In order to finance the new 007 film Skyfall, MGM and Sony turned to brand to raise a rumored $45 million in product placement, bringing in partners ranging from Heineken to Coca Cola. To promote the film and Sony's own electronics line, Wieden+Kennedy created an online interactive fiction text adventure asking, "Are You Fit to Serve?"
By Michael Andersen, originally posted at ARGNet
James Bond has been a loyal servant of Her Majesty's Secret Service for over 60 years, pulling in six different actors to bear the coveted code name, 007. And it's no wonder: there aren't many jobs that cater to Bond's predilection for fast cars, tailored suits, and drinking on the job. Daniel Craig will be returning as the current incarnation of Bond for the November 9th release of Skyfall, and won't be passing on the 007 mantle any time soon. In anticipation of the film, Sony turned to Wieden+Kennedy to give fans the opportunity to serve alongside the Royal Secret Intelligence Service's most famous fictional agent, by passing a secretive five-part examination conducted through an online text adventure game.
Finding the text adventure game in the first place required more than a little work. A few weeks ago, I received a package in the mail from "J," a man with an unwholesome fixation with barn swallows. Inside the relatively innocuous package, J sent over a Sony IC Reader pre-loaded with 18 seconds of birds chirping. The name of the file, 50-112-251-215.mp3, directed attentive players to the IP address 50.112.251.215, which serves as the hub for the experience. An advertisement on the Reddit homepage also drove visitors to the page, along with a companion advertisement from the "Sky Full Society" that provided Redditors with the same sound file of birds chirping.
The stark website features the Royal Secret Intelligence Service's seal, along with a simple question: "ARE YOU FIT TO SERVE?" Initially, the test itself was protected by an audio password: players could only gain access to the MI6 application process by playing the audio file of birds chirping. That additional barrier has since been removed, and the viral experience begins in earnest with the click of a button.
The five-part employment examination is conducted through a series of interactive fiction text adventures on a screen reminiscent of command line computer interfaces. Each test is designed to determine the player's aptitude in five different skills MI6 requires in its agents: Situational Awareness, Emotional Detachment, Technical Improvisation, Lateral Thinking, and Instinct. In each test, players guide an agent on a mission, armed with limited time and supplies. A series of helpful hints makes it difficult but not impossible to fail missions, although finding the optimal solution to each challenge is not a simple task and may involve looking beyond the website for answers.
Win or lose, the experience is capped off with the Skyfall trailer. Sony product placement features heavily at every step, from the Sony IC Reader containing the first piece of the puzzle to the virtual phones and laptops used by agents to protect Queen and Country. While normally this might come off as heavy-handed, product placement and James Bond have gone hand in hand so long that Sony's presence is a comfortable reminder that we're dipping our toes in 007's world.
On the surface, the Skyfall viral shares much in common with Byzantium Security, Campfire's campaign for Cinemax's Hunted. Both campaigns crafted a five-part employment examination, and both teams made explicit overtures to the Reddit community. From a gameplay perspective, however, the campaigns are polar opposites.
For Byzantium Security, the online test is designed to be the spectacle, with each new test carefully crafted to subvert expectations. For each new test, the challenge is to identify what Byzantium Security is really testing for—the answers themselves are largely irrelevant. Framed as an extended magic trick, the experience is designed to entice players to go through multiple times to figure out the trick.
With Skyfall's MI6 application process, the tests are much more straightforward assessments of the player's mental acuity: either you're capable of navigating the challenges, or you're not. Since every mission involves guiding MI6 agents through missions, players face increasingly difficult challenges as they acclimate to the text adventure system. Players know exactly how their skills are tested: the challenge is continuously finding the optimal solution. And, by imposing artificial limits on the number of times each mission can be attempted, the Skyfall testing system more closely replicates an application process for secret agents, with all its urgency and finality. Knowing the all too real possibility of failure, successes in the Skyfall tests can be celebrated as personal triumphs, while messages noting better solutions may drive greater care in future missions. Despite their similarities, the two campaigns serve as distinct variations on a theme.
If you're interested in testing your mettle against the five phases of Skyfall's MI6 application process, head over to RoyalSIS.co.uk before the newest installment of the Bond franchise hits theaters on November 9th. You can also join in the discussions about the missions over at Unfiction and Reddit. There are more than a few easter eggs out there for die-hard James Bond fans, so even if you found the best solution to all the challenges there may be some elements you missed.
