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Mark December 10, 2009 on your calendars because this is the day that the Iron Man 2 ARG (Alternate Reality Game) began.  SuperHeroHype has debuted a magazine clipping about Tony Stark revealing his identity as Iron Man.  This is the first "clue" of what is sure to be many in an ongoing viral marketing campaign.  Where do these clues lead?  Hints about the movie?  New posters?  New trailers?  Delightful schwag?  The gold standard for a movie viral campaign is the one for The Dark Knight and it worked so well because the entire campaign was fun, not just the payoff (which was also pretty sweet: free tickets to see the movie in IMAX before it opened).

You can see the full image after the jump but here's what I gather from the image (and this is where comments matter because it's the wisdom of crowds that make these things work): It looks like one of the clippings on Whiplash's wall as seen from the poster that went up earlier today.  The word "Secret" is highlighted but it's the only one in the entire article.  Finally, who are "P. Buckner" and "N. King"?  News in Film says that they're Page Buckner, the art director for Iron Man 2, and Nancy A. King, the art department coordinator.  Well, at least that's one mystery solved.

We'll do our best to keep up with this ARG as it plays out.  Hit the jump to see if you can catch anything I missed.  Iron Man 2 hits theaters on May 7, 2010.

Click here to see a larger version.

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