Teaser poster for Free The Band

Free The Band was a non-canon, real-life advertising campaign that started in mid-2006, featuring the Piraka and the newly released Toa Inika. The campaign featured an American alternative rock band, the The All-American Rejects, who had been "kidnapped" by the Piraka, and the efforts of the Toa Inika to "free them."

Websites

The following websites were made to promote the campaign.

The FreeTheBand.com website

According to this site, the All-American Rejects were kidnapped by the Piraka. The site gave clues on how to find the band, in the form of videos, biographies on both the band and the Toa Inika, and games such as Island Investigation and Voya Nui Adventure. Island Investigation was a game in which the player controlled Piruk through five different levels of Voya Nui, encountering riddles and clues on the band's location whilst trying to avoid the Piraka. In Voya Nui Adventure, the player controlled each of the six Toa Inika through different levels of Voya Nui, while collecting tablets that allowed you to download music, clues on the band's location, and defeating the Piraka along the way.

It also featured a sweepstakes contest, offering various BIONICLE-themed products.

Scattered trough the site were hidden downloads, disguised as stains shaped like the Toa Inika's Kanohi, among which was a demo for BIONICLE Heroes.

The InikaUnite.com website

The site was run by "Zack" and "Ivan." There were two sections, the "BLOG," and "GALLERY." The blog featured Zack and Ivan's thoughts on the All-American Rejects' disappearance, with Ivan playing the skeptic and Zack playing the believer. Meanwhile, the gallery featured artificial fan-art of the Toa Inika, created by the LEGO Group for the promotion. The fan art contains various BIONICLE and All-American Rejects sketches, some of which included images from later official comics.

RockYacht.com

This website sponsored the ship on which the "All-American Rejects" were scheduled to perform their musical act in. However, the ship lost radio contact when it sailed near an "unknown island," and the band was captured by the Piraka.

The site featured relatively little content. There were links to different fleets of charter boats, all of different sizes for "different-sized rock bands." Other various links led to different places around the site, including an "About Us" section, a "Testimonials" section, and pictures of the "founders". Whenever the cursor scrolled over a link, the stylized "Piraka" logo would show for a split second.

Television

There were commercials on Cartoon Network and Nickelodeon that advertised the contest as well as prizes. It was also featured on Teletoon in Canada.

Prizes

There were three prize packages offered: Grand, First, and Second.

Grand

Trip to an All-American Rejects Concert for four friends and a parent/guardian. Travel with the band on the Gibson Tour Bus. Meet the band. Entire 2006 set collection, as well as autographed BIONICLE comic. Nintendo DS Lite with copy of BIONICLE Heroes for the DS. A guitar signed by the band. Free The Band/BIONICLE Skate Deck $2,000, payable by check Free The Band T-Shirt/Poster Copy of The All-American Rejects

First

Nintendo DS Lite with copy of BIONICLE Heroes for the DS. Guitar signed by the band with a lesson video. All six Toa Inika with a signed BIONICLE comic. Free The Band T-Shirt/Poster A copy of The All-American Rejects.

Second

A Toa Inika set. BIONICLE Heroes. BIONICLE/Free The Band Skate Deck. Copy of The All-American Rejects. Free The Band T-Shirt/Poster.



