Fox begins Viral Campaign for Dollhouse - Dollhouse

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May 23 2008

Fox begins Viral Campaign for Dollhouse. ... and Fringe and Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles. To be honest, we only know it's related to Dollhouse because of Future on Fox's tags, but that's probably at least part of the game.

I've already got my application in and dug up the puzzle solution and sent that in. Haven't had time to read the whole blog yet. I was never interested in stuff like The Lost Experience, but this is an ARG for a Whedon show! How cool is that?

cabri | Dollhouse | 15:54 CET | 49 comments total | tags: dollhouse, terminator, the future is within reach

hee

Simon | May 23, 15:58 CET

Are we sure this is related to Dollhouse? It seems they would be focusing on Fringe right now.

IrrationaliTV | May 23, 16:02 CET

Well, dang. I personally think it's deserving of its own thread, but go ahead! delete away! ;)

And Tamara, Dollhouse is one of the tags.

ETA: Er, not one of my tags, one of FoF's tags

[ edited by cabri on 2008-05-23 22:03 ]

cabri | May 23, 16:03 CET

Are we sure this is related to Dollhouse? It seems they would be focusing on Fringe right now.

I think it's a gentle nod to say that some sort of online interactive experience will be coming soon and that particular entry on the Fox blog is giving an example of what it will be like.

But of course I could be just saying that. For all the posters know Whedonesque was set up 6 years purely as an online game for Dollhouse. Wait till January 11th 2009.

Well, dang. I personally think it's deserving of its own thread, but go ahead! delete away! ;)

Nah. Though I did check the Holomove site and from a quick perusal it didn't seem to have anything to do with Dollhouse. But it will be interesting to see the fandom cope with an interactive online game thing.

Simon | May 23, 16:08 CET

You said it, Simon. Still scratching my head on that one:)

Madhatter | May 23, 16:11 CET

FWIW remember that there is a difference between an outright ARG and simple viral marketing.

@theonetruebix | May 23, 16:20 CET

I don't get it. Someone feel like teaching?
I can see how it's related; I saw the Dollhouse tag and the Truest Souls link, but I still don't get its point.

Ugh, off to document mileage over the past 4 months for reimbursement purposes. *grumble*

BandofBuggered | May 23, 16:22 CET

Well, I'm just guessing, but you're probably meant to still search for the point through many advertisements, BuB.

dreamlogic | May 23, 16:27 CET

Like ProgGrrl said, it's 'extra added fun for us'. However, it isn't at all required to enjoy the actual TV show. I never did any of the Lost or Heroes viral/ARG stuff and still loved those shows. Considering how devious Joss and Abrams can be, though, I think there may be some really twisted content coming down the pike.

cabri | May 23, 16:47 CET

I really really don't get that.

swanjun | May 23, 16:59 CET

Well, since this is obviously new for some of us, are there tips or something to figure these things out? Do you think Whedon & Abrams are in co-hoots?

korkster | May 23, 17:00 CET

Simon: "But of course I could be just saying that. For all the posters know Whedonesque was set up 6 years purely as an online game for Dollhouse."

*bows before Simon, that most Meta of Metas and Mindf**k of Mindf**ks.*

Wow, very paranoia-inducing.

; >

Maybe Simon is also actually Caroline, zeitgeist, SoddingNancyTribe, Herb, and Milo?

Or maybe Joss Whedon doesn't really exist per se? Maybe Gail Berman invented him as part of a viral marketing campaign for BtVS? But... but I met him! So what does that mean? He seemed real enough to me.

Maybe I don't exist! Or maybe I'm just a viral marketing campaign to recruit (or repel) fandom?!!? What is it all about? What's happening?!? What is reality? Ahhhhhhhhhh!

*stares at hand for several hours without blinking.*

See, this is one of the things I don't like about viral marketing. It blurs the line for those of us whose grasp is tenuous enough as it is.

QuoterGal | May 23, 17:02 CET

You exist, QuoterGal. I invented you. Your quotes intrigue the readers, you see. No worries.

Oh, and tell your friends.

Sunfire | May 23, 17:06 CET

Quick, everyone start feeding QG's post into various decoding scripts to find the hidden message.

@theonetruebix | May 23, 17:08 CET

Wow, very paranoia-inducing.

You should hear my theory about sleeper agents ^_^.

Simon | May 23, 17:13 CET

I just learned how to text and IM a few months ago. I don't think I can handle this.

Dizzy | May 23, 17:28 CET

Silence! This is awful.

We should just speak the truth and do good deeds. So it doesn't matter who it's for. For instance, we could just build or repair houses for people who need them.

You think I'm ever gonna stop?

dreamlogic | May 23, 17:44 CET

Ahem... did anyone else repeatedly read Holomove as Homolove and become confused at the IT survey questions?

Just me then?

Hmm.

Smooshed Face Lion | May 23, 18:12 CET

*is enjoying this immensely*

ProgGrrl | May 23, 18:22 CET

Our silence is deafening, another way to make a point.

Smooshed Face Lion, love the "Wonderfalls" reference.

Madhatter | May 23, 18:32 CET

Hmmm...I now think maybe this is all for FRINGE at the moment. See comments in this post...

*is too lazy to investigate all those links further*

ProgGrrl | May 23, 18:36 CET

The real question is whether this or this are real viral sites, or fan-run viral sites.

@theonetruebix | May 23, 19:21 CET

*head hurts*

I just spent TWO HOURS reading all of Nate Bozeman's blogs, and, while I enjoy this idea of cryptic messages, my eyes are crossed from the blurring of reality and fiction. And no direct ties with Dollhouse, that I know of.

There was a video of Dr. Gough explaining his methods of pursuing science at whatever the cost, and that got me thinking back to the tags on FOX (Dollhouse & Terminator). Here me out:

Dr. Gough goes on about pushing the limits/threshold on society and how something that once was impossible becomes possible because he goes out there and proves it possible. Now, they're very vague on what projects they focus on. Who's to say that the company that creates Terminator and the company that makes the Dolls are under this umbrella corporation? That they're all linked together in some sort of mass conspiracy of science that has ever rocked the planet?

Like I said, my eyes hurt.

But, whether or not that theory proves true, I like the concept of tieing different shows in together without the audience knowing (unless they figure it out from the virals) until the series finale. Like a spin-off if the stories and plots never really had anything in common except the end result... which would prove they were always tied in together.

Thoughts on this?

korkster | May 23, 19:23 CET

I don't know, theonetruebix, seeing that I can't access either (the first doesn't work, and the second needs an access code). If anyone would have viral feeds on Dollhouse, it should be Topher Brink.

korkster | May 23, 19:26 CET

No time for viral marketing mysteries, but I'm happy to read the Whedonesque Cliff notes. (Or korkster notes!)

jcs | May 23, 19:36 CET

Oh, no, jcs, there will be no buck-passing here! I have the GRE tomorrow and how am I preparing? Playing on Whedonesque and trying to figure out the viral game. That'll be well worth my graduate education! *scorns self* Plus, I have no frickin' idea on what I'm doing or what to look for with the viral (and using other people clues and discoveries to keep above water), and have no evidence to provide to you except for my "what-ifs".

I really should study. Well, a couple of more posts first.

korkster | May 23, 19:40 CET

Based solely on my feel for the Holomove site and bios and my vast experience in ARGs and viral marketing (i.e., none), I was thinking the Holomove R&D Dept might be working on portals to other realities, which would enable them to include all three shows. Or I'm just reading too many SF novels. ;-) I do love me some alternate realities!

cabri | May 23, 21:20 CET

I would tend to think that this marketing is for Virtuality, given that it does with, well, virtual reality, and this marketing involves holography.

@theonetruebix | May 23, 21:48 CET

Anybody really good at password hacking or anything like that? I'm really curious about that second site that theonetruebix linked to. It's got a .com site so it could be more than fan run, but it's definitely Dollhouse related.

InevitableTraitor | May 23, 23:19 CET

It's got a .com site so it could be more than fan run

Being a .com means nothing. I own tons of .com domains, for example.

@theonetruebix | May 23, 23:23 CET

The real question is whether this or this are real viral sites, or fan-run viral sites.

May I ask where you found those two sites?

Because I found something on one of them just now...

*is slightly suspicious of onetruebix*

ProgGrrl | May 23, 23:35 CET

May I ask where you found those two sites?

Adelle sent me email from her domain. It read, simply: "Take Southlandlabs.com offline for now whilst we redesign."

I am uninvolved in whatever this is (except, obviously, in the sense that someone whose identity I do not know sent me said email out of nowhere, presumably hoping I would then mention it somewhere).

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2008-05-24 05:57 ]

@theonetruebix | May 23, 23:49 CET

Reading that website (and related links) and this thread has me supremely disturbed. Is there some brand of conspiracy here?

Buffy the Slayer Layer | May 23, 23:57 CET

OK, well take a look at the source code on here (a variation on the URL you'd tried above). "soon. but not yet" A start...though I must say that page is a tad, erm...cheesy looking.

I don't see anything on the source on the other page. Maybe I'm missing something.

ProgGrrl | May 24, 00:02 CET

Doh. I didn't even think to drop the www. from the domain and see if anything came up. As for "erm...cheesy looking", my suspicion at this point is that this is fan-run. Although I imagine part of the key to determining that is figuring/finding out whether "Southland Labs" is something that actually crops up in Dollhouse, or something that's just been pulled out of thin air, maybe.

@theonetruebix | May 24, 00:06 CET

Whoa...even scarier than bizarre viral/transmedia would be...COMPLETELY FAKE viral/transmedia created by fans to mess with other fans' heads.

o_O

ProgGrrl | May 24, 00:09 CET

It's happened before. (Actually, I ran an out-of-game site during The Lost Experience that nonetheless was very careful never to contradict what was known to be true in-game, and for a short time at least confused some people as to whether or not it was an official site.)

[ edited by theonetruebix on 2008-05-24 06:14 ]

@theonetruebix | May 24, 00:12 CET

I can confirm that the Holomove puzzle solution is on this page. ;D

cabri | May 24, 00:13 CET

I can confirm that the Holomove puzzle solution is on this page.

Which page?

ProgGrrl | May 24, 00:15 CET

Hehehe

cabri | May 24, 00:41 CET

Whoa...even scarier than bizarre viral/transmedia would be...COMPLETELY FAKE viral/transmedia created by fans to mess with other fans' heads.

I have seen that before, that was really annoying, because it happened all the time and no one knew when something was real or not.

Pretty_Hate_Machine | May 24, 04:34 CET

While a Dollhouse ARG would possibly be the greatest thing ever (I've been wanting a Buffy ARG for years), it seems really likely that this particular thing is for Fringe. Check it out: a few days ago, Fox posted "you haven't looked hard enough," in response to an article asking where the viral marketing was for Fringe. Which confirms that there IS Fringe viral marketing already out there. Put the two posts together, and you get a very probable Holomove = Fringe connection. I think the other tags may just have been Fox being playful.

omnie | May 24, 05:32 CET

God dang "cunning" FOX! Has me now addicted to ARG which is possibly Fringe related? Can't sleep, must solve puzzle, must use newly learnt tools of decodement. What if I use ROT translating, or modular encryption or the ascii code?!@#$
Dammit Holomove and crypted messages..!Grrr, "ARG"gghhh!

[ edited by Jossaholic on 2008-05-24 14:43 ]

[ edited by Jossaholic on 2008-05-25 01:08 ]

RollingInKittens | May 24, 08:28 CET

Heh heh

*is enjoying this immensely*

ProgGrrl | May 24, 08:55 CET

This is taking up way too much of my time.

cabri | May 24, 16:02 CET

blink

ShadowQuest | May 25, 12:38 CET

Wow, gone for a few days and look what happens! Conspiracies, coded messages, and puzzles abound! This is both slightly unnerving and exciting! I loves me a good game... like a scavenger hunt! That you aren't quite sure you're on...

cookiepartier | May 26, 11:39 CET

I'm too lazy/strapped for time to fully examine this stuff, let alone read all the comments here. All I know is that I really hope I won't be missing out on information related to the show by not participating in any online alternate reality games. I just don't have the time and patience to devote to things like "The Lost Ring."

MorningGloryBlu | May 27, 00:21 CET

*sighs*

Can someone just do the work for me? This takes too much time out of a normal person's life. I, you know, am not normal, but there are people out there who are normal and expect me to behave in accordance to.

korkster | May 27, 19:30 CET

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