If you’ve been keeping up with the girl’s Young Adult Category lately (what self-assured adult male strategist hasn’t?), then you’ve heard about the recent controversy about a new book titled Cathy’s Book: If Found Call 650-266-8233 by Sean Stewart and Jordan Weisman.

The book, released in October, has been criticized for its product integration with Covergirl. While the controversy is interesting in it’s own right, I’m not going to delve into now. You can read about it here, here, and here.

Cathy’s Book: If Found Call 650-266-8233 is an Alternate Reality Game, or ARG; which tend to be complex storylines presented through multiple media that challenge the player/reader to hunt for clues and solve problems. For marketers who grew up with 30 second spots, ARGs work against everything they know about how to reach people. They’re designed not create awareness in 30 seconds (or 90 seconds if the frequency goals are 3), but to engage the viewer (participant) in a deep, complex storyline that they help unfold.

The clue that gets people started unravelling the story is a called a rabbit hole. In this case, the rabbit hole is in the title, making it about as accessible as can be imagined.

So here are the connections. Stewart & Weisman are principals in 42 Entertainment, who brought you:

The Beast, the ARG that promoted Spielberg’s movie Aritificial Intelligence in 2001. The group of fans that solved that ARG were known as the Cloudmakers and still meet regularly.

ILOVEBEES, arguably the most successful ARG ever created, which promoted the launch of Halo2.

Hex168, which promoted the launch of the XBOX 360.

Weisman’s wife is Dawne Weisman, founder of Edoc Laundry an apparel company. “Edoc” is “Code” spelled backwards. In their own words:

Our gear tells secrets. Woven into everything we make are hidden messages and codes most people can’t see. Edoc clothes break across the traditional categories of street, skate/surf, and classic by creating a new category that spans our entire line: Covert. Every piece of gear is a trapdoor into a hidden world.

Then, there’s Jane McGonigal, recently minted PhD from the Sims School at Berkely, who was, until a few weeks ago, the lead game designer at 42 Entertainment.

All of which have been mentioned in the recently released IGDA ARG SIG’s 2006 Alternate Reality Games White Paper.