Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Edoc Laundry


Edoc Laundry is something called an Alternate-Reality Game (ARG). In these games, players must solve puzzles, visit websites, and sometimes answer cryptic telephon calls. Edoc Laundry (backwards for "code") ingeniously blends cool shirts with this idea. Here is an example.

In this shirt, you turn in inside out to find the phrase: "Nothing to Hide". Underneath it are drips of paint matching the ones on the shirt, except they spell out "Nothing to Hide". Using this key you spell out the message on the shirt itself: CALL ME A PATRIOT. Go to Edoc's website, find the hidden link, and enter in this code. This will give you a video clip; the next clue in a mystery involving murder and a band called Poor Richard. Minus the Da Vinci Code-style sleuthing, the shirts come in cool colors, are well made and pretty hip. The one drawback is that they run a little small, so be warned.

And yes, Sonia, I know you have no interest in this whatsoever.