San Francisco Turned Into Gotham City For Batkid
By Ciaran McCormick on Saturday, November 16, 2013
The Make-A-Wish Foundation made dreams come true for Miles Scott, a five year old boy suffering from leukaemia. They turned San Francisco into Gotham City and enlisted its residents as a huge cast. He idolises Batman and so the charity developed plans to allow him to become the Batkid and live the life of a superhero for a day. He began the day by watching an ABC news report about a crime in progress, calling for his help. He had to rescue a damsel-in-distress from the cable car tracks and apprehend the Riddler robbing a downtown vault. To top it off, he even got to ride around in a black Lamborghini as his Batmobile.
As well as realising the dreams of a boy that had suffered so much, this was an excellent PR stunt for the Make-A-Wish Foundation. They turned it into an experience for the San Franciscan public. On his Make-A-Wish page, people were encouraged to join a massive celebration at Town Hall as the Mayor gave Miles the key to the city and congratulate his heroics. They even organised a flash mob to warn the Batkid about another villain. The Penguin had captured Lou Seal, the baseball mascot for the San Francisco Giants. The whole day was a huge success for Make-A-Wish and Miles, even encouraging local newspapers to run special editions featuring his capered antics. It trended on Twitter and turned out to be a hugely successful experiential stunt with a human heart.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FThPAvtmHBU