We’re less than a month out from the premiere of the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones, and despite the show’s insane level of popularity, HBO has nevertheless been trying some expected — as well as some novel — ways to get the word out about the new season’s imminent arrival.
We’ve already gotten a trailer, snippets of footage, myriad cast interviews and also a blood drive. Yes, HBO teamed up with the American Red Cross for a Bleed for the Throne blood drive campaign — encouraging fans to literally bleed for the show’s titular Iron Throne.
Speaking of the throne, HBO has also launched a similarly unconventional effort to keep the buzz and hype around the final season high. “The quest for the throne is on,” several GoT actors explain in a Facebook post about this new marketing initiative, for which HBO has hidden half a dozen Iron Thrones around the world and encouraged fans to find.
The first is hidden in what appears to be a forest. HBO has posted a few 360-degree YouTube videos of the throne in that location at this link, which includes a countdown timer showing how long fans have left to successfully claim it before time has run out. Here’s one of the videos showing the throne in its mystery setting:
After time runs out for this one, or someone claims it, HBO will do this again five more times. It’s one piece of the network’s #ForTheThrone campaign, which asks fans how far they’ll go for, er, the throne.
You’re encouraged to “bleed,” “create” and “quest” for the throne.
We told you about bleeding for the throne via the blood drive, and the quest component we explained just now via the scattering of Iron Thrones around the world. “Create,” the other piece of this, involved HBO tapping 18 artists from around the world to reimagine 18 official show props — to see what they would “create,” in other words. The results are available here.
When you’ve finished bleeding and questing, meanwhile, as we all await the season 8 premiere on April 14 check out our report from Friday walking through when each of the season’s six episodes will air and how long they’ll be.
