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| Model built using clues for Hersheypark's new project |
It’s all part of an elaborate marketing strategy designed to generate buzz.
Hersheypark has been down this road before. When it announced Fahrenheit in 2007, it conducted a viral marketing campaign filled with twists and turns. But what fans say is different this time around is the depth and detail involved — fake Web pages, hidden messages, foreign languages and symbolism abound.
The clues will also be coming more frequently. A website dedicated to the attraction promises to release four new “studies” every Monday over the next four weeks.
“Honestly, the idea of a viral ad campaign like this for a theme park ride is quite unique,” said Lance Hart, creator and operator of screamscape.com, one of the leading amusement park news websites. He’s been following the campaign since it started in the fall. “The only other time I had ever seen one was as a lead-in to Hersheypark’s last big coaster, Fahrenheit, and that one was ... very mild by comparison to where I think this one is heading,” Hart said in an email.
Officially, the park has released few details about the ride since its initial discussions with Derry Township last fall. However, earlier this month Hershey Entertainment & Resorts was required to file a building permit with the township. There were few details included, except for a map that shows a possible serpentine layout of the new ride in the Comet Hollow section of the park.
Hersheypark officials are staying pretty mum about their plans. They did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment. However, in an interview earlier this month, park General Manager Frank O’Connell chuckled when asked about the construction under way in the park.
“We’re building a slushy stand,” was all he would say.
Hart said that in the past, viral campaigns in which organizations drop hints piecemeal have been used to tease movies and video games to much success. “I think people in general enjoy a good mystery story,” he wrote. “And the chance to be the one to solve that mystery is just too tempting to ignore.”
At the center of the game is the Ride Institute of Technology, a fictitious roller coaster think-tank. In October, the Ride Institute was introduced to a trio of local fans who were visiting the park. They were directed to a website for the institute, which they believe contained clues about the park’s new ride. But for the last several months the park and the RIT website have been quiet.
Not any more.
Just days after Hersheypark opened for the spring season, the institute is back with a new website and promises of more clues over the next few months. “I’m actually getting more interested in the site than what they’re building,” said Chris Cronrath, a co-founder of Keystonethrills.megabb.com, a website where people talk about amusement park news. “It’s a fun read ... and it kind of reminds me of the TV show ‘Lost.’”
Like “Lost,” there are puzzle pieces scattered around for people to find. One of the most recent — three logos for the Ride Technology Institute that have appeared on three industry Web pages. Stare at the images long enough and they flash four numbers, part of what appears to be a 12-digit series.
Finding all 12 numbers could be the key to a code, or lead to yet another riddle. The updated website also promises it will release four “studies” over the next several weeks. The studies, purported to be about propulsion, gravity, materials and interdisciplinary studies, are expected to contain more clues about the ride.
There are also more direct links with Hersheypark. One of the website’s pages features “distinguished alumni” — some of whom are park employees, Cronrath said.
Meanwhile, within the park itself, construction has started in the Comet Hollow area. The building permit filed by the park didn’t provide many details, since amusement parks are exempted from providing land development plans to local municipalities if they’re adding features within their boundaries.
However, the permit did include plans showing the location of the ride’s support foundations — and what appears to be a possible track connecting the dots.
Eric Geiple is one of the people following the project’s progress with the KeystoneThrills group. As clues have leaked out, he’s been mapping what could be the ride’s course through the park. He found the building permit’s plans fascinating.
“You can easily see where the creek runs and where it runs around the Comet,” he wrote in an email. “It also looks to have a lot of low turns with some high air-time hills in the middle.” That has him leaning toward an Intamin-designed roller coaster, the Swiss firm that designed Fahrenheit, he said.
Other fans are leaning toward the design firm Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, the designers of the Great Bear.
The clues will also be coming more frequently. A website dedicated to the attraction promises to release four new “studies” every Monday over the next four weeks.
“Honestly, the idea of a viral ad campaign like this for a theme park ride is quite unique,” said Lance Hart, creator and operator of screamscape.com, one of the leading amusement park news websites. He’s been following the campaign since it started in the fall. “The only other time I had ever seen one was as a lead-in to Hersheypark’s last big coaster, Fahrenheit, and that one was ... very mild by comparison to where I think this one is heading,” Hart said in an email.
Officially, the park has released few details about the ride since its initial discussions with Derry Township last fall. However, earlier this month Hershey Entertainment & Resorts was required to file a building permit with the township. There were few details included, except for a map that shows a possible serpentine layout of the new ride in the Comet Hollow section of the park.
Hersheypark officials are staying pretty mum about their plans. They did not return calls Tuesday seeking comment. However, in an interview earlier this month, park General Manager Frank O’Connell chuckled when asked about the construction under way in the park.
“We’re building a slushy stand,” was all he would say.
Hart said that in the past, viral campaigns in which organizations drop hints piecemeal have been used to tease movies and video games to much success. “I think people in general enjoy a good mystery story,” he wrote. “And the chance to be the one to solve that mystery is just too tempting to ignore.”
At the center of the game is the Ride Institute of Technology, a fictitious roller coaster think-tank. In October, the Ride Institute was introduced to a trio of local fans who were visiting the park. They were directed to a website for the institute, which they believe contained clues about the park’s new ride. But for the last several months the park and the RIT website have been quiet.
Not any more.
Just days after Hersheypark opened for the spring season, the institute is back with a new website and promises of more clues over the next few months. “I’m actually getting more interested in the site than what they’re building,” said Chris Cronrath, a co-founder of Keystonethrills.megabb.com, a website where people talk about amusement park news. “It’s a fun read ... and it kind of reminds me of the TV show ‘Lost.’”
Like “Lost,” there are puzzle pieces scattered around for people to find. One of the most recent — three logos for the Ride Technology Institute that have appeared on three industry Web pages. Stare at the images long enough and they flash four numbers, part of what appears to be a 12-digit series.
Finding all 12 numbers could be the key to a code, or lead to yet another riddle. The updated website also promises it will release four “studies” over the next several weeks. The studies, purported to be about propulsion, gravity, materials and interdisciplinary studies, are expected to contain more clues about the ride.
There are also more direct links with Hersheypark. One of the website’s pages features “distinguished alumni” — some of whom are park employees, Cronrath said.
Meanwhile, within the park itself, construction has started in the Comet Hollow area. The building permit filed by the park didn’t provide many details, since amusement parks are exempted from providing land development plans to local municipalities if they’re adding features within their boundaries.
However, the permit did include plans showing the location of the ride’s support foundations — and what appears to be a possible track connecting the dots.
Eric Geiple is one of the people following the project’s progress with the KeystoneThrills group. As clues have leaked out, he’s been mapping what could be the ride’s course through the park. He found the building permit’s plans fascinating.
“You can easily see where the creek runs and where it runs around the Comet,” he wrote in an email. “It also looks to have a lot of low turns with some high air-time hills in the middle.” That has him leaning toward an Intamin-designed roller coaster, the Swiss firm that designed Fahrenheit, he said.
Other fans are leaning toward the design firm Bolliger & Mabillard Consulting Engineers, the designers of the Great Bear.
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