HBO has launched a creative marketing campaign for Game of Thrones dubbed The Maester’s Path. The first step of this campaign is a box mailed to select critics and bloggers filled with vials, scrolls and a map of the Seven Kingdoms. Click through to read my experience exploring the first link in this chain.
After opening the package that was delivered by a courier in some metallic horseless carriage emblazoned with the word “FedEx” on the side (must be some Qartheen warlock magic), I discover a small box and some correspondence from Oldtown (aka HBO).
The letter reads:
Dear Phil,
In advance of our upcoming series, GAME OF THRONES, we’ve created this unique package to give you an immersive experience of the land of Westeros. Inside the box, you’ll find a flight of original scent experiences that bring the world to life, along with scrolls containing more details of how to begin your sensory journey.
Upon opening the box, one encounters a bevy of vials, scrolls, and other trinkets. There is also a map. Unfolding the parchment, reveals the land of the Seven Kingdoms broken down into regions with the sigils of several of the Great Houses of Westeros.
The sigils for House Stark, Tully, Lannister, Greyjoy, Tyrell and Baratheon are present, drawn over the lands they currently hold. Curiously, the Martells and their land of Dorne are not represented on the map. Clearly this map was drawn shortly after King Robert overthrew the Mad King and the Martell’s Targaryen sympathies made them an enemy of all peace-loving citizens of Westeros. Prince Doran has since come to his senses and sworn fealty to our good King Robert.
Next, one notices the scrolls. Unfurling the largest scroll reveals a document entitled “Being An Accounting of the Great Houses and their Seats.” This document tells of the recent history of Westeros and gives an overview of the Great Houses. Stuff any child should know, but I suppose the maesters of Oldtown must not assume that all who receive this package would be as educated as myself.
Moving on to the vials, one sees they are all labeled with different scents: Crypt, Godswood, Pepper, Grasslands, Campfire, and Khal’s Herd.
This scroll instructs you on what to do with these scents. The document states that one is to mix three scents into an empty vial to get the scent of a region. In my case, three scents (Crypt, Godswood, Pepper) combine to form the aroma of Winterfell, while the other three (Grasslands, Campfire, Khal’s Herd) blend to create the scent of the far-off Dothraki Sea.
In turn, both of the regions represented in the box has their own scroll. These scrolls describe the regions and break down the three scents contained therein.
The scents are strong and not always pleasant (those filthy Dothraki!) but this world is not all sweetwine and roses. A good maester knows that if he wishes to have a long and heavy chain, he must delve into unpleasantries from time to time.
This first step on The Maester’s Path was a good experience. An introductory lesson, though one all young maesters must learn. My hope is that it is only setting the stage for much more to come.
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82 Comments
Oh man, that is really cool. What a great promotional package! *lejealous*
dobesolQuote Reply
Awesome pictures! Apparently people are receiving different packages:
Here’s a video of some guy opening the HBO promo-package (got it from Martin’s twitter):
Link.
TastesLikeTheSeaQuote Reply
TastesLikeTheSea, Yeah, looks like everyone is receiving the Winterfell scents but the other scents vary from box to box. I think the other scents you can get are either King’s Landing, Crossroads Inn or Dothraki Sea.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
What were the best smells? Anything seem “off”?
Ryan CordesQuote Reply
Winter Is Coming,
There’s also Pentos! and the person got it together with the Dothraki one – so both from outside Westeros. Maybe we can add the list to the post, and keep track :)
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
Awesome!
I bet that’ll go for a lot on e-bay.
;)
bgrahamboQuote Reply
I want it :((
KateQuote Reply
Here’s the proof :)
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
Wow am I ever jealous of WiC.
This is very cool stuff! Thanks for sharing this with we lowly commoners and feee folk WiC!!!
furreverQuote Reply
Hear Me Roar, Nice! Thought they would just include the regions listed in the introductory scroll. If Pentos is also included than that opens it up to many other places as well.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
I so want this box.
What was written on the 4th scroll Winter?
SteveQuote Reply
Apparently you can also get Pentos. This person got both the Dothraki Sea and Pentos.
Ryan CordesQuote Reply
Never mind. My link didn’t work and I was beaten. Double fail.
For shame :(
Ryan CordesQuote Reply
THOSE ARE SO AWESOME!!!
and I’m really not into smelly stuffs.
digtastikQuote Reply
Ryan Cordes, my favorite was Godswood, I think. Although Campfire was also pretty nice. None seemed “off”, although Khal’s Herd didn’t smell very good, which I guess means they got it right!
Steve, the four scrolls were: the Houses and history of Westeros, instructions on what to do with the scents, and the two describing the regions (Winterfell and Dothraki Sea).
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
WiC, how many fangasms per second were occuring as you opened this package?
userjQuote Reply
I wonder if something like this will be available for hte public to buy. It looks like they are very well crafted so it might be hard for them to massproduce something that intricate.
Ingemar SvenssonQuote Reply
I love this marketing from HBO. Great thought gone into it. Curious to see what the next stages are. Wonder if they’ll start selling them on the HBO store or keep it limited making it a sought after item.
Jackie MacPhersonQuote Reply
This video really shows the quality they’ve put into this promotional item. If HBO are going to such lengths on ONE part of what I assume will be a much bigger promotional event, just think how authentic the show is going to be!
NickQuote Reply
Ingemar Svensson,
I doubt that they’ll make these widely available for some of the reasons you mentioned. If they did, I imagine they would be pretty expensive to keep them as somewhat of a collector’s item, but it IS pretty awesome. Can’t wait to see what they come up with next!
zafri mollonQuote Reply
It’s really interesting that they went with fragrances. Awhile back I was pestering my friend Beth at Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab about trying to get the rights to do some officially sanctioned Ice and Fire-inspired perfume oils. I thought Martin would be agreeable to something along those lines.
Judging by the vials, these fragrances don’t look like her handiwork, but it leaves me wondering if not just Martin but HBO might be open to a line of perfume oils.
Bard of AwenQuote Reply
All I can say is wow…
wish I had the brilliant idea of making a website years ago, like you did, so I could be part of this :(
Saso AlaufQuote Reply
Now that is a Marketing campaign.
if this is a Path of the Maester I think the next phase may be tools to begin the forging of a Maesters chain
Crotalidian (Paul)Quote Reply
WiC what are the little white stripes next to the scrolls in the first pick and the two little gold items?
MirriMazQuote Reply
Is this the next best thing to smell-o-vision or what! Love the box, but I have a “thing” for neat boxes. I would imagine that this scent set will be expensive,but what would be fun to have is one of those layered candles in the scents of Westeros, the layers timed to coincide to the action on GOT. When they are in the north “Winterfell” as the action moves south “Kings Landing”. So each week we can light up our candle and get the scents of the show. The scent of Shagga feeding body parts to the goats could be a problem, we can’t tell which is Shagga and which is the goat.
OldGranQuote Reply
MirriMaz,
The stripes are for putting the scent on when you smell it (like in perfume stores) and the golden objects are funnels to help you mix the smells.
Tywin’s BastardQuote Reply
MirriMaz, the white strips are to dip into the vials to help release the scents. I’ve noticed if you just sniff the vial itself the scent is a little too strong and overpowering to really tell what it is.
And the gold items are little funnels to help with mixing the scents.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
I will repeat what I’ve said earlier in another thread: wouldn’t it be nice to offer the box as a prize in some contest, Winter? You know, we are kind of your customers, so you should do all in your power to keep us happy… Haha, just kidding of course, if I got hold of one of these boxes, no way I would ever let go of it! ;-)
Seeing this, and with the recent screenings in mind, clearly HBO is making huge efforts to bring the series to the attention of big TV guys and critics. To follow up on this, and to get the general public involved, surely they’ll have to start putting out some serious trailers soon…
Tar KidhoQuote Reply
Dear HBO: May we please smell Daenerys. Thank you for your anticipated cooperation. Very truly and sincerely yours, Mike.
MikeQuote Reply
The Boxes seem to be very popular with the recipients.
Long Video here of one being opened for the first time.
MormegilQuote Reply
Winterfell and King’s Landing the two locations.
MormegilQuote Reply
This is amazing. What an original promo item. Beautiful. We’re all jealous Wic :)
Phoenix_tornQuote Reply
I’ve certainly never followed the production of a show the way I have GoT, but to me this seems unprecedented. Anyone know if HBO, or any network, has done elaborate things like this in the past, pre launch?
The DarkstarQuote Reply
Ahh, it won’t let me see the video :( – maybe it’s region blocked? I’m in Canada.
Very cool though. I’d love one of those boxes.
Raynette SchroederQuote Reply
Pretty sure it’s not Region blocked, could be your browser.
Another KL/Winterfell Combo Box was sent here.
MormegilQuote Reply
If GOT becomes as popular as well all hope it will, I could see something like this being marketed as a kid’s toy, scented bubbles instead of the actual scents, maybe? Or a GOT chemistry set. Game of Thrones Risk or Monopoly (pretty much everything else popular has a Monopoly game, so why not?) Oooh, even better – GOT version of Settlers of Catan!
Maybe I should give up anthropology for a career in marketing…
bastetQuote Reply
This is really amazing. I can’t wait to see how all this unfolds. HBO is taking Westeros very seriously. Love how the scrolls are written. Winter is Coming to us all!
NicoleQuote Reply
I want to know too. Is this for real? I read in the letter from the other lucky guy who got the package (JC Hutchins) that this is the “first link in the chain for an ongoing marketing program”. Wow, I now absolutely love HBO, THIS is how I understand a high quality standard. What can we expect now? Did they create that kind of superb Marketing for other series in the past?
Rinoa De la PicaQuote Reply
Rinoa De la Pica,
If this is unprecedented…HBO must feel the show is truly one of a kind(maybe their best effort yet?) which at the very least means we are gonna get a hell of a series.
The DarkstarQuote Reply
If envy could kill…
I’m happy for you, Wic, enjoy :)
Sandra GomesQuote Reply
Rinoa De la Pica,
The one campaign that matches this, was for True Blood, by the same NY based marketing company – Campfire NYC.
Hear Me RoarQuote Reply
Steve,
Keep checking Ebay. I have no doubt that one will show up eventually.
Victoria ColeQuote Reply
I would let someone else smell “Khal’s Herd” first, lol. If they didn’t gag, then maybe I’d give it a whiff. I suppose “Crypt” can’t be too accurate, but it still spooks me. (I’ve been to the catacombs in Rome, and it smells like death. Not sweet, not sour, not rotting. Just… death. Sorry, can’t describe it better than that, though I suppose if one could capture the scent of quiet and doom, that would be it.)
Thanks so much for the detailed photos and demonstration of the package! Feels like we`re peeking over your shoulder, ooh-ing and aah-ing along with you XD
Everything is so beautiful and thought-provoking. Smells evoke feelings and memories, so they are really thinking this through. Glad they are making it such a rich experience for the critics & bloggers. Once you see/touch/smell these precious items, I can imagine how immersed you’d feel.
Would Beyond-the-Wall smell like ice cream and pee?
Franny BeeQuote Reply
I am pretty jealous.
Tyrion’s ScarQuote Reply
In the long video, I count 19 fangasms in the first video alone. Seriously, if I would have received one of these works of art, I may have been worse. Very, very cool indeed.
wofatQuote Reply
Hear Me Roar,
Oh, really? So the Big Guys in HBO are considering GoT as a worthy sucessor of True Blood. That’s great news. And what did they (Campfire NYC) prepare for the pre-launching of True Blood? I’m curious now :)
Rinoa De la PicaQuote Reply
Rinoa De la Pica,
Go to their website and click on true blood case study, it’s a video that markets their marketing, and it’s pretty damn good. (my very biased opinion is these boxes blow away the letters and vials of synthetic blood)
The DarkstarQuote Reply
Where can I buy one?
DocBeanQuote Reply
It’s so funny, one of the things I never thought about truly wanting to experience with Westeros and everywhere else was the ‘smells’. Most of the time, GRRM describes the smells as pretty darned awful. It’s almost always rot, death, and shit.. LOL It’s an interesting marketing campaign but they could have gotten some better smells, I think..lol..
purplejillyQuote Reply
Yet another reason HBO is awesome! I love how they are promoting this show and their attention to detail. They aren’t shying away from giving fantasy fans something whimsical like this. What a fantastic idea—to create scents that transport you to the various regions of Westeros!
sareetaQuote Reply
Woah! Great box.
WiC, you are very lucky guy!
The RabbitQuote Reply
Hey, WiC. I would have loved Winterfell, but I got King’s Landing along with Dothraki Sea. It’s fairly impressive, though. Leather, summerfruit, and parchment. Very evocative! I’ll probably talk about it a bit on the next Television Zombies.
Chris PiersQuote Reply
Chris Piers,
Sounds amazing.
Really unusual but very cool product.
JohnQuote Reply
Looking at WiC tweets I see that there is a website involved with the Maesters Path.
http://www.themaesterspath.com/
MormegilQuote Reply
You can´t imagine how jelous I am right now!!! XDDDDDDDDD
DashQuote Reply
Mormegil,
Very interesting find! Can’t wait to see what they do with that!
LaurenQuote Reply
Simply awesome. I’ve never seen anything like this before, and it’s about the last thing I expected in terms of marketing. Love the maps, the symbols, the scrolls.
Too bad it didn’t come with the first link of an actual chain!
LexQuote Reply
The Darkstar,
HBO did it for True Blood – that show got a fantastic marketing campaign. I remember it well. And that show is now a huge hit for HBO.
duckyQuote Reply
No dornish wine in the chest?
Petter Kristian VikestadQuote Reply
No Dorne at all, it’s been wiped off the map ;)
MormegilQuote Reply
Now THAT is some swag and its a good day to be a reporter. We already know and trust our resident writers here but will this buy off the uninitiated journalist? I have worked at a newspaper for many years and our movie critic and TV writer get SO much stuff across their desks that it astounds anybody.
However, this press kit definitely is way, way above the average. Even the most jaded writers would take notice of that arriving.
Big money on Ebay me thinks.
Larry D CurtisQuote Reply
Oh my god, they killed Dorne!
You bastards!
Also, what happened to house Arryn? The borders are outlined on the map, but not no sigil. Also absent from the house history scroll. Seems like an odd omission since we know that Jon and Lyssa and Robin are in the show.
pualoQuote Reply
No Tears of Lys? That kinda sucks.
GrujahQuote Reply
anybody know if Mo Ryan got one? i’d have thought she’d be so stoked she’d be all a twitter about it?
Who Is Jacopo Belbo?Quote Reply
Who Is Jacopo Belbo?, she tweeted she hadn’t received hers yet, but was waiting impatiently for it to arrive.
Winter Is ComingQuote Reply
Winter Is Coming,
I’m curious to know why House Arryn is not represented on that map.
SleekyQuote Reply
Very cool marketing campaign! Let’s hope this never happens for Bakker’s prince if nothing series (not that I don’t love it :).) I distinctly remember during the desert portion of the crusade (TTT ?) The dirtyness and desperation being likened to
“the honeyed stench of assholes”. spoilered for crudity.
andrewQuote Reply
Winter–After reading the post on the MakingOfGOT site, I started wondering what the hidden clue could be (if anything). So after examining your snapshots more closely, I noticed that certain letters in the “Scent” scrolls were highlighted at the beginning of some sentences but not others. Could this be a clue? So far from Winterfell we have
NDAA (and W if you count the first word, Winterfell.)
From Dothraki Sea we have:
HT (and A if you count the first word)
I may be grasping at straws here (or a Red Herring), but as we all know this group enjoys a good puzzle. Therefore I suggest that you post pics of all the documents included and we should try to acquire pics from the other location scrolls. Maybe we can find a hidden clue (if there is one).
zep243Quote Reply
Cleverly plotted marketing campaign. It is nice to see that HBO is taking its time to do this right. Man oh man I really want that box…I am curious if there will be some kind of commercial version of it for sale as some point for the rest of the public who is not as lucky as these very, very select few individuals, one of whom I wish I was in this instance.
loco73Quote Reply
OMG, Winter, lucky you! Thanks for the vicarious excitement I’ve felt reading your post. I grinned through it all, and when I read “Khal’s Head” instead of “Herd” I positively howled. :D
Concerned as always with the interests of my House, I’m overjoyed that we finally have an official Tully emblem, better than most interpretation out there (but not of mine, if I dare say so, cough :P). And official Tully colours. My grin got wider when I saw that – I understand all the other sigil beasts are black too, but a black trout on the Tully emblem… fangasm.
(unless this means that they did not try to distinguish the regular silver trout from Brynden’s black trout because there will be no Brynden… Oh noes! Depressed again!)
Prince Doran Martell says he is not amused (not to mention “Vengeance,” etc.). But I think that as the series progresses (which it WILL) new maps will be issued with Dorne on it. No way they are cutting the Dorne storyline.
Off to contemplate dreamily my emblem…
Blackfish BluesQuote Reply
Me too.
AbendsternQuote Reply
Another good idea:
Get yourself a pipet and lots of very small flakons, put some drops of the mixed scents in them and sell them on ebay, I would buy them.^^
AbendsternQuote Reply
Wow! This is beyond cool! I thought that JC guy was going to faint! It’s a very beautiful, very clever bit of marketing on HBO’s part and shows that they are really taking their time over this show and doing it right.
Not to burst anyone’s bubble though, having actually smelled the air of King’s Landing, what you need to mix is Wet Sand, Horse Manure, Fake Blood, Sun Spray, Sweat & diesel fumes!!
…and for Winterfell, remove the manure and sun spray and add Wood and coal!!
RimshotQuote Reply
Lucky bastards! But thanks for sharing. :)
Kai Alexis PriceQuote Reply
Crypt and Khal’s Herd and whatnot. Bah for all of those… But something like Daenerys Lust or Jaimes Vigor. Oh yeah baby.
rorschach-Quote Reply
Anyone else notice the map is wrong? Riverrun is in the Lannister’s dominion, where the Tumblestone meets the Red Fork. Is the map hand drawn?
Highgarden should be further south by the Mander aswell, and Storm’s End should be on the coast.
DentonQuote Reply
Denton,
Yes, total fail on the map. You’d think that they’d spend five minutes getting the map right. Not impressed.
Mapgate!
JonJonQuote Reply
Bard of Awen,
This is exactly what I was hoping/guessing! BPAL and ASoIaF would be a great fit, and the fan base is nearly identical. Please pass on my compliments to Beth for her part in their excellent offerings.
heroine addictQuote Reply
That’s so neat! What an interesting and unique promotional package! I love the idea of sending out scents of the kingdoms. Quite inspired. And what a great keepsake.
The Winter RoseQuote Reply
that is so awesome!
OneTooFreeQuote Reply
WiC, any idea how many of these boxes were made?
Brandon GowerQuote Reply
It looks really neat! I wouldn’t mind having one. ^_^
DeborahQuote Reply
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