The INSANE Marketing of ‘The Dark Knight’

In this video essay I breakdown what we can learn from The Dark Knight’s Genius Marketing, which might be the best movie marketing campaign of all time. I discuss the guerrilla marketing efforts and theory behind the “Why So Serious” marketing campaign, which centered around introducing Heath Ledger’s Joker- as well as generating organic hype, obviously.
#thedarkknight #Batman #film #movie #marketing #DarkKnight #Batman #goodmarketing #arg #joker #thejoker #HeathLedger #ChistopherNolan #oscars
Sources: [www.ign.com/articles/the-dark...](www.ign.com/articles/the-dark...)

[@ComeWatchTV]

let me know your favorite movie marketing campaign in the comments!

[@sellingsecretspodcast]

Skyfall was brilliant how it tied the London Olympics, the 50th anniversary of the franchise & the new film all together. I did a breakdown of it if anyone is keen to find out more

[@davidovics92]

I haven't watched your video yet, so not sure if it's mentioned, but the 1989 Batman also had a crazy marketing campaign. Maybe even more hardcore than the one for TDK

[@heshamhany8470]

Cloverfield and Super 8. Though Super 8 was said to have been too vague that it was counterproductive.

[@FlashGamer521]

I’m honestly surprised people can remember any movie campaign. I can’t recall anything beyond just generic movie trailers.

[@salmonsdontdie4952]

The two highly effective viral campaigns I can think of were, The Blair Witch Project. I know so many people who thought it was real, including me lol. Also the original Cloverfield had a great viral campaign. I'd love to see a breakdown of all the Cloverfield marketing

[@dynaguy3]

I loved watching all the "I believe in Harvey Dent" campaign videos on the dvd as a kid along with staring at the "why so serious" posters and dollar bills. I had no idea the campaign was this intense. Despite the movie being incredible on its own, this campaign was a big reason for how the movie was able to reach $1 billion

[@LuisSierra42]

I was obsessed with this movie but I did not see any promotional material until after I had seen it. Like you say, I also used to stare at the posters, I felt they were mesmerizing

[@evanwakelin7944]

I'm surprised you didn't mention one of the biggest counterpoints to your Babylon video: Before the film's release, instead of a wacky, confusing trailer (Babylon), they just showed the bank heist scene. Perfect example of not needing to dress anything up.

[@YungM.D.]

I mean, TDK also has traditional trailers but the bank heist scene was huge. Also including it as a bonus for going to see a movie in IMAX was a double win for the studio

[@thetruebatman4632]

I was a senior in high school; myself and two friends Joker painted our faces and took a picture on the steps of the historic Baker Hotel in Mineral Wells, TX. They sent me a package of Harvey Dent campaign stickers and a STACK of Gotham Times newspapers and I still have ALL of it, it was so much freaking fun. Thank you for this video, it’s nice to get to enjoy those memories again.

[@Slikback]

This is insane. Hope to one day experience something this interesting. great vid as always ))

[@ComeWatchTV]

Thank you!

[@Soloisbac]

u will

[@Sylar-451]

I'm writing a reality/horror style book where I portray myself as a potential psychopath.. Might need some assistance when it comes to advertising

[@pop123410]

I remember going to the movies before even hearing about this movie, and with no “coming soon” or dare or logo or anything they just showed the entire bank robbery scene. The ENTIRE scene as a preview. I’ll never forget it

[@paulmaher7683]

I didn't even know this movie was being made. I walked passed a theater one random Tuesday morning and saw the "Now Showing" batman poster. Sat down to watch it, knowing nothing about it, other than it was a sequel. Loved every moment of it. I also saw Fight Club, the Matrix, and Avatar in pretty much the same way.

[@miniluc1]

so you're the luckiest man alive hahaha

[@KA-zp4pl]

Heath ledgers death and the buzz around him getting an Oscar before it even came out is why a lot of non-comic book fans went to see it. It possibly this was the main reason so many went to go see it. I was 15 at the time of the release and non of this marketing was going around Europe/the rest of the world. All anyone spoke about from end of jan/feb to release was Heath ledger

[@wombatZ]

I agree I didn't even know about the marketing shown in the video. All people spoke about was Heath Ledgers death and that changed to how good the movie was. I was under 16 at the time, but that's what Batman was like in school

[@LuisSierra42]

@@wombatZ I didn't know about the marketing nor that Heath Ledger had died

[@BrendanJSmith]

The Dark Knight really felt like one of the last "event" movies. At least one of the last that wasn't a retro reboot. The kind of film that EVERYONE won't stop talking about from the moment the first trailer drops. And it was probably the last event movie that exceeded the enormous hype.

[@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770]

LOL. Not a retro reboot? What the fuck are you talking about. Not only was The Dark Knight based on a comic, there was literally a previous series of movies based on the same comic! That's about as unoriginal as you can get.

[@thisnamewastaken413]

It's not like the dark knight was some new thing. Batman movies had been being made for decades at that point, so I think it's a little unfair to separate it from a recent event movie like Top Gun 2 just because one of them is a direct continuation

[@elijahfordsidioticvarietys8770]

@@thisnamewastaken413 The Dark Knight WAS a direct continuation… of Batman Begins.

[@paperblackwriter]

I think Avengers Infinity war and Endgame were such 'event' movies!

[@donovyn.]

Not only was avengers infinity not a reboot remake or whatever it was much bigger than the dark knight. The dark knight is technically a reboot

[@ashleybates8922]

This campaign ruled! I won a free pizza, Batman mask & an early imax screening🦇🦇

[@ComeWatchTV]

Dub

[@RetroCrisis]

I thoroughly enjoyed this. Took me right back to when I booked IMAX tickets to TDK.

[@ComeWatchTV]

Thank you!

[@naufrage0]

I remember waiting for those websites to update and change as it got closer to release. It really made me feel apart of Gotham watching the film after that amazing campaign. I even saw some of the filming since I live in Chicago. That time is such a cherished memory. I still want of those $1 bills got dammit.

[@ComeWatchTV]

That’s awesome. I should have done some interviews when developing this video, super interesting to hear from those who were a part of this.

[@randynewmansdeepinsideholl732]

Randy dressed up as the joker for Halloween in 2017

[@ComeWatchTV]

Well that's pretty cool Randy

[@sellingsecretspodcast]

Skyfall‘a marketing campaign was brilliant how it tied the London Olympics, the 50th anniversary of the 007 franchise & the new film all together. I did a breakdown of it if anyone is keen to find out more

[@frogarchist]

This is fantastic, I love your editing. Hope you keep blowing up!

[@ComeWatchTV]

Really appreciate that!

[@jordanaftermath]

The X-men movies always had some good marketing. From the ‘mutant watch’ promo for the first film to some cool interactive desktops for X2 but I think Days of Future Past did it the best with ‘The Bent Bullet’ which had a similar AR feel to the Dark Knight websites.

[@shashsantanderlucioyohuall865]

Loved this video man. As a marketing student, this campaign really jumps out. Never would I have found out about it if it weren’t for you. Thank you

[@MonKeyGuy131]

great video,i have loved the dark knight trilogy for the longest time but its hard to recommend it because people say "oh its just a super hero movie" but if they only knew it was so much more

[@gracehughes3795]

what a great, well researched video! your channel is extremely underrated I hope you continue to gain recognition for your work!

[@ComeWatchTV]

Thank you so much!

[@nickdevor6006]

Great stuff man!! Would love to hear your marketing perspective on products outside of movies too

[@ComeWatchTV]

Great idea! And thank you!

[@madethnic6184]

Your a KZbin gem great work man!! Keep it going!!

[@ComeWatchTV]

Thank you!!!

[@LetsCrashThisParade]

Great video mate!

[@16kirsy]

i remember discovering all of this as a teen and being amazed

[@omarsherief5690]

Subscribed, keep it up.

[@Nicholas_Chen_]

I didn’t realise this movie has so much creative marketing that would put MCU and Star Wars’ marketing to shame 😂 it is so accurate with the lore of the film it enhances it and gives the world it takes place an extra depth. I wonder how involved Nolan is with it. This is genius.

[@Spoggi99YT]

Great video! Glad your channel was recommended to me a few weeks ago.

[@ComeWatchTV]

Welcome, I'm glad you're here!

[@da_pikmin_coder8367]

I remember going to my friend's house and he had posters of the movie before it had even come out. The promotional imagery was really so impactful that people were adoring the movie with only the marketing and Batman Begins to go off of.

[@jzwadlo]

Amazing video thank you so much man! Instant subscribe

[@kinkypinky2021]

A lot of people really hated the fact Heath Ledger was cast as the Joker at the time(to the extent of threatening to boycott the movie)...which is ironic bacause the reaction to Michael Keaton was similar. If always bothers me how people criticise casting decisions before the movie is even released, seeming to forget that playing different characters is what actors do.

[@bigbionk]

Bruh I remember my local theater would draw joker makeup on all of the movies poster that were displayed outside. It scared the 8-years old me lmao

[@mrgoosens939]

Nice one! Keep ‘em coming! You’re so right about Suicide Squad. I was hyped to go see it for the same reasons and well, you know the rest.

[@ComeWatchTV]

Thank you, I’m on it

[@davedavis2132]

@@ComeWatchTV at least the other suicide squad was better

[@katerynakatya]

Great video! It was really insightful! Maybe you can recommend something where I can learn more about movie marketing?

[@thefinalball]

great video! you should do a breakdown on the viral marketing/arg that Cloverfield did. I till think it's amongst the most unique as it rode off it's found footage style

[@heffe4257]

I was overseas in the military when this came out. Years later when I went back to school, in my marketing class we went over the marketing for this school for 2 weeks.

[@Isabela845]

Great video! New subscriber here, sending love from Brazil!!

[@ComeWatchTV]

Welcome!

[@Schizm1]

Oh man, I remember DK marketing. It was WILD! People were gathering together figuring out joker clues, reading through "fake" tv news etc. And then the movie came out and even with massive expectations - It smashed them being one of the best movies of all time - Period. What a masterpiece!

[@daniel-vn4ql]

i was stoked to see the film as well. i was in the cinema that summer watching the hulk and iron man. and i was disappointed that i was not watching the dark night.

[@jobyhelms]

Solid video 🙌

[@ComeWatchTV]

Thank you!

[@linuskarlsson9449]

OMG DO MORE VIDEOS YOUR AMAZING!!! 😍😍😍

[@designersunlockedu1888]

This content is good, thanks from this

[@ComeWatchTV]

My pleasure!

[@johnm.castillo3163]

i ssaw this movie in theaters twice when it came out. I remember this was THE movie to watch for 2008. I remember what i wore to the theatres too and i went with my sister the second time. It was probably one of the most important films ive ever seen.

[@droprelease4820]

I do think the Dark Knight was a bit different - yes it had stellar marketing, however the fact that Heath Ledger died was a huge talking point that led to greater hype among the general audience to pay attention to the marketing and movie in the first place It would be cool to see a comparison that did not have that level of popculture to it to see a great marketing campaign there! :)

[@trevorpowers6032]

This was the best marketing campaign. It took my friends and I to SDCC for a few missions, but my favorite was getting sent boxes of those joker masks (from the bank scene) and about 20 of us took a group picture of everyone wearing the masks, and that was the pic we had to submit for another mission. Hollywood could have a chance at saving their asses if they returned to this level of marketing.

[@aka.radstatic]

I still have some of the stuff from this! I have a keychain, a Harvey Dent for DA sign, and a news paper that was sent to my house. There’s an old email I have from the “joker”. It was so great

[@97JG]

I was 10 or 11 when this movie came out. I remember seeing these ads, my favorite one was Batman holding his batarang, Harvey Dent with a pin or his coin, and the Joker holding up his card.

[@shmooveyea]

Very confused about how this was effective marketing. It's fun, they engaged their fanbase, but every single person who participated in this campaign was already going to buy a ticket. I had no idea about any of this until watching the video. Actually, as someone who could not care less about comic books or this area of fandom, I recall this movie sneaking up on me, and when I saw it I was very pleasantly surprised at how great it was.

[@idanlewenhoff2295]

when Christopher nolan goes all in he goes all in

[@pab1381]

Dude I was in high school when it came out. I was so stoked bc I watched them film the flipped truck scene for a few mins the year before on La Salle st. Didn’t know what it was at first since CPD had ppl back even though it was night time. But then we saw GCPD cars there and I knew right away. It was so good.

[@dextergrif]

42 Entertainment also made the I Love Bees campaign for Halo 2, which is my favorite ad campaign for anything. They’re masters in the craft.

[@ComeWatchTV]

Indeed

[@anyaaa2801]

Holy sh*t that's was AWESOME. I've never heard of thisssss.

[@realjpegmafia]

One of my favorite campaigns from last year has to be the one that they did for the Batman even tho it wasn’t as great as the dark knights campaign it still managed to have that feeling of involvement and interactivity

[@bwredder]

I found one of those Joker cards at Quimby’s in Chicago.

[@matthewbateman6487]

I loved the movie -- and I remember none of this going on in the media, though.

[@ExileGilby64]

Great video, cheers!

[@ComeWatchTV]

Thank you!

[@cappedminer369]

will you do a video on joker 2019 ?

[@MaidenlessRunt69]

Do you know if there’s a video or audio of the joker call from SD comic con?

[@ComeWatchTV]

Yes! I don’t remember where it came across it but it is out there

[@MJB_9292]

I wonder what their marketing budget was, but it was genius and totally different. There's lots of great movies that were let down at release by poor marketing though such as snowpiercer etc.

[@rhetiq9989]

I miss the days when superhero movie marketing had to try to draw people in since those movies weren't as big as they are today. These days studios can just announce numbers and people will instantly be seated for their upcoming projects

[@mexicanpanda510]

After watching this it kinda sucks that not many movies attempt this but I don’t think they would either deliver like the dark knight or they wouldn’t get away with it the studio would offend somebody

[@MildMisanthropeMaybeMassive]

In San Francisco I entered an erotic cake shop and missed the Nokia phone by mere minutes. I believe the cake shop is no longer in business. Still scored screening tickets for it though.

[@illinoisjones8003]

Passed on visiting the set in Chicago in '07 - long story from hell. Would have been great to see, but I worked in movies for a long time, so it wouldn't have meant as much to me as to someone who is a comic book fan.

[@DMV831]

Damn wishing I could go back in time to 2007 but I was only 7 so had no clue any of this was happening at the time I was more into being outside playing or just riding my bike outside my house with my neighborhood friends.

[@dennisblassnig9144]

my favourite movie marketing campaign was the first Cloverfield movie, i was pretty hyped, but it also kinda destroyed the movie, it would be so much more awesome to watch cloverfield without knowing anything that will happen before you watch it and then i also loved the the campaign for the star wars prequels and the lord of the ring trilogy and the one trailer of "Signs" was really good when i saw it in theaters

[@zilla1985]

Haha that’s me at 22 secs shaking my fist! That was a great day and a lot of fun

[@ComeWatchTV]

Oh shit that’s dope

[@zilla1985]

@@ComeWatchTV What we were told was to treat it as real as possible and hand stickers and flyers out to people saying "Harvey Dent for district attorney...." I had one guy who was very confused and said he "never heard of this guy" and asked if her was a democrats or republican and I said he was a little bit of both and he said "Oh, so he's a libertarian?" and i was like "yeah, sure." haha Still have some of the swag!

[@puttajay]

There is a major thing you missed about the suicide squad the marketers and the editors from the trailers were so successful WB actually brought them in to hack up the ayer cut and thats the steaming pile 💩 we got and it was a very negative result of genius marketing I remember the dark knight campaign I actually have one of the joker cards i seen that movie 10 times in the cinema

[@HingleMcCringle35]

So true about suicide squad, I was so excited for that movie from all the marketing, especially the music. Then I saw the movie...

[@zorunus6061]

I love ARG's. Cicada 3301 is especially interesting

[@cherrycola542]

I'm pretty sure I was alive during this, but I didn't even know the movie existed until AFTER it came out. Just goes to show how much of a baby I am in the eyes of the Internet

[@clonetrooper1998]

this is genius because the items mailed/sent to fans will only appreciate in value and keep he movie's world going long after it's out of theatres.

[@Afineaddition]

It's hard to believe The Dark Knight turns 15 this year. 2008 was a great year for the movies in general

[@ComeWatchTV]

Agreed

[@SOBEKCrocodileGod]

Honestly I’m happy to see someone mention Suicide Squad 2016’s marketing. Like it or hate it (personally I thought it was very messy but I had a good time and think it’s a little overhated) the movie had a really unique and memorable marketing campaign .

[@ComeWatchTV]

Definitely messy, which as this proves doesn’t always mean bad.

[@anyaaa2801]

And yeah the suicide squad trailers were 🔥.

[@a2515]

1:07 that article is from the future dude

[@sourriyasankargovindan4244]

Even Memento has/had a website for its movie promotions

[@cmbaz1140]

Well ...i never heard of this...

[@soyitiel]

6:14 - 6:36 full arch

[@LauS0]

7:55 Bro they let the marketing team edit the movie because of the trailers so that's way it's a mixed bag, it was portrayed wrong in the marketing then they attempted to make it like the ads

[@deadheadwsp705]

This is wild that a movie not so long ago had such a creative ad campaign. Movies like this now are so cut and dry, soulless and based on the same formula you always see now

[@robs7275]

I still have a I believe in Harvey Dent shirt and poster from this and a Citizen for Batman key chain I got in the mail (still use it!). I remember how great Year Zero and this were and nothing was ever really like it again. The cakes were crazy but you didn't mention the bowling balls around the world!

[@mryoshi1221]

i wonder if heath saw any of this. im sure he did. i hope he knows people cared and still care about his role.

[@jordangate7742]

Damn I just saw it bc Batman Begins was epic.

[@reptongeek]

Me too actually. I mean who wouldn't be hyped for The Dark Knight when the final scene of Batman Begins was seeing a Joker card

[@shortspanattractions8403]

I live in Europe. All this was non existent for us and had none effect on me or my friends. We all still saw the movie without any significant marketing other than billboards.

[@alxjamuschua]

The marketing is also realistic. It looks like it's happening in the real world as the movie theme is also realistic.

[@Peter-ff1tp]

Let’s be real… the marketing for this film was that Heath died six months before it came out. That’s why it succeeded at the level it did.

[@ComeWatchTV]

That definitely had an impact but it wasn’t THE impact. Heath Ledger wasn’t the number one movie star on the planet.

[@Peter-ff1tp]

@@ComeWatchTV And Van Gogh never sold any art in his lifetime, 😉.

[@cjplay2]

As someone who had to put the jokerized trailer on the 2008 blu ray, I had a unique view of this marketing campaign. That said, "Suicide Squad 2016" is the worst thing ever put to screen? Even if we localize to the superhero genre, it was better than Green Lantern, Xmen Origins Wolverine, and the CF that was Thor 2. At least I laughed and someone cheered at SS16. Broaden out? I can point to theatrical releases this year that are worse than that movie. Still, the Ayer Cut would be good to see as ZS proved with both BvS Ultimate and ZSJL. Dear lord keep some perspective. And the marketing campaign got you to watch it.

[@oscaralextv]

Haha I remember being so exited for The Suicide Squad...

[@davidholaday2817]

Ya, but for Suicide Squad, the studio scrapped the whole movie and had an ad agency reshoot it.

[@jetteraismabash4186]

It's sad but I think one of the biggest things that marketed the Film was the death of Heath Ledger before the it's release.

[@lorenzomizushal3980]

Didn't they kill Ledger for the marketing?

[@chosenone6158]

I still can't believe they killed heath ledger for marketing

[@o-wolf]

If you think SS16 is one of the worst films you've ever seen you need to watch more films You should also know that suicide squad wasn't just good marketing.. there was a brilliant subversive counter culture film under there somewhere but fanboy fave Geoff Johns (you read that right) fitted the movie &had it reshoot into a puddle of nonsense.. &even then there are some strong moments that felt out of place in the final product Hopefully we get Ayers original cut &can see what we were robbed of

[@ComeWatchTV]

Idk man I don't have that kind of hope. If it's the same script I don't know how a directors cut would substantially improve the quality of the movie.

[@o-wolf]

@@ComeWatchTV never said anything about a directors cut.. this wasnt some studio edited "version" of a movie.. with an alternate ending ie blade runner etc it was tonally/structurally reshot with completely different scenes changing the movies context &with major scenes deleted.. then re edited re scored to be more in line with what Johns thought would appeal to CBM stans &like I said.. u gotta watch more movies.. with bad editing inferior score &a few well placed deleted scenes even the dark knight would be unwatchable &despite my dislike for SS16 it is still not a that bad.. it didn't earn over 700 mil because of flashy marketing. ppl genuinely liked Margot Robbie &Will Smiths harley &deadshot performances despite it all

[@meowbauh]

2016 SS was WB's movie not the Dir. movie, do some research first, ask the Dir, he tell you.

[@ComeWatchTV]

What is dir.

[@meowbauh]

@@ComeWatchTV google it.

[@alexmason8557]

Hollywood is too lazy pull this off now a days.

[@George_M_]

Never heard of any of this lol, people just thought the trailer was cool.

[@kylepollack3029]

BABYLON WASNT TRASH

[@ElenasDad]

IT ALSO WASN'T GOOD

[@jramir2]

Dude teach us how to make money by showing us what these big blockbusters did!!!

[@raoulhery]

is it allow to alter dollar bills? That's criminal

[@ComeWatchTV]

It’s legal

[@PinkiePie45838283734666o9]

Why was this in my recommendations?

[@ComeWatchTV]

Thanks

[@collinmullaney]

When this man said he was 16 for suicide squad i realized this is yet another college film student making youtube videos

[@ComeWatchTV]

What lifeform did you think I was up until that point?

[@reflexionstudio]

its jus proves, there are too many people with too much time on their hand.