Fans around the world are preparing for the return of Game of Thrones tonight by cooking foods from the Seven Kingdoms, baking cakes, and gorging on HBO’s current #TakeTheThrone marathon, but the marketing department at New Zealand’s SKY Television has gone the extra mile when it comes to promoting the show with an actual statue of King Joffrey that fans can topple via Twitter.
According to Media Bistro , the Game of Thrones themed statue measures seven meters tall, or approximately 23 feet, and is located at Aotea Square in Auckland, New Zealand. Fans can help bring down the statue by tweeting with the hashtag #BringDownTheKing. A live feed at bringdowntheking.com provides fans with a look at the statue with a winch hooked up nearby. The winch is tied to the statue by a length of rope around King Joffrey’s neck.
“It’s exciting to give fans an opportunity they are dying for; to assist in the demise of the King of the Iron Throne,” said SKY’s director of programming Travis Dunbar. “ Game of Thrones is a worldwide phenomenon and King Joffrey is quite possibly the most hated fictional television character of all time.”
With two live camera views to switch between, there is also a live Twitter feed for “The Voice of the People,” showing the most current Game of Thrones tweets with the hashtag.
DDB New Zealand, who crafted the Thrones promotion for SKY, seems to have created the promotion from their own personal hatred for the boy king. Executive creative director Shane Bradnick said, “It’s great to be working with clients that want to create ideas that bring the fictional, digital and real worlds together. Let’s bring the bastard down!”
In the show, King Joffrey is a sadistic teenage boy who thrives in causing pain to others and is set to be wed to Lady Margaery Tyrell in the upcoming season. HBO has teased several behind the scenes featurettes on the Royal Wedding with details on the work that went into the elaborate costumes, the new crowns, the numerous courses of food that had to be prepped for the feast, and, of course, the future queen’s dress. Actress Natalie Dormer said she’s been married professionally on screen before, but her Game of Thrones wedding “takes the biscuit.”
The new season of Game of Thrones will premiere in just about three hours at 9pm Eastern. What have you done to help bring down King Joffrey and do you have an elaborate party planned to celebrate the return of the bloody show?
