steven spielberg’s upcoming film A.I. (artificial intelligence) is supposed to have an unusual marketing idea. they are hitting the internet with fake websites based on characters and companies from the film — people like a dr. jeanine salla, a scientist/sailor named evan chan, and a business enterprise called donu-tech.

i first heard about this weird occurence through a friend, and i proceeded to a message board where a bunch of net-savvy individuals had discovered office phone numbers to some of the aforementioned characters in the soon-to-arrive film. they even discovered some information using a concealed extension number and . a strange thing that i myself stumbled upon today was a website for that evan chan fellow (for-evan.com) who was supposedly mysteriously killed. look at his life span: 2066-2142. it’s odd… these marketing people went as far as to come up with explicit information about his death, start a yahoo group for discussion, and construct a family website for the chans (familychan.org).

there’s also a website for the dr. jeanine salla. look closely at the little university seal under her picture. it reads: “founded A.D. 2028.”

it’s really freaky, i’d say. i don’t really know what’s going on with this, as i am neither familiar with the movie plot nor a computer nerd. so i haven’t tried deciphering any hidden messages or calling up fake offices. ok, am i the only curious person here, or does anyone else find this really mysterious? coming up with fake universities, professors, and scientists along with accompanying websites? this just seems too intricate of a marketing gimick for the simple-minded movie-goer.