Glossary of Terms

Cryptogram

A Cryptogram is a language puzzle with carefully structured text that can be decoded to reveal a secret message.

Easter egg

A website Easter egg is a hidden, obscured or otherwise secret feature of a website.

Metadata

Website Metadata consists of information written into a website’s source code that typically describes the page for indexing by search engines.

Examples of website metadata: Title Tag, Meta Description, Alt Text, etc.

Source Code

Website Source Code refers to the code which developers write that can be read and executed by a web browser in order to render the content and functionality of a website.

Source Code is viewable in most browsers by right clicking the page and selecting “View Page Source.”

At first glance, the Tiny Hands microsite looked like an ordinary campaign page. But with a few subtle clues, visitors who viewed the source code would find a secret world full of Easter eggs and rants directly from Deadpool’s own twisted mind. Those that made it through a web of riddles got a surprise reward in the form of an exclusive, high-end Tiny Hands box set from their favorite antihero.

The breakthrough moment occurred when we realized Deadpool’s proclivity for breaking the fourth wall and the fan community’s obsession with Easter eggs could line up nicely with hidden messages from Deadpool himself buried in the site’s source code (repurposing metadata as a free creative medium). The risks were obvious: SEO would suffer if the hidden playground went unnoticed. But by helping our client see the buzzworthy potential, we knew it was a risk worth taking.

The Tiny Hands microsite was a huge hit with fans. The metadata experience stoked deep engagement on fan hubs like the Deadpool subreddit. Trolli’s website sustained a daily site traffic boost of more than 300% throughout the duration of the campaign. Publications like Fortune, Forbes, SyFy and Collider covered the action. Total campaign impressions cracked the 2 billion mark, Sour Brite Tiny Hands became the fastest-selling product innovation in 7-Eleven history, and the movie set a new record with the No. 1 box office opening of all time for an R-rated film.