Limbo

June 3rd, 2009

The 15th E3 is taking place at the Los Angeles Convention Center and into its 3rd day of publishers announcing upcoming titles.^[1] Included among those was Dante's Inferno.^[2] It would be the first AAA game released by EA Redwood Shores after being rebranded as Visceral Games in May 2009, with Jonathan Knight in the role of Executive Producer.^[3] S.A.V.E.D., a religious group, arrived to protest the game.^[4] On hand they had signs, pamphlets, and online they had an informational website and videos.^[5]

Over the course of a few days, S.A.V.E.D. and their protest were revealed to be a marketing stunt produced by advertising agency W+K, paid for by EA.^{[7] [8]} As additional press coverage spread, some news outlets provided updated to their respective articles, while some reported on reactions from Christian online communities.^[9] This kicked off Highway to Hell, the first half of the Nine Months of Hell marketing campaign project devised by a team at W+K and Phil Marineau, a Senior Product Marketing Manager at EA.

May 12th, 2009

Gaming influencers were given a sneak peek of the game and gifts to inspire interest and excitement during an EA community day event.^{[10] [11]}

February 1st, 2010

This campaign would also feature EA's first Super Bowl commerical commercial.^{[12] [13]} The tagline had to be changed in order to air on TV.^{[14] [15]}

Lustful & Gluttonous

July 23rd, 2009

EA took advantage of their presence at the 40th SDCC, opening once again at the San Diego Convention Center, for the next Highway to Hell promotion.^{[17] [18]} With the second circle being Lust, the team wanted to utilize a concept that would allow them to increase community engagement by using a tradition associated with 'Con Culture' – a lead conversation conversion method in which a model is hired as a costumed representative to interact with con visitors, either for an established fandom or a product based on a new and upcoming IP. The campaign would use the month's theme, the rising popularity of social media platforms, and costumed reps staffed at SDCC for a contest in order to drive additional awareness to the game.

On a landing page for the contest (sintowin.me), it was stated that submissions inappropriate for any reason could be disqualified, such as depicting or mentioning sex, violence, drugs, alcohol and/or inappropriate language.^[20] The Us mentioned in Rule 1 included workers at the Dante's Inferno booth at the event, who had their own costumed representatives.^{[21] [22]} Visceral also had a panel that day to discuss the game's development.^{[23] [24]}

July 24th, 2009

The Sin to Win contest had completed its first day, with mild engagement from flyers being handed out. However, it would soon begin to increase thanks to news outlets and publications spreading word of the promotion.^{[25] [26]} This publicity would become its notoriety.^[27] Ars Technica was the first to report on the contest, with was referenced and spread by other publications.^[28] An #EAFail hashtag campaign was started on Twitter; this became the primary reaction to the promotion. Secondary reactions were question what the problem was.

EA had the team issue a statement later in the day.^[29] Publications either updated their articles linking to it or writing wrote new pieces centered around it.^{[30] [31]} This however did not quell the general discussion around the content, so that became the promotion in of itself. There were still submissions; some serious, others not. A winner was supposed to be announced on the 25th, but nothing was placed on any of the teams' social accounts.

It was not until the 27th when the team would publicly acknowledge 2 entrants, one being a writer for GayGamer.net.^[32] Many publications had declared that they had been the winner, but officially they were a runner-up.^{[33] [34]} The writer responded to this announcement by declining the prizes, asking instead for the money to be used for:

1. A new sexual-harassment training video/seminar
2. Another PR team to try to spin this whole debacle of a contest into a positive light
3. A direct phone like to EA's legal depart [sic] to use before anymore PR stunts
4. Six copies of the game when it releases
5. or the next time you go to Hooters (for the wings, of course), leave a $240 tip for your waitress

The photos they submitted were from PAX 2008.^[35]

August, 2009

For the next Highway to Hell promotion, the team attempted to rebuild goodwill by buying specific bloggers a free BBQ lunch, then sending a meat cake shaped like a human limb.^[36]

Avaricious and Prodigal

September, 2009

After finding success, albeit limited, with Gluttony last month, the team decided to continue working with bloggers within the gaming community in order to bring buzz back to the campaign without being too controversial. To this end, and using the theme of the month, editors were sent a 'Greed Box' containing a check for $200, with instructions to interact either by cashing it and spending the money or throwing it away.^[37]

Based on their decision and sending proof back via a URL, participants received a prize pack containing a keepsake and a message. Packs were named "Hoarder", "Waster" and "Righteous" (for those who chose to donate the money).^[39] The intended meta-commentary was to call into question the journalistic integrity of those who took the money.^[40]

This was extended to reporting on the checks at all, especially outlets critical of the Sin to Win contest.

Constructing materials like this and sending them directly to bloggers proved to be the campaign's strong suit for generating interest. Risque concept would use guerrilla tactics as buffering against any immediate criticism to EA.

Quick-Tempered and Slothful

October, 2009

With Greed being so well-received, the production team was given the greenlight to conceptualize another shippable item for influential bloggers. The theme to tackle was Wrath, and the team wanted to build something intricate and interactive that would elicit this response. What was decided upon was a large box with multiple layers of wood that would protect an MP3 player connected to an audio amplifier. Attached to this circuit was a wired switch that could not be turned off once triggered, and two-weeks worth of battery power – in addition to a hammer and goggles.^[43]

Originally the circuits were supposed to be protected by a plastic encasing, but this caused the batteries to stop working, so they had to be redone.^[44] After a considerable amount of time spent on producing the music boxes, bloggers began to receive them around the end of the month.^[45] Reportedly weighing almost 20 pounds, recipients were told ahead of time that they should be filming the full unboxing, as well as wearing the goggles for safety. However, they were not made aware of what the box was going to be doing, nor how difficult it was going to be getting into the box to turn it off once triggered.^{[46] [47]}

In addition to the involvement on the part of the bloggers interacting with the boxes, the music being played was deliberately chosen to help generate buzz on the internet.^[48] This has been primarily linked to the emergence of social media platforms, the wider accessibility of such content that they provided, and the ease of spread. Today it's a common strategy: Meme Marketing. A noticeable difference between its implementation here in 2009 as opposed to contemporary examples is that it maintained the 'pranking spirit' that the meme was formed around, with no changes to the original idea.

What also helped is that the meme was still fresh in the public consciousness, despite the fact it had been in use on the internet since 2007. However, this had been kept to local usage as an inside-joke on 4chan and other sites. It wasn't until 2008 when awareness began to reach a fever pitch, when it was beng used as part of Project Chanology protests, and then the most repeated April Fools joke of the year, including YouTube and the New York Mets.

Heretics and Epicureans

November 17th, 2009

Gaming sites began to receive an email from Prayer Works Interactive, a Boston-based game development company focused on traditional family values. Their press release stated that they felt there was a lack of quality games that followed such principles, and had founded the company in order to inspire and bring families closer to the Lord. Mass: We Pray would be their first game – players collect Grace points by participating in 24 rituals such as Holy Communion. These points could then be used to unlock the Holy Mysteries. It was scheduled for an Easter 2010 release, with preorders beginning on November 20th.^{[51] [52]}

The majority of sites publishing the press release used a sarcastic and dismissive tone, and pointed out Prayer Works had no business records.^{[53] [54]} Playing up that they thought it was fake, some felt it necessary to include a disclaimer – key phrase being: Playing up.^{[55] [56]} Successful guerrilla marketing involves an element of misdirection, such as providing an overabundance of vague information to audiences to invite further investigation. This is important to point out as many of the sites reporting on it the press release had been involved in previous Highway to Hell promotions.^[57] With this in mind, consider the following:

1. Gaming sites had been made aware in advance and this was coordinated.
2. The campaign had been running for awhile and lost the element of surprise.

In this case, based on reactions from the general public as the story spread, both could be true.^[58]

November 20th, 2009

As promised, the website for the game had been updated to advertise that pre-ordering was now available. However, clicking on any link besides the original trailer instead brought up a modal condemning the visitor to Heresy, the sixth circle of Hell.^[59] Along with a new trailer, there was also a link for Go To Hell, a Facebook application that allowed users to send anyone or anything to a circle of Hell.^{[60] [61]} Other users could then vote to further punish to absolve submissions. Megan Fox and Sarah Palin were initially the most damned until EA itself was submitted.^{[62] [63]}

The logic for using Mass: We Pray for Heresy somewhat comes from Catholic doctrine stating that worship must be done in the presence of an ecclesiastical authority on consecrated grounds.^[65] The social application, however, was just a means to further test social media for conversion-to-sale rates.

Gaming sites that had been reporting on Mass: We Pray soon had new articles to either vindicate their assumptions or played up that they had been fooled.^{[67] [68]}

Violent

December, 2009

The team wanted to construct another shippable item to send to bloggers; detailed, but less involved. They also wanted to push the envelope by using Violence as the theme, without putting EA at risk. The decided to send exlusive ornaments to a small pool of partners that had helped in previous promotions. Those who were selected began to receive a link to humanxmastree.com.^[69] They would be shown a short video in the style of a snuff film presenting their selected ornament being plucked from the titular Human Christmas Tree.^{[70] [71]} Once identified via their UID, it arrived via mail.^[72]

The site was being shared publicly by a limited number of outlets, so anyone accessing the site could see these videos.^{[73] [74]} This ensured exposure to the promotion if anyone stumbled upon it. With the small number of ornaments produced and the nature of the videos, the intent was to keep visibility limited and exclusive – the campaign had already achieved its goal. Working directly with bloggers and creating engagement, stimulating the need for monthly coverage and spread through word-of-mouth, had made consumers very aware of the game.

While there were still 2 promotions left in the Highway to Hell half of the Nine Months of Hell, which was the 'awareness' portion, the other half still needed follow-through: the 'reach' portion. The game itself already had trailers and preview builds available to try at events such as E3 and Comic-Con. However, EA had deals in place which required having a playable demo ready by December. The Gates of Hell demo, featuring only the first level of the game, would be available to download first through PSN on the 10th, followed by Xbox Live on Christmas Eve (24th).^{[75] [76]} It was a tight turn-around;

December 10th, 2009

Shortly before the PSN version of the demo was released, news outlets began to report that the PS3 build of the final game would include extra bonuses at no additional cost.^{[77] [78]} Called the Divine Edition, it would include:

• A developer commentary
• A digital art book
• The game's soundtrack
• A digital version of the original book in the Longfellow translation

The combination of the the awareness and reach being generated by the Nine Months of Hell project resulted in 100,00 game preorders and 4 million downloads of the Gates of Hell demo.^{[81] [82]}

The Evil Ditches

January, 2010

For Fraud, the team first decided to release some conceptual art for potential collateral, such as cologne and perfume, and treat them as 'leaks'.^[83] This included art for a bike, which the team built and then produced a fake commercial.^[84] The art included the URL 66666tongues.com as a note. This was next accompanied by a 'leak' of fake achievements for the game, with the URL cutby6666666.com as a note.^[85] These included:

• Hey, Abubu! Ghraib: Kill 10 Torturers in the Crusaders' dungeon. – 10 pts.
• Two Demons, One Cup: Kill two Gluttons with covered in their feces. – 10 pts.

66666 (666 66) became cut by, 6666666 became tongues – this formed the final URL (cutbytongues.com) where visitors could upload a picture to customize a visual from the game.

EA was very happy at this point. Excluding any additional funds spent by W+K, Highway to Hell cost $200,000 and generated 47 million impressions.^[86] Excluding any additional costs accured by EA, 100,000 preorders brought in $5,799,000 before the game was released. With such a limited budget, this helped to prove that conversions-to-sales through the internet by means of social media and influencers were possible. Imagine, then, what greater investment into that space might do.

The creative aspect of the campaign was important, but inciting conversations around any product could be possible, regardless if the sentiment towards what was being marketed was positive or negative – what mattered was the intensity. What needed to happen first was to homogenize consumers onto these platforms, as having too many disparate outlets may prove to reduce awareness, in turn reducing reach. The Nine Months of Hell was a test for the games industry, to teach them how to properly evolve its marketing efforts.

It was the Highway to Hell.

Traitors & All That Follows from Them

February, 2010

This was the final Highway to Hell promotion, so the team wanted to go out guerilla-style.^[87] They set up a few social accounts and a website (hawkpanther.com).^{[88] [89]}

February 22nd, 2010

The 874th WWE Monday Night Raw featured a title match between Maryse and Gail Kim, John Cena and Batista battling for a chance in WrestleMania, and a career challenge from The Undertaker to Shawn Michaels. A commercial promoting Les Singer and the Hawkpanther system aired within the last hour of the show, which began to generate reactions from those watching via social media and elsewhere on the internet.^{[90] [91]} Once visitors came to the site and spent a brief amount of time clicking on various pages, a pop-up window would open, condemning them to Treachery, the ninth circle of Hell.

March 4th, 2010

W+K held a celebration party for the Highway to Hell campaign as their First Thursday event, showing off most of what had been made for the Nine Months of Hell.^{[92] [93]} Other material was shown for Lust. Ken Smith from KGW News Channel 8 was on the scene to cover the event.^[94]

W+K's additional investment into Highway to Hell allowed the campaign to garner several industry awards, nominations and honors.

• The Webby Awards 2010: Honoree, Advertising, Media & PR Integrated Campaign ^[95]
• DMACS Awards 2010: Honoree, Best Multichannel Cross-Media Campaign ^[96]
• The One Show 2010: Merit, Integrated Branding, Integrated Campaign ^[97]
• Cannes Lions Festival 2010: Bronze Cyber Lion, Digitally Led Integrated Campaign ^[98]
• Visual Effects Society Award 2010: Nominee, Outstanding Animated Commercial ^[99]
• Clio Awards 2010: Silver, Integrated Campaign ^[100]
• AdWeek Media Plan of the Year List 2011: Selected, Integrated, $1 Million – $10 Million ^[101]
• Effie Awards 2011: Selected, New Product or Service ^[102]

In its release month of February, Dante's Inferno would sell 467,200 copies across both Xbox 360 and PS3, making the NPD's Top 20 list.^[103] The game received mixed reviews, and it did not return to the NPD's list in March; God of War 3 released that month and sold 1,100,000 copies, and became one of the best selling PS3 games of all time.^[104] Destructoid, who were involved in previous Highway to Hell promotions, rated Dante's Inferno as a 9 out of 10, breaking the trend of lukewarm reviews.^[105] They rated God of War 3 as a 10 out of 10.^[106]

Visceral began work on the Purgatorio follow-up for 6 months before EA redirected their resources elsewere.^[G2] They would produce several more titles for the company, such as Dead Space 2 & 3, before being shut down in 2017.^[107] Jonathan Knight would leave EA in late 2010. Steve Desilets left Visceral shortly thereafter. Both would go on to work at Zynga to be involved in Facebook game development. Knight would later be involved in the Westworld mobile game.^{[108] [109]}

2023

This video was The Hawkpanther videos were recorded within an area of Portland, OR known as the Pearl District; a neighborhood west-side of the Willamette in-between Old Town China Town and Slab Town. Many famous design agencies, studios and galleries are within walking distance. It plays host to a monthly event called First Thursday, which features receptions and new show openings. Since 1986, it's served as a means for creative professionals and art enthusiasts to network, explore the area and local design scene, as drink plenty of wine.^[110] Most didn't check cards. W+K was founded in 1982 by Dan Wieden & David Kennedy, who quit their jobs to work with Phil Knight and NIKE – the office was only a block away from my college.^[111]

One of the best teachers I ever had worked at W+K. He taught Concept Development. He was upfront and said our school wasn't respected in the industry. I knew this, but it was nice to hear. With this acknowledged, he would take us to have class inside of W+K instead – I loved it. We'd go up to the sixth floor. They had a kitchen up there, as well as a meeting spaced called The Nest.^[112] I was in the belly of the beast. I ended up annoying that teacher because I wasn't taking an exercise seriously, which was to come up with a campaign to highlight the benefits of losing your job. Selling a burder like that? Inconceivable!

I was only 19 at the time. Years of experience taught me about being a professional creative: you don't get to just be making cool stuff, you have to be willing to push the product too. Doesn't matter what it is, it doesn't matter who the client is. You can still enjoy the work, it's nice when you come up with a unique or clever angle, but you can't ignore where the funding comes from. Still, a box with the intent to make people mad? Working out a way to draw that emotion out? It's a fun idea. Too bad it helped ruin this world. These tactics have evolved, it's up to you to try and stay ahead of them.