Project 2012 (Hersheypark)

Project 2012 is a viral marketing campaign surrounding the launch of an attraction at Hersheypark, Hershey, Pennsylvania, called Skyrush. It began in October 2010 and has continued through the announcement of Skyrush in August 2011. The campaign incorporated use of a variety of websites under false names, including the Ride Institute of Technology, LaMarcus Brothers Mid-Air Excavation, and O'Connell Plumbing & Drain. Much of the discussion surrounding the campaign has taken place on Facebook^[1][2] and Twitter.^[3]

Ride Institute of Technology

The campaign began in October 2010 during the shoulder season for Hersheypark called Hersheypark in the Dark. Several people from the website Keystone Thrills^[4] organized a park meetup. When that occurred, several people claiming to be “scientists” working for a company called the “Ride Institute of Technology” (RIT) showed up and gave the group an envelope filled with puzzle pieces before walking away. Once assembled, the puzzle spelled out See u in the spring…game on. The letterhead displayed a logo from RIT, along with the group’s website. A mysterious letter posted on the website offered a number of clues about the group’s founders, but nothing specific. The letter referenced Comet Halley and announced a new project to begin in the spring of 2011.^[5] In February 2011, the group received a letter from the Ride Institute of Technology written in Dutch. Upon translation, the letter revealed the official ride announcement would come early August and was later interviewed for a news segment regarding the proposed attraction on WGAL 8 out of Lancaster, PA.^[6]

On April 18, the RIT released a second generation of its website, with a history of the group, services offered, and a section where the group’s scientists would release forthcoming “studies.” The first study was released on Monday, April 25 with a subsequent study coming out each Monday for the following three weeks. At the same time, the Hersheypark Facebook page posted a link to a mysterious new Facebook group called Project 2012. The first study—and all subsequent studies—contained highly technical jargon along with clues embedded into the documents. The group’s final study was chopped into 12 puzzle pieces which were then sent out to different coaster enthusiasts.

Coinciding with the RIT releases, a person by the name of Jan Van Der Velde from a research group called “AFW” emerged. A competitive report from Van Der Velde was released, and he later appeared in a video where he questioned Dr. Michael Coupone, the chief accountant for RIT. Van Der Velde objected both to the secrecy with which RIT conducts its scientific research, and to the group’s “lack of transparency” regarding financial reporting (see the section on "Awesome Fun World" below).

LaMarcus Brothers Mid-Air Excavation

As the final pieces of the fourth study was put together, a company called LaMarcus Brothers Mid-Air Excavation was revealed.^[7] The company offered services including wind paving, aboveground foundation design, and atmospheric excavation. LaMarcus Brothers also mentioned previous work with Hersheypark, though the exact nature of this relationship has not been confirmed. On Saturday, May 28, a representative from LaMarcus Bros. was in Hersheypark wearing a bright yellow company t-shirt and handing out business cards with a code of "goldenRod85" written on the back. The LaMarcus Bros. website also mentions a "Kangaroo Bridge" project, which could be connected to both the Attraction 2012 project or future projects at Hersheypark.^[8] The "goldenRod85" note on the back of the business cards turned out to be a password that led to a locked section of the website which revealed a new company - O'Connell Plumbing and Drain.

O'Connell Plumbing & Drain

Eventually a third company, O'Connell Pluming and Drain^[9] brought the elements that something would soon be removed to make space in the park for the new attraction- it too, led to more elements, including a voicemail from OCPD. Also during this time, stickers began to pop up on water fountains at the restroom and changing room facilities throughout the park with different phrases featured on them such as "You must understand design, the nature of design, and the idea of design" and "The Guggawatercloset will never be equaled," all with the phrase "Uncover the Truth" and the web address to Hersheypark's Facebook page featured.

This also lead to a link on the O'Connell site that featured a group of flashing pictures that featuring the area underneath sooperdooperLooper's brake run with the first turnaround of Comet in the background, part of a barcode, another picture with part of a barcode and a black & white image with objects on it, as well as a restroom sign with a red line through it, a picture of one of the benches in front of the Tilt-A-Whirl ride with an arrow pointing to behind the bench, and another picture of the same bench with the date of July 18, 2011 on it. The pictures of the bench led to more clues located around the park at each of the park's roller coasters and ending up back at the "soon to be removed" restrooms in Comet Hollow. These clues led enthusiasts to the phrase "Ride the Edge", the potential catch phrase of the new attraction.

Coaster Test Pilot Solutions

Through the O'Connell website, there were clues dropped that something would be taking place on July 18 around a bench near the Tilt-a-Whirl in Comet Hollow. On that day, players that went to the Park found a QR code on the back of the bench, that when scanned, gave them "01. r" Upon further discovery, they learned that there were QR codes behind benches near each of the Park's 11 coasters. When they scanned them all and assembled all of the letters in the order in which the coasters were introduced at the Park, they got "Ride the Edge." The final QR code also led to the webpage for a company named Coaster Test Pilot Solutions.^[10] The page featured a video explaining how the company uses real people to test out roller coasters in the place of sensored test dummies.

Around this time, the character of Donan Michael (from the Nantimi viral marketing game for Fahrenheit) was re-introduced with his own Facebook account and LinkedIn. Through these channels, followers learned that he interviewed for and was hired as the chief security officer for Coaster Test Pilots and was being sent on a mission to Hersheypark during his probationary period. Shortly after, Donan informed his followers that he had forgotten something at the park. The next day, July 24, 2011, some coaster enthusiasts meeting at the park went to the park's Lost and Found where they received two folders filled with "top secret" documents as well as a flash drive. These folders contained info, as well as what appeared to be part of the ride logo, a Photoshopped blurred version of the ride's layout, as well as the ride's color scheme. Several days later, an auto reply to his email address revealed that Donan was let go by the company and on the same day, Donan updated his Facebook page with Awesome Fun World at the "Help Desk" as his current place of employment.

Awesome Fun World

Jan Van Der Velde is a character that has been incorporated in the game from nearly the beginning of the storyline. The character recently updated his Facebook page with the company Awesome Fun World^[11] as his place of employment. This name relates to the initials "AFW" that were discovered in the early stages of the game.

He was also seen in a video released on to both Facebook and YouTube,^[12] which shows Doctor Michael Coupone at beginning a press conference. Van Der Velde quickly interrupts asking a question and Coupone ends the conference almost immediately.

References

External links

• Ride Institute of Technology website
• LaMarcus Brothers Mid-Air Excavation website
• O' Connell Plumbing & Drain website
• Coaster Test Pilot Solutions website
• Keystone Thrills website
• Letter from AFW (Dutch) - released February 2011.
• Propulsion Dynamics study - released April 25, 2011.
• Gravity Manipulation study - released May 2, 2011.
• Materials & Design study - released May 9, 2011.
• Interdisciplinary Studies study - released May 16, 2011.
• Letter from AFW (Dutch) - released May 2011.
• RIT Media Relations Team Interview Transcript - released June 8, 2011.