@Ralizah I wonder if this has anything to do with why Bob Iger’s back at Disney. 100 million is a lot of money and Bob Chapek already proved himself to be not exactly much of an ally during the Florida debacle. You don’t often see movies being sent out to die like this, and it doesn’t seem to even be doing particularly badly critic-wise. The only indication I can get about how it’s being received by audiences is the clear sign of review bombing on IMDB. They’ve pushed movies of a clearly lower quality a lot harder so unless it’s just been forgotten about, there’s something going on at Disney. Perhaps it’s more that it coming out during their internal reshuffle has made it fall through the cracks.
@RogerRoger@nessisonett@Ralizah I watch almost no television outside of ad-free streaming services, only use YouTube for looking up an occasional gaming help videos have no engagement in any form of social media, and have ad blockers on my internet browser. I’m almost embarrassed to admit it but Push Square is essentially my sole contact with the greater outside world besides my daily person-to-person contact. …And I’ve seen several trailers and advertisements for Strange World. In fact, I have had much more awareness of its existence than I did for Encanto, Luca, Turning Red, or Soul - for which I remember absolutely no marketing at all and just noticed them popping up on Disney Plus when they each released. Granted those movies were victims of COVID isolation and weren’t in theaters so that’s probably why. I do remember once or twice seeing a trailer for Lightyear.
But yeah, I know there have at least been ads running for Strange World during American Football and NBA basketball, as those are my only live TV consumption. Well, that and part of that US/England World Cup game. (Another embarrassing admission — I didn’t even know the US team won against Iran until last night)
So there has been some marketing for Strange World. I even remember a teaser or two about the movie a year or so ago somewhere. I’ve been aware of its existence for a while.
That said, to your point, the ads don’t have any of the diversity aspects highlighted. Whether this is purposefully deceitful or whether it’s like Rog says and is simply an attempt at normalization, I have no idea. In fact, as further evidence of my relative ignorance of all things current events, I was completely unaware of the whole shake up with executive leadership at Disney.
Anyway, I’m just making note that I have seen promotion of the movie on my end, even in my self-imposed seclusion from society and current affairs. As for anything else about the film and it’s place in the Disney catalog, I don’t know. I’ll take Ral’s recommendation of it being decent as reason enough to watch it. I will definitely give it a go when it drops to Disney+, if not before. I usually don’t miss any of the Disney major releases anyways, but this looks interesting and happy to see some diversity present there too.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@RogerRoger No doubt. There’s clearly different marketing strategies across the world for pretty much all companies with international commerce. And I was thinking about the target audience of these movies (and other products in general) and I’m not sure TV is even a good way to reach people anymore unless they are either very young, very old, or in their prime (is that where I am? 😅) but have reliable niche consumption like sporting events.
Being an advertising executive has to be really challenging nowadays. The rules are all different than they were 10 or even 5 years ago. The marketplace is much more global and the way we interact with media changes nearly every year. Tik-tok was a non-entity a couple years ago and will almost certainly be passé within the next few years. My friends and family think I’m crazy but I have no doubt it will be the butt of jokes at some point, in the same way Facebook is now.
The golden age of TV commercials has come and gone. I think the billboard and free newspaper tactics are good for UK/Europe where I suspect people walk and use public transit more. In the States most cities have negligible transportation services and people drive their own cars and generally speaking don’t walk much. The large metro areas like NYC, Chicago, etc are probably different, mind you — So even within the US, there are vast regional differences. Not to mention there’s large cultural-economic variance within our many communities and so I’m sure that plays a role. I bet that Disney (or any large corporate seller of goods, services, or entertainment) has specific regional data about where their product sells, and so I suspect that factors into where they spend their marketing dollars (or pounds and euros, as the case may be).
So I think there’s something to be said about how Strange World’s anticipated audience needed to be reached. But I also would say (from my armchair CEO critique 😄) that these companies frequently make ridiculously stupid decisions. Even with all their resources, I often don’t understand why they market the way they do. I’m seeing it regularly with video games too. Sony has been known to inexplicably send many a game out to die.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
Indiana Jones 5 actually looks really good? Hopefully I don’t end up disappointed but I was impressed by that trailer. De-aged Indy does look a little rubbery despite how impressive it is but it’s a first trailer and they do tend to improve it by the final movie.
@RogerRoger Yeah, I’d say billboards are mostly dying out, in my observation, but are still prevalent in many communities. The advertising and companies utilizing them are often of a specific ilk — things like law firms, casinos, truck refueling centers, and the occasional public service announcements. They typically don’t have up-to-date products or services on things that change frequently or are short-lived like movies, TV, or video games. Depending on the location, I’ve seen some of them blank or with ads that are many years old and probably with out-dated info.
Many communities do have laws and regulations they either limit them or ban them entirely, because yes — they are a total eyesore and largely relics of the past anyways. So in more progressive cities which are concerned about having a clean landscape they prohibit them. Nevertheless when driving on interstate highways where you’re on the road for a long distance, you’ll often see them peppering the roadside.
I have been to a few cities that have very updated billboards, even electronic ones that look cleaner and can rotate their image, but that’s usually going to be in a big city.
And yes, we do drive a lot here. I drive a lot less than many of my friends but it’s not uncommon for people to commute up to an hour each way to and from work on a daily basis. Thankfully my commute is about a fifth of that.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@RogerRoger
"America is still obsessed with giant billboards along highways and whatnot, right? Because everybody is encouraged to own a car and drive everywhere?"
A thing a lot of Europeans don't seem to understand is how large America is in terms of population and land mass. Most of our states alone are as big or bigger than your countries. Therefore unless you live in a major city, you pretty much have no choice but to do a lot of driving as it's the only practical way to get anywhere.
Born too early to explore space and born too late to explore Earth, but born just in time to explore memes.
@RogerRoger Another endorsement for Oblivion here. Say what you will about Tom Cruise, but he’s got a Midas touch for good movies (in my opinion). I’ll agree with Foxy that I liked Edge of Tomorrow a smidge better, partly due to being a gamer and the respawn storyline really resonates and partly because it’s one of the few times you see Cruise play a more vulnerable and cowardly character. Nevertheless Oblivion is close behind it due to the really great plot. Like Judge says, hope you haven’t had the plot spoiled, but even if you have, it’s really good. Both movies will scratch a Sci-Fi action itch if you have one.
“We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them.”
@Th3solution
Second this, both are great movies. I remember going into Edge of Tomorrow at the cinema expecting an entertaining but mediocre scifi action movie only to be surprised at just how much personality and humor the whole thing contained. Also loved that the alien's actually look completely alien and not just humans in body paint or fur suits.
@RogerRoger Love the first two Brendan Fraser The Mummy films. Not so much the third one. They are ideal for when you want to watch something to switch the ol noggin off too.
Life is more fun when you help people succeed, instead of wishing them to fail.
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt.
@LN78 I really dislike that movie. Schlock works when characters are likeable but literally every single person in it is terrible. Richard Curtis is either great or rubbish though, Four Weddings and About Time are brilliant and then there’s Yesterday.
@LN78 That’s true enough and I have liked Himesh Patel since his time in Eastenders! It’s just such an out of touch movie though, like if you took the British establishment and funnelled them through a McDonalds mincer. Richard Curtis might as well just direct adverts about the poor donkeys who get overworked to death at Christmas time. I just can’t believe he wasn’t involved with that horrid Imagine video released during the pandemic.
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