The problem with poor marketing.

2008 already seems like a long time ago. This time two years ago No country for old man had entered cinemas and There will be blood was waiting around the corner. These were the days when the big studios could risk making interesting and original films which were neither funny nor guaranteed to have at least two increasingly successful sequels. However, as the recession kicked in the studios realised they needed sure fire bankers; creativity went out of the window, risk was avoided and Transformers: revenge of the fallen was made. This point seems almost too obvious to discuss; the big studios are there to make money first and foremost and if the money’s not flowing that is what they will aim to do. This has also had a knock down effect though, while once There will be blood could be successfully marketed for what it was there has been an increasing need to mislead viewers by advertising less marketable features in a way which presents them as the kind of fodder that is guaranteed to bring in the money.

This seems to be a regressive tactic though. In the summer I went to see the fantastic Adventureland while it seems that many others missed the opportunity. On the slightly dull Thursday afternoon when I ventured to my nearest multiplex there were only three others in the cinema. This was reflected by the box-office figures with the film leaving the top ten within a couple of weeks of entering. The trailer portrayed the film as a standard teenage comedy, following James’ (Jesse Eisenberg) worst summer job ever at a local theme park. The only problem is that the trailer doesn’t make it look particularly funny. The film certainly has comedic elements but it is not a comedy. It is a warm-hearted interesting take on a clichéd story, just carried out with more style and believability than any other film I have seen of its type. It portrayed a wonderful sense of melancholy which was nowhere to be seen in an advertising campaign which emphasised Greg Mottola’s previous film Superbad .I wasn’t the only one who raved about it either. The film gained particularly good press with a five star review in The Independent and an 88% rating on rotten tomatoes. The advertising campaign, while alienating those who may have enjoyed the darker tone of the movie, also dissuaded those who imagined something a little more comical. Overall I’m not saying that this film could have topped the box office, what I am saying that it is a shame that it was marketed in such a way. Attempting to deceive viewers into watching the film they will probably not enjoy seems a completely fruitless act. There can be no solace in the failure of marketing men either. It’s the film and the viewers which suffer; a very good film was practically wasted because of marketing ineptitude.

This is not the first time this has annoyed me and there are countless examples. The posters for horror comedy Jennifer’s Body portrayed it as simply a vehicle for pubescent teens to stare at Megan Fox while the film itself strayed away from the misogyny apparent in the Transformers franchise. There was also controversy over recently film The road. While the film itself was a satisfyingly grim tale of human defiance the marketing campaign attempted to portray it as some sort of Roland Emmerich style end of the world disaster movie. This needs to stop. Marketing the more subversive end of Hollywood’s output to appeal to the lowest common denominator alienates everyone. While the intended audience is driven away from the film, many who do see it feel they have been conned into doing so. There is little doubt that sequels and comedies are the films which will help the studios ride through the recession; however this doesn’t mean that every film attempting to break from tried and tested formula needs to be portrayed as such. No country for old men and There will be blood proved that there was a market for well thought out blockbuster Hollywood productions and even though the studios cant take risks on such films anymore it doesn’t mean they should alienate films which attempt to do so. Portraying films as they are benefits everyone; put the creativity into the films, not into their advertising.

By Sam