What the Heck is Project A.P.E.?
Short answer: a publicity stunt.
But you came here for a longer answer...The Publicity Stunt
In May of 2001,
20th Century Fox, was preparing to release its summer blockbuster, “
Planet of the Apes.” They wanted a publicity stunt, and saw that computer geeks everywhere seemed to be flocking to this new hobby,
Geocaching. To try and capatalize on this potential market, Fox Studios formulated a “sub-plot” that had absolutely nothing to do with the movie: Renegade humans were trying to reveal an “
Alternative
Primate
Evolution” theory by placing artifacts around the world. Code Name:
Project A.P.E.
May 26, 2001...
20th Century Fox has launched a really unique promotion for its Planet of the Apes film: using global positioning satellite (GPS) technology, fans can get involved in an interactive scavenger hunt search for hidden caches of props that were used in the film. The first person to successfully find out the location of the cache and reach it will get to keep the authentic prop!
Fox is calling this contest "Project A.P.E." (www.projectape.com -- the A.P.E. standing for "Alternative Primate Evolution"), and officially launched it yesterday. Using the new online gaming technology called Geocaching, every Friday the film's Official website will supply new coordinates which can be used to determine the location of the latest hidden cache. The contest will run for 13 weeks, allowing a lucky thirteen individuals the chance to be the first to walk away with the exclusive Apes goodies. For those of you who don't have GPS system right now, every Friday the website will also give away a Garmin eTrex GPS unit to a randomly selected winner.
There's also some hidden clues embedded in the Project A.P.E. game that, we're told, are important to the film's storyline. These secrets will "unlock long-hidden secrets that could present a clue to our past - or a key to our future," said the studio.
First Finder
How appropriate that
Rob Reindl who placed the oldest surviving Geocache in the Chicago area (
Beverly) would be the first to find this cache. There was a flurry of finds that weekend, and the cache has brought others in a steady stream. Everyone seems to be commenting on the sheer size of the box, and the good placement.
Whither APE?
Project APE's website is no longer active. Jeremy has indicated that Fox has pretty much abandoned any involvement. In June of 2003, Jeremy also indicated that he would be rolling all of the current caches still listed as "PROJECT APE" caches into traditional caches.
What happens to the Project APE caches that are still around? When I asked this question to Jeremy, he indicated he's looking for people to adopt the remaining caches. I, of course, adopted the one I placed.
But what of the others? As of the original writing of this page, I was the only one to adopt an APE cache. Some have been adopted, some have not.
Here's the direct links to as many APE caches as I could find:
Mission 1: Devil’s Spoon, California, USA
Mission 2: Club Suave, Oregon, USA
Mission 3: Grahm’s Link, New York, USA - now called "Return of the Planet of the Apes"
Mission 4: Southern Bowl, Brazil
NEW! - See maps of the area:
Continent,
Region and
3D Aerial.
Mission 5: Fork in the Canyon, California, USA
Mission 6: Asian Arms, Japan
Mission 7: Crab Creek, Maryland, USA
Mission 8: Wattle’s Edge, Australia
Special Mission: PLANET OF THE APES Premiere!, New York
Mission 9: Tunnel of Light, Washington, USA **Archived June 2011
Mission 10a: River Bearer, Georgia, USA
Mission 10b: Meridian Snake, United Kingdom
Mission 11: Tallow's Sand, New South Wales, Australia
Mission 12: Blind Canal, Illinois, USAThere had been talk about a Mission 13, but I cannot find any record of it. Apparently, Mission 12 was the last successful APE cache. I can deduce that when I researched the caches for this page, the login "Project APE" owned 13 caches, and I owned one, and there are 14 caches listed above. That should have accounted for them all. Anyone with information to the contrary, please
drop me a line.