Super Bowl 50 audiences
were invited to fly the friendly skies above Metropolis — and the somewhat more
grim air above Gotham City — via new Turkish Airlines commercials debuting
during Sunday's big game, but they were just the start of a campaign intended
to make the fictional cities more real ahead of March's Batman v Superman: Dawn
of Justice. The spots, created by ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky London,
made their U.S. debut Sunday ahead of a global launch Feb. 19. Featuring each
city's business leader — Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck) for Gotham, Lex Luthor
(Jesse Eisenberg) for Metropolis — the ads direct viewers to newly created
landing pages created to inform interested parties about the culture, geography
and history of Batman and Superman's individual stomping grounds, each one
filled with easter eggs for the comic book faithful and newcomer alike.
Gotham's page, for example, reveals that the
city was "founded by a Norwegian mercenary," before name checking a
number of comic book creators who have contributed to the Dark Knight's legacy
while listing must-see destinations: the Ellsworth Building, Robinson Park and
Port Adams, referencing editor Whitney Ellsworth, Batman co-creator Jerry
Robinson and artist Neal Adams, respectively. Similarly, the Metropolis page mentions
Shuster Arena and Siegel Music Hall (after Joe and Jerry, Superman's
co-creators), as well as the Schaffenberger Gallery, named for the artist Kurt
Shaffenberger. The page also mentions a couple of concepts familiar to comic
book readers, including Luthor's LexCorp Tower and the "Avenue of
Tomorrow," which houses high-tech think tanks and organizations. (The
Gotham TV spot actually contains the most obvious comic book Easter egg: a neon
sign announcing Ace Chemicals, the company traditionally responsible for the
chemical soup that created the Joker.)
Both pages offer the
chance for visitors to win seats on the inaugural flights to each destination,
which translates in real world terms to attending the Batman v Superman
premiere on March 20; the contest is open through March 9. The Turkish Airlines
component is just one part of the promotion, with a special edition of Time Out
magazine, devoted to the two cities, scheduled for release ahead of Batman v
Superman: Dawn of Justice arriving in theaters March 25.
