As you may have heard from our Comic-Con podcast, or more likely from our forum, Iron Man 2 kick started their viral campaign during Comic-Con weekend. Here’s a more in-depth look at all the viral so far.
The viral for Iron Man 2 has so far centered around Stark Industries, which is of course the company of main character Tony Stark (played by Robert Downey Jr). The organization was featured prominently in the first film, so it’s logical they would incorporate it into the sequel, as well as a viral campaign since the easiest viral to do is one based on a company. Most viral campaigns use organizations because they can have websites, recruiting, etc. Personal pages are also used a lot, but I don’t expect to see the Iron Man viral take that root.
First, before the convention even started, Stark Industries was reported to be at Comic-Con. Most of us just assumed it was a one-off deal, or something specifically for the comics or cartoons. However, the booth was obviously tailored towards the film, with it containing the Hall of Armor. Also, when Kelsey went to the booth, the very Ms. Pepper-ish representative gave all the rhetoric from the film about Stark Industries changing their ways. The company was recruiting and the lady gave Kelsey a Stark Industries business card.
From the card and from other sources, the Stark Industries homepage was discovered. The site is very minimalist, especially for a technologically-savvy company, but it could expand into more content and such as we get closer to the film’s release date. There are only two links on their navigational “bar”, with the “News/Press Releases” currently just taking you to the main page. Said page has this hand-written note from Tony written on napkin:
The “Join Stark Industries” tab is more interesting, since it actually has an application form for you to fill out. It asks for lots of personal information, so fill it out at your own discretion. The last section of the application is an “Experience Assessment” with some difficult questions. The first answer is “interference” (based on a Google search), but the others are either too tough or deliberately subjective (such as “Please briefly describe your most heroic act”). Once you submit the application, you just get a notice that they’ll review your application and contact you if you meet their requirements. The “telecrop” question surprised me because I couldn’t even find the word in Google. Anyone heard of this?
So that’s it so far. Lots more time for this viral to develop, so stay tuned. It will be interesting to see if how you answer any of the questions or sections of the application form determines if and how they contact you, as well as what they contact you about. I bet everyone will just get a generic reply, but I hope it’s more. If someone does it “right” (who really knows what they’ll determine to be right), they should get something special. I imagine the site will be more functional down the road (similar to Skynet from Terminator Salvation viral), and we may get some other sites tied to the characters or the company.
If you see anything else for Iron Man 2, let us know! The film opens May 7, 2010.
