions. Thankfully, no one actually ingested one of the phones. We can just imagine the lawsuits.
Now, they're taking things in a strangely different direction, by sending muddied novelty packages to people like rock-lite star John Mayer, who promptly posted about the thing on his blog. Is it any surprise that Mayer's label is Warner Music? No, no really. So what are they trying to prove by having their own artists shill the goods and drink the kool-aid?
This reminds us about what Kevin Smith said at Comic-Con last year. It's not like Steven Spielberg has to come down to the Con and promise everyone free handjobs to go see Indy IV. People will go see it regardless. The Dark Knight probably falls into that same camp, right? We just wonder what marketing ploy they'll pull off next. Will Heath Ledger come to your house in Joker-wear and spend the night with you? It could still happen.
Cool Stuff: Dark Knight Promotional Items From The Joker [/Film]