AKQA Launches "Perfect Dark Zero" Viral
- by Shankar Gupta , October 11, 2005
Senders of the viral campaign are asked for the name and e-mail addresses of a friend. That friend then receives an e-mail with a link to a video showing a victim being taken by ambulance to an emergency room, where the victim dies. Later, the name on the victim's toe tag reveals that the victim was meant to be the person watching the ad.
The video is accompanied by a lighter-hearted message, inviting the receiver to play the game once it comes out in November. After the receiver views the viral video, the sender receives a cell phone call--if he or she provided her cell phone number to the site--with a recorded message from Dark, saying that the job is done, and the receiver has the chance to send on the video to someone else.
"It's a little bit macabre, but then you get the message from the friend who sent it to you," said Rikki Khanna, account supervisor at AKQA. "It's got that play between the lines of the sinister game reality and the fun aspect of the game."
Khanna said the campaign, which will include TV ads, were delayed to allow the viral to build up some steam. "This is the first communication for Perfect Dark Zero," he said. "The TV and print advertising as well as the online advertising hasn't yet kicked in," he said. "We wanted to create organic viral buzz that started amongst the core Xbox gamers and then spread outwards."
Khanna acknowledged that the viral was fairly violent, but said that the violence was faithful to the game world. "We definitely think that this is the kind of tone that's going to get this kind of audience excited," he said. "It's true to the nature of the game, and it would be inaccurate of us to portray the game in a different light." The microsite includes age verification before entry is allowed--Perfect Dark Zero is rated "M"--17 and older--by the Entertainment Software Rating Board.
