On Monday, Lionsgate sent fans of The Hunger Games on a wild goose chase through the internet for a deleted scene from Mockingjay – Part 1. You can watch the scene below:
UPDATE: On Tuesday, Lionsgate also released this hilarious deleted scene of Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) undergoing some unconventional makeup.
The release of the first deleted scene on Monday, meanwhile, followed what has become a standard playbook for working fans into a lather.
Step one: Get everyone marking their calendars.
Step two: Activate the internet nerds.
Step three: Start trending.
The binary code led fans to a series of websites, where a message to tweet the hashtag #UnlockMockingjay was hidden inside the respective sites' HTML code.
This was involved.
Almost immediately, the hashtag indeed started trending.
“You're still trying to #UnlockMockingjay. Real or not real?" "Real, because that's what the fandom does, unlocking things.”
And although some were skeptical…
i bet they have a specific time they are going to release the scene no matter what, like last time #UnlockMockingjay
…others were committed to making this exercise in fan engagement work.
We're all in this together 🔥 #UnlockMockingjay
AW REMEMBER THE OLD DAYS WHEN WE HAD TO UNLOCK CATCHING FIRE STILLA USING THAT ONE HASHTAG AW THEYRE BRINGING IT BACK #UnlockMockingjay
#UnlockMockingjay DO IT FOR FINNICK IN HIS UNDERWEAR
Eventually fatigue set in.
My thumbs hurt #UnlockMockingjay
Step four: Tantalize fans with evidence of excruciatingly slow progress to a seemingly attainable goal.
Roughly two hours after the promotion first started, fans grew impatient.
We're only at 11% omfg it's gunna be a long day #UnlockMockingjay
#UnlockMockingjay ugh i wanna SEE MORE THEN THE CAPITOL LOGO
FALTAAAA POOCOOO #UnlockMockingjay
Whether this was a covert step five — whet fans' appetite with a low-res "leaked" version — or an actual breakdown of the system remains unclear.
EU TO MORTO #UnlockMockingjay
But either way, even though the scene seemed to include a knowing jibe at some of The Hunger Games' "rabid fans"…
…those fans commenced flailing anyway.
THIS HURTS #UnlockMockingjay
PEETA LOVES KATNISS SO MUCH #UnlockMockingjay
FUCK YOU SNOW #UnlockMockingjay
My tl right now -why was that scene cut!!!!!!! -fuck snow -peeta baby -still tweet #UnlockMockingjay -peeta didn't deserve this -crying
#UnlockMockingjay It was right before the HIJACKING!!!! Poor Peeta!! #mockingjay 💔
I AM SOBBING OMG PEETA BABY 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭 @TheHungerGames #UnlockMockingjay
And that is how you drive Hunger Games fans insane.
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 is available for digital download on Feb. 17.
This post has been updated to include the second deleted scene of Katniss getting bad makeup.