Even with so many would-be summer blockbusters trying to bring attention to themselves before the season begins, reaching out to fans with viral videos and great trailers and everything else, The Amazing Spider-Man has managed to be consistently one step ahead of everyone else. Sony has embarked on a massive viral marketing campaign with a lot of real-world elements, from the Spider-Man day trailer preview to the campaign over at Mark of the Spider-Man, which had teams of fans in six different cities tagging a Spider-Man stencil on the sides of buildings-- apparently legal, but still pretty cutting-edge for movie marketing.
Now the viral campaign has gotten a little more complicated, with teams of people handing out Wanted posters for Spider-Man at Wonder Con over the weekend, and the debut of a new viral video and a new viral site, WebbedMenace.com. In the video, which you can watch below, Police Captain George Stacy-- Gwen's dad, of course-- pleads for the people of New York to stop considering the webbed crusader a heroic vigilante, but a criminal. Take a look below.
I've never quite realized why Capt. Stacy and his ilk were always so anxious to consider Spider-Man a threat instead of an ally, but with Peter Parker also making eyes at Captain Stacy's daughter, I guess I can't blame him for being suspicious. If you call the number Stacy mentions in the video, you get a recorded message encouraging you to visit WebbedMenace.com, where you can "submit your sighting" of Spidey himself. Beats me how you're supposed to do that, but if you're a devoted Spider-Man fan, I'm sure you can come up with a way.
There doesn't seem to be much of a mystery to unlock here, the way the viral sites for The Dark Knight Rises can send you down a rabbit hole of clues and deeper mysteries, but it's still fun to play around with, and nice to see big movie marketing go out on a limb. We've got time to see plenty more viral marketing like this before The Amazing Spider-Man arrives in theaters July 3.
