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The case focuses on the alternate reality game m
(ARG) named 'The Lost Ring' sponsored by the
US-based fast food company McDonald's.
McDonald's, as a part of its multi-pronged
marketing campaign to commemorate four
decades of association with the Olympic Games,
decided to be a part of the ARG, The Lost Ring.

The ARG that began in March 2008 attracted

gamers from all over the world. The game started
with a series of clues that led to hidden artifacts
across the world, and finally to solving the
mystery that involved finding the sixth Olympic
ring. The story was woven around amnesiac
athletes from parallel worlds, lost Olympic sport,
Greek mythology, labyrinths, Esperanto language
etc.

To solve the mysteries, the participants had to search for clues both online and offline. Over three million people from 100
countries across the world participated actively in solving the mysteries. The associated websites received millions of blog and
media impressions. Though McDonald's was involved in the game right from the beginning, the fact that it was sponsoring the
ARG was revealed much later. All through the ARG, no reference was made either to McDonald's or its products, which left
analysts wondering how McDonald's could have benefited from its involvement in the whole event. Some of analysts termed it as
'Dark Marketing,' as the presence of McDonald's was barely felt through the entire event.

Œ




£ Understand the emerging trends in advertising in a web-enabled world.

£ Evaluate using ARG as a promotion and advertising tool.

£ Analyze the pros and cons of using ARG for marketing.

£ Examine how ARGs can be used as an audience engagement tool.

 

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McDonald's, Alternate Reality Gaming, Beijing Olympic Games, Advertising Strategy, Multi-pronged Marketing, 'The Lost
Ring', Web 2.0, Jane McGonigal, AKQA, The International Olympic Committee, Lost sport, Bloggers, Dark Marketing, Web-
enabled Tools, Audience Engagement

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In January 2009, the AdweekMedia

BUZZ3 awards were presented. The grand prize
winner was AKQA4 for 'The Lost Ring' campaign.
The awards were presented in 17 categories and in
each of the categories the winners were selected
by a panel of judges that consisted of 16 industry
experts. From the 17 winners, the editors of
Adweek, Brandweek, and Mediaweek chose the
grand prize winner, for creating the most buzz-
worthy campaign. 'The Lost Ring' campaign was
chosen for the winner due to its "Most seamless
incorporation of a brand logo, character, jingle, or
product into the world of a game."5 The campaign
also won the BUZZ award in the gaming
category.
m m

Œ


The Lost Ring, an alternate reality game (ARG)

(Refer to Exhibit I for more about alternate reality
games), was created for the US-based fast-food
company, McDonald's Corporation (McDonald's)
by renowned ARG designer Jane
McGonigal6(McGonigal) and AKQA. The
International Olympic Committee (IOC) was also
actively involved in the project. To commemorate
40 years of sponsoring Olympic Games,
McDonald's launched a multi-pronged marketing
effort, whose main aim was to enhance the brand
image of McDonald's while providing support to
the Olympic Games, and 'The Lost Ring' formed a
part of those efforts.
m
The ARG began on March 03, 2008, and ended on August 24, 2008, coinciding with the closing ceremony of the 2008 Beijing
Olympic Games. As a part of the game, for a period of around six months, gamers from all over the world received clues about
ancient mysteries and legends. The clues were hidden both online and offline. The gamers had to search websites like YouTube
and Flickr for the clues.

They also had to hunt for clues in different places across the world. This called for participation from people in those locations.
The game attracted over four million people, across 100 countries who shared information through blogs, forums, mails, etc...
ÿ 
McDonald's was founded by the McDonald
brothers - Richard and Maurice - in San
Bernardino, California, in 1937. It was the first
self-service restaurant in the US, and it soon
gained popularity. In 1961, Ray Kroc who was a
franchising agent for McDonald's bought out the
business rights for McDonald's and changed the
name of the company to McDonald's
Corporation...

 
  ÿ 


The game started in February 2008 with

McDonald's and AKQA sending packages to 50
active bloggers, who blogged frequently about
gaming.
m
Ñackages were sent from a mysterious address - T L Ring, 1920 Olympic Way, San Francisco, CA - to bloggers across the world,
located in the UK, Canada, the US, and Germany. Each package contained a few postcards from the 1920 Olympic Games , a
poster from the 1920 Olympic Games with a picture of a discus thrower, and a ball of yarn of different colors...

  


'The Lost Ring' featured six characters who had amnesia and did not remember anything about themselves. They found
themselves in different places in the world, blindfolded, wearing sports attire, with a tattoo on their hands in the Esperanto
language - that translated into 'find the lost ring'. All of them were athletes with the caliber to participate in the Olympics...

m
G  



      

The Codex of twenty seven artifacts, when

completed, revealed three secrets. The first secret
was that there were several parallel worlds
existing in the universe, and the six amnesiac
athletes came from these worlds. The second
secret was that the worlds remained in
coordination, due to the practice of the ancient
sport called Labyrinth Running...

 



Like any other ARG, 'The Lost Ring' also

involved gathering information through social
networking.
m
The players were allowed to communicate with each other and also with the characters - Ariadne, Diego, Lucie, Markus, Meihui,
Noriko, Eli Hunt, Kai, and Larissa through e-mails, chats, bulletin, etc. and then also share the information on public forums. The
players did not have to be technical wizards. Only access to the Internet and the ability to use image sharing was required. 'The
Lost Ring' also used GÑS devices called tracksticks to verify the labyrinth paths...

G  


Exhibit I: More about Alternate Reality Gaming

Exhibit II: Image of the Clue Found in Sydney - Ñreparing the Human Labyrinth