The viral marketing for Hellboy II: The Golden Army is very much an ARG (Alternate Reality Game). A web address – hetfet.org – was seen throughout the movie trailer, which at the time lead to a simple page with a mysterious logo for something called… HETFET (shocker, no). Fast forward to this weekend and now it’s a full-blown site for the fictitious organization Humans for the Ethical Treatment of Fairies, Elves and Trolls. The site is filled with PETA-like content, making for a fun game filled with photos, forums (need to join to access) and another link to add to the list – thesecretdevice.com, which is a simple Flash based puzzle that when solved offers yet another set of links to delve deeper into the game.

Also of note, The Underwire reports that some media outlets received a press release from a mysterious and untraceable Shera Vellotts about a HETFET protest that was held in New York City:

“Dozens of protesters armed with ‘Save The Trolls’ signs disrupted a gathering at New York City’s Jacob Javits Center this past weekend, intent on raising awareness for…HETFET, but after a short time, police arrived on the scenes to disperse them, forcibly removing several of the protestors in the process.”

And yes, there was an actual protest, signs and all.

I also took a look-see at Unfiction.com, a community forum for ARGs, for more information. Seems to be quite a bit, which if you’re a sucker for these games will be very helpful.

So yeah, yet another ARG to sap your time away from you, your family and friends. Guillermo, Guillermo, Guillermo… you clever marketing whore. God bless you.