Hanso Foundation

The Hanso Foundation is a fictional organization in the Lost television series.

Formation
It was formed by arms purveyor Alvar Hanso, who turned his attention from "keeping the world safe through the development of sophisticated weapons systems" to focus instead on the development of new technologies to "create a brighter future for all humanity." Nearly all information about the Foundation is drawn from its Web site, thehansofoundation.org, with further background revealed as part of the alternate reality game, the Lost Experience.

The Hanso Foundation, through its funding of the Dharma Initiative, was involved in the construction of facilities on the island depicted in Lost.

Activities
According to a mission statement on the Hanso website, "The Hanso Foundation stands at the vanguard of social and scientific research for the advancement of the human race. For forty years, the foundation has offered grants to worthy experiments designed to further the evolution of the human race and provide technological solutions to the most pressing problems of our time. The Hanso Foundation: a commitment to encouraging greatness in science and technology and furthering the cause of human development." The Foundation funded many projects, including the Educational Outreach Imperative, Institute for Genomic Advancement, Mathematical Forecasting Initiative, Worldwide Wellness and Prevention Development Program, and the Life-Extension Project. The Life-Extension Project worked on initiatives such as the life-extension of an orangutan named "Joop" celebrating its 105th birthday. It also provided financial backing for the Dharma Initiative on islands in the South Pacific. ("Joop" is the name of an orangutan appearing in the Jules Verne novel The Mysterious Island, which is about a group of castaways on a strange Pacific island.)

The Foundation has offices in Copenhagen, Vík, Seoul, Zanzibar, and Santa Barbara. The Alvar Hanso Cancer Center was constructed in Geneva.

The greeting "Namaste" is used by the organization's members, including Dr. Marvin Candle (Pierre Chang) in each of the Hanso Foundation orientation films.

Executives
Alvar Hanso, a Danish weapons purveyor, established and funded the foundation. Other executives ran the company such as Dr. Thomas Mittelwerk, the chief technologist and trusted righthand adviser to Hanso.

During the Lost Experience, documents and other information were released to suggest that the management of the Foundation was scandalous and, in some cases, criminal. For example, some executives were revealed to have falsely reported the extent of their education in their biographies. One executive was caught in an extramarital affair. Others defended tobacco companies, nuclear power plants and an oil company that dumped chemical waste in Florida. Another executive was sentenced to eight years for insider trading which he subsidized through a retirement fund for a health care union.

Appearances
The Hanso Foundation was first mentioned in the Lost season 2 episode "Orientation". After discussing DHARMA Initiative founders Karen and Gerald DeGroot, the orientation film refers to "reclusive Danish industrialist and munitions magnate Alvar Hanso, whose financial backing made their dream of a multi-purpose social science research facility a reality."

In the film Mission Impossible 3, a film directed by J.J. Abrams (a creator of Lost), the closing credits thank the Hanso Foundation. Also, the logo on the building from which the "Rabbit's Foot" is stolen resembles the logo of "Paik Heavy Industries", a company owned by Sun Kwon's father.

In Richard's flashback in the episode "Ab Aeterno", Richard becomes a slave and is now "property of Magnus Hanso."

The Lost Experience
The domain thehansofoundation.org was registered on July 18, 2005 by ABC On May 2, 2006, coinciding with the debut of Lost season 2 in the UK, the Hanso Foundation site was used as part of "The Lost Experience", an alternate reality game which ABC had previously announced on April 24, 2006.

ABC stated the game would be launched on May 2 in the UK, May 3 and 17 in the USA and May 4 in Australia. On May 2 in the UK, May 3 in the USA and May 4 in Australia, each episode of Lost broadcast that day included Hanso Foundation advertisements in the commercial breaks, which included a toll-free phone number to call. Calling the number gave information, including a password for the Hanso website and access to the voicemail of Hanso executives.

In addition to the content shown openly on the site, fans of Lost have found additional pages and information hidden in easter eggs, by decompiling the Flash files on the site. On May 9, advertisements were published in various national newspapers by the Lost production team condemning the metafictional novel Bad Twin.

During the Lost Experience, an actor portraying fictional executive Vince Temme appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live. During the appearance, on May 24, 2006, McIntyre stated that the Foundation had canceled the DHARMA Initiative in 1987 and did not know why the producers of "Lost" have attached the Initiative or the Foundation to their show.