New 360 Viral Marketing Campaign

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dcfox

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It seems cryptic symbols and messages have been cropping up all over the US. These are a few of them.

FLjacksonvilleBeach.jpg


SFphoto-thumb.jpg


Tulsaphoto-thumb.jpg


The rest are here

Judging by the size and scope of the campaign, it looks like it might pan out to be some big news.
 
Their marketing is so strange... these campaigns don't scream to me to go out and buy a 360. It does have my interest piqued, however, to see what this turns out to mean.
 
There's supposed to be one of these on the field at the UConn/UC game today. I might have to walk up the street to the stadium just to see what's up!
 
[quote name='jeffreyjrose']There's supposed to be one of these on the field at the UConn/UC game today. I might have to walk up the street to the stadium just to see what's up![/QUOTE]
Take some pics while you're up there.
 
I want another I love bees scale ARG.. that was some of the most fun I've ever had, and I got to play halo 2 early! This looks like it might be an invitation to another similar event.
 
[quote name='jawman311']bound to be a dissapointment. Remember how sad the origen360 site was?[/QUOTE]

Because we are American we should be the only ones that gets all of MS attention. Please take your Ritalin daily for the sake of every one around you. ;)
 
MS is over doing their viral marketing. it's not as interesting any more especially when they do it all the time, they're just killing it.
 
I looked at that hex168.com site and saw that "truth" was emphasized in the header. Since this seems like a similar campaign to what was used for Halo 2 and the emphasis on the word "truth" could it have something to do with the next Halo?
 
[quote name='greendj27']I looked at that hex168.com site and saw that "truth" was emphasized in the header. Since this seems like a similar campaign to what was used for Halo 2 and the emphasis on the word "truth" could it have something to do with the next Halo?[/QUOTE] maybe
 
[quote name='CheapyD']Is this going to make PDZ suck less?
That's right...I went there.[/QUOTE]

AWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW SNAPZ!! Xbox 360 just got SERVED!
 
[quote name='jer7583']I want another I love bees scale ARG.. that was some of the most fun I've ever had, and I got to play halo 2 early! This looks like it might be an invitation to another similar event.[/QUOTE]


Hey did you drive down to chicago for that? I went to some movie theater down there for the I love bees thing, that was fun playing on a movie screen.
 
[quote name='spoo']http://hex168.blogspot.com/

This has Halo 3 all over it.[/QUOTE]

After checking out that site it has to be something related to Halo 3.

This is just wild speculation, bu what if they are going to announce a release date and show footage of Halo 3?

Edit: By the way, was Halo 2 released on the 22nd last year?
 
[quote name='greendj27']After checking out that site it has to be something related to Halo 3.

This is just wild speculation, bu what if they are going to announce a release date and show footage of Halo 3?

Edit: By the way, was Halo 2 released on the 22nd last year?[/QUOTE]


After a second thought the blog could be fan made and most likelly this is about BC games.
 
[quote name='spoo']After a second thought the blog could be fan made and most likelly this is about BC games.[/QUOTE]

That''s true too. It definitely seems like its Halo related though. That NOv 22 date for the posts is suspicious though. I checked and Halo 2 came out on 11/9, so maybe the 22nd is the release date for the 360 instead.
 
[quote name='triforcer']MS is over doing their viral marketing. it's not as interesting any more especially when they do it all the time, they're just killing it.[/QUOTE]

Yup. MS should use something like the Burger King king guy. Now those are funny. These crap circles & Bee stingers are retarded.
 
[quote name='dcfox']Take some pics while you're up there.[/QUOTE]

There was absolutely nothing in the way of cryptic XBox 360 advertising at the UC/UConn game today. I would imagine that something that out of place would stick out like a sore thumb. Oh well. At least UC won! Go Bearcats!!!
 
k, i agree this is interesting but a dumb campaign.

any idea what the symbols mean? plus it'd be cool if somone caught the guys with tractors/tools/etc doing it.
 
haha...This shit is great. Doesn't make me want a 360 any more, but it's cool to see how it all fits together. As a marketing scheme, not so great. But as a mystery, it's pretty cool.

Those blogspot blogs usually end up being fake, though. But, with this junk, you never know.

Edit: It seems to have been confirmed by the gaming press that this new one is by 4orty2wo, who did the I Love Bees campaign, as well as the old The Beast ARG for A.I. As per usual, Unfiction is all over it. :lol:
 
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6135857.html

"RUMOR #2: Halo 3 will ship on August 1, 2006.

Source: A forum thread on Xbox365.com.

The official story: "Microsoft does not comment on rumors or speculation."--Microsoft spokesperson.

What we heard: Here we go again. It appears that Microsoft has started yet another viral marketing campaign. The first signs surfaced on the Xbox365.com forums on October 13. That's when a poster named "Lutz" started a thread titled "The beginning is nigh" above a photo of a curious, approximately 100-foot-wide symbol carved into San Francisco's Ocean Beach. The symbol is comprised of the roman numerals for 8, 1, and 6 in between a circle and a hexagon. Later on in the thread, Lutz posts two more pictures of the same symbol appearing in a field in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and another beach in Jacksonville, Florida.

When asked what the symbol was, Lutz's sole written reply was "I will enlist the help of the truly committed, but first you must solve my puzzle." That statement sounds very much like the puzzle challenges on Ourcolony.net, the teaser site which helped hype the release of the Xbox 360. So it was little surprise when, within a few posts, fans were already speculating that that the numbers were a date--8/1/2006--and that said date was the release of, in the words of one poster, "OMG! HALO3!!"

Yesterday, the connection between the pictures and the Xbox 360 became a clearer. That’s when the site Hex168.com went online. It purports to be the Lutz World Report, a conspiracy newsletter written by one Dr. Jason Lutz from his subterranean bunker in Saskatchewan, Canada. It warns of increased "sightings" of the crop circle-like "Hexes" and warns of the mega-powerful Hex, Hex 168. Turns out that name is a clue. A Xbox365.com poster of the number-crunching variety found that if one takes 168 as a hexadecimal value and then converts it into binary code, it becomes the sequence "0001 0110 1000." Put the three together into "000101101000" and that converts back to "360"--just the sort of nerd-friendly hint Microsoft's viral marketing campaigns are known for. The Hex168.com site also sports a countdown clock which ends on noon, October 18.

Today, members of the games press got proof positive that the whole Hex business is indeed another viral marketing ploy. Late this afternoon, members of the games press were sent an e-mail "tip" with pictures of the oh-so mysterious Hex sign on various objects and still more mysterious text that sounds like the mutterings of a half-crazed pagan prophet. "The sign is a puzzle, and it is a promise: 'I will bring them together to witness the New Beginning before the rest of the world. And I will reward them with a physical manifestation of the power of this sign.'" It also says the sign would appear at four college football games on Saturday, October 1: Duke University vs. Georgia Tech (Durham, NC); Syracuse University vs. Rutgers (Syracuse, NY); Rice University vs. Tulsa (Tulsa, OK); Connecticut vs. University of Cincinnati (Cincinnati, OH). It also gives this bloated oath: "At noon on October 18, the true purpose of the sign will be revealed, and the truly committed will have their chance to experience the New Beginning before the rest of the world."

But for all the mysterious portends in the body of the "tip" e-mail, there's no question about its humble origins in Microsoft's hype machine. Bearing the subject line "TIP: the beginning is nigh for 360 fans," the e-mail was sent by none other than 4orty2wo Entertainment, the marketing firm which originated Ilovebees.com.

So what will be announced at noon on October 18? While not impossible, chances are it will not be Halo 3. A more probable outcome is the company will use the date to either unveil the Xbox 360's final games lineup or game price point. There's also the possibility of it being something along the lines of Origen360.com, which teased the world for weeks about ... a contest in Europe that Americans can't even play.

(Author's note to 4orty2wo Entertainment: I want the 76 minutes of my life it took to write up this rumor back.)

Bogus or not bogus?: 100-to-1 it's bogus. Any takers? "
 
. There's also the possibility of it being something along the lines of Origen360.com, which teased the world for weeks about ... a contest in Europe that Americans can't even play.
Click to expand...

The author lost all repeatability with that comment. It is obvously something to do with the US since all the pics are of places in America. :whistle2:#
 
[quote name='spoo']The author lost all repeatability with that comment. It is obvously something to do with the US since all the pics are of places in America. :whistle2:#[/QUOTE]

when he said that he was still talking about origen360. I think he means the idea of origen360 might be coming to America now.
 
[quote name='zewone']On Oct. 18th it's probably gonna list certain dates and locations where you can try out the 360 early.[/QUOTE]

hopefully its something bigger than that. I guess we'll just have to wait till tomorrow.
 
Dunno if it's anything (seeing as there's already the binary connection) but 168 is the number of hours in a week.

EDIT: Actually, you don't even need to do the binary thing. If you take 168 as a hexidecimal value, you get 1*16*16+6*16+8=360
 
[quote name='Strell']168 backward compatible games.

Or 1 + 6 + 8 = 15 BC games.

That's my final guess.[/QUOTE]
That is what I am hoping for.

T- 1:00
 
wtf>>????
its cycling

Whoever was in charge at Microsoft is having a break somewhere. And they're going to look at their watch and go OH SHIT

I don't see anything to click on that appeared post countdown either
 
Uhhh.. it's just going bonkers now.

//edit: Is this where I go into fanboy mode and mutter "It's active!" incoherently?
 
[quote name='orphicblue']It left the number "6" on my countdown...[/QUOTE]

Left 5 on mine, and 4 on my stepdad's, which is odd.. but hit refresh.
 
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