As great as anticipation has been for this year's biggest comic book film, Iron Man 2, the viral campaign has kind of been kind of a drag. Applying for positions at Stark Industries never panned out; the article clippings gave us a trailer, but never sent fans out of the house to find clues and not once has anybody received anything cool in the mail (a la Tron Legacy). So with the film set to come out in just 38 days, what can they really do?
How about a homepage for the major Stark Expo, which, according to sources, will play a major part in the film. Now redirecting from StarkIndustriesNow.com, StarkExpo2010.com has launched and while it does offer some cool stuff, it's hardly on the level of I Believe In Harvey Dent from The Dark Knight or receiving a toy Bit from the upcoming Tron sequel. What is available are Stark Expo wallpapers (from 2010 and 1974), and two videos promoting better life through technology. What makes this standout is that it gives us our first look at Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark, who is being played by Mad Men's John Slattery. The rest of the site, so far, just gives us a look at the design of the "upcoming" expo in Flushing Meadows, New York, including a 3D layout and a gallery of computerized representations of the former World's Fair site.
Between the lazy poster work and the barely-there viral campaign, it is fairly obvious that the people over at Marvel know that they don't have to do much to promote this film. The first film was beloved to the tune of $318 million domestically and anybody who had even the slightest interest in that film will want to see the sequel. It's a gamble, but it will probably be one that pays off in full.
