Lost season 4: The teasing has begun

ABC is pretty good with the viral marketing campaigns, particularly re: "Lost," which begins its fourth season Jan. 31.

To help get everyone back interested, and mystified by, the show there's a new press release and Web site touting the relaunch of Oceanic Air--the fictional airline that operated flight 815, the plane that crashed on that freaky island we're all wondering and theorizing about.

The Web site starts off as a mock ad for Oceanic featuring pretty flight attendants with Aussie accents, but this is soon interrupted by a bearded guy in a tie. His name is Sam and he says his partner, Sonja, was a flight attendant on flight 815, which--as we know--went missing. Now, he says Oceanic is calling off the search for the plane and will declare all the passengers dead. He says he wants answers.

During this message the address for another Web site flashes across the screen. Here, you can click around until you see "Sam's desk." This is the guy from the video on the previous site and if you click at his computer, phone, etc., you'll get little tidbits of info such as e-mails and videos that tease the show.

Being an old guy, I don't have much patience for such things, so I checked out a few bulletin boards for posts detailing what all sorts of things are revealed on the site. Here's a pretty good overview.

There's a game you can play that's supposed to yield more clues and the site will be updated while we wait for the new season to begin. I'll be scouring the fan boards for anything interesting and will pass it along.

Here's the content of the Oceanic press release:

Flights Begin December 31 To Nine Markets
Oceanic Airlines announced today their return to the airways. Beginning December 31, operations and flights to nine markets will resume, “Taking You Places You Never Imagined.” Destinations include:

Los Angeles, CA
Tustin, CA
Ames, IA
Miami, FL
New York, NY
Portland, OR
Knoxville, TN
Seoul, South Korea
Sydney, Australia

“We are very eager to resume flying and apologize for any inconvenience our temporary closure may have caused our loyal customers,” said Michael Orteig, President, Oceanic Airlines. “Oceanic Airlines is proud to be a top tier flight provider and looks forward to providing travelers with many more years of unparalleled service.”

About Oceanic Airlines
In business for over 25 years, Oceanic Airlines is a major airline carrier and offers the highest caliber of service for international and domestic flights. Destinations include Los Angeles, London, Sydney and South Korea.

Oceanic Airlines Contact:
Georgia Cavanagh (818) 460-5520