Treasure Hunt
Puppet pirates, $10,000 in actual US Treasury coins, and a full-fledged, digital-to-live-and-back again assault? Sounds good to me–and it’s all part of “We Lost Our Gold,” an alternate-reality game that’s getting write-ups all over the NYC-centric web. Kicked off yesterday, this is a real-life treasure hunt for gold somewhere in the five boroughs, and anyone can play. With a series of web videos released each week with hidden clues, Twitter accounts for the two main pirates (@143crowsnest and @sodoffbuggers), a Facebook page, and even interviews with trad media like MSNBC, “We Lost Our Gold” might be one of the purest fusions of live and digital I’ve seen, with a genuine (and big!) payoff for participants. Despite speculation that this might be a ploy for someone like NYC Tourism, the project was independently created by a puppetmaker and a video editor. Big brands, though, could take a cue from these Brooklyn guys. Live and digital fused and co-mingled like nobody’s business, and a fun yet significant incentive to garner participation and conversation–these are just the sorts of elements that get advocacy going.
