Halo ARG causes 300+ calls to unwitting college student

by Kyle Orland { Jun 20th 2007 at 1:25PM }

It's all fun and games until someone gets 300 cell phone calls in a matter of days. That's what your mom might say about the story of Michael VanderZand, an innocent bystander whose cell phone got accidentally drawn into an alternate reality game promoting Halo 3.

It all started when ARG followers came across what looked like a cell phone number template in the Xbox Live motto for a mysterious Bungie.net user called Adjutant Reflex. The number led followers to VanderZand's cell phone which, coincidentally, had a Red vs. Blue audio clip as his voice mail message. The message set off alarm bells for callers, and the number was soon being passed around message boards and ARG sites all over the 'net.

In actuality, VanderZand is just a Halo fan and a business and marketing student from Michigan who has nothing to do with the game (Or is that just what he wants us to think? No. It's true). In an interview with Hushed Casket, VanderZand seemed mostly bemused, especially with some of the more nervous callers. "Most of you wouldn't even respond when you got a live person on the phone. ... How do you expect to get anywhere if you don't even have the balls to respond?" he asked. We bet these same people don't even have the guts to ask Jenny for a good time when they call 867-5309.

Tags: alternate reality games, AlternateRealityGames, ARg, calls, cell phone, CellPhone, halo, halo 3, Halo3, harrass

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Matt B @ Jun 20th 2007 1:32PM

Only 300+?

With the hype surrounding H3, I thought it would have been in the tens of thousands. Maybe its not going to break the record.

refinedsugar @ Jun 20th 2007 1:32PM

Let's say you do have me boxed in ... and I have to put you down ...

deaftly @ Jun 20th 2007 1:41PM

now thats what i call a sticky situation

Anam @ Jun 20th 2007 1:46PM

Nice to see the guy is taking it in good spirit.

Grindstone @ Jun 20th 2007 1:49PM

Hmm, I hope he has a good cell phone plan... I know if they called me, those 450 minutes would be eaten up real quick.

Jonathan Tran @ Jun 20th 2007 2:06PM

So, is someone going to post the number?

This reminds me of the guy who made a youtube video that just said "call me to talk" followed by his cell number (that was it), and got 3,000 calls in one month.

Then again, that was on purpose.

mattt @ Jun 20th 2007 2:14PM

my friend was one of the 300 people that won crackdown from the xbox live/the 300 promotion. microsoft sent emails to everyone with a phone number to confirm that they had won. unfortunately the phone number was wrong, causing some teenage girl to get all the calls. you would think that they would have made sure something like this didn't happen again.

AdjutantReflex @ Jun 20th 2007 2:23PM

Msg# 18oo- Diversion 237- complete.
3 90 1

Anam @ Jun 20th 2007 2:24PM

@mattt

I don't think Microsoft intended for it to be a phone number to begin with. It was probably a number meant for something else that people mistook for a phone number. That's just a guess though.

Steve @ Jun 20th 2007 2:31PM

VanderZand?

Was someone typing birth certificates while drunk 20 years ago?

Mikeawesome @ Jun 20th 2007 2:36PM

It should be noted, this was mostly the Bungie.net guys.

Anyone from the other, more respectable forums not only waited until a decent hour to call, but also had one person call to confirm whether or not the item was in-game our out-of-game. There are obviously stragglers, just clawing for whatever info they can get who probably called before reading all the posts and the updates about the calls, but for the most part, the organized ARG centric forums kept their heads about them.

Jacob P. @ Jun 20th 2007 2:40PM

@8

oh noes, we've been chosened...

Jason Tyra @ Jun 20th 2007 3:34PM

Hmm...
A MARKETING student who just so happens to have a Red vs. Blue audio clip voicemail greeting. I call shenanigans.

Adam @ Jun 20th 2007 3:36PM

People are acting so silly about this whole thing, it's unbelievable what these kids are asking the "artificial intelligence" (aka some dude at a desk laughing at them giving incredibly vague responses)

Steve: I think they might fix that if it were the case. I just wish this guy had a son and named him Alexander Alec VanderZand. What do you think?

EnderOSC @ Jun 20th 2007 4:36PM

I also won the 300 Crackdown contest. Here is the e-mail that I recieved (There was no phone number at all):

Dear Winner,

CONGRATULATIONS! As the Independent Judging Organization retained by Warner Bros. Pictures Domestic Marketing ("Warner Bros."), we are pleased to inform you that your entry has been randomly selected as one of three hundred (300) Prize Winners in the "300 - CRACKDOWN" SWEEPSTAKES drawing! Your prize (pending response to this email notification) is a "CrackdownTM" Xbox 360 video game.

In accordance with the Official Rules of the Sweepstakes, you must be a legal resident of the fifty (50) United States (except the States of Florida, New York and Rhode Island and excluding Puerto Rico, all U.S. territories and possessions and overseas military installations and where prohibited or restricted by law) or the District of Columbia and be 18 years of age or older as of the date of your entry.

If you are not of legal age of majority in your state of residency, please bring this email notification to the attention of your parent or legal guardian so that you may respond together.

To confirm eligibility and acceptance of the prize, please confirm and provide the following information:

1. I confirm that I am eligible in accordance with the above-stated: (YES/NO)
2. NAME: (confirm)
3. COMPLETE MAILING ADDRESS (that you would like prize sent to) (NO POST OFFICE BOXES):
4. HOME PHONE #:
5. DOB:
6. IF NOT OF LEGAL AGE OF MAJORITY, NAME OF GAURDIAN

Please respond by e-mail to this notification within five (5) business days. As is stated in the Official Rules, your prize may be forfeited and an alternate winner selected if you do not respond to our email notification within this deadline. Also, please be aware that the Official Rules state that ONLY ONE (1) ENTRY PER PERSON, ADDRESS OR E-MAIL WILL BE ACCEPTED FOR THIS SWEEPSTAKES, REGARDLESS OF METHOD(S) OR COMBINATION(S) OF ENTRY. ONLY ONE (1) PRIZE PER HOUSEHOLD AWARDED.

Once we have received email responses from ALL 300 winners and verified eligibility, your prize will be shipped to you within 6-8 weeks.

On behalf of the Sponsor of this promotion, Warner Bros., thank you for participating and congratulations again!

Sincerely,

WEST COAST MARKETING

I don't believe the phone call mistake from that.