From unusual billboards to interactive websites, a well-crafted and successful marketing plan is undoubtedly a crucial aspect of promoting a film; it helps define goals and increases the chances of making good money by inciting curiosity in global moviegoers and persuading them to step foot on the movie theatre when the time is right.
While, over time, countless movies have counted on impeccable marketing, Redditors share some of their favorites and most memorable. From The Dark Knight to The Matrix, these are ten of the platform's most mentioned (and upvoted) marketing strategies.
10 'The Dark Knight' (2008)
Christopher Nolan's fan-favorite movie is among the most highly-regarded of its genre, and for good reason. Combining action-packed scenes with intriguing drama, The Dark Knight centers on Christian Bale's Batman and Heath Ledger's notable Joker, an anarchistic mastermind who seeks to test how far Batman will go to save the city from chaos.
On Reddit, a deleted account could not help gushing over the film's commerce, saying that the "viral marketing was lots of fun." In a reply, another deleted user added they were "so hyped throughout the build up for that movie. And genuinely enjoying reading all the marketing stunts they did. From the poster, hidden clues, Harvey Dent campaign, it really got the fans to participate in it."
9 'Donnie Darko' (2001)
Centering around an emotionally unstable teenager (Jake Gyllenhaal) who escapes a bizarre accident and is haunted by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who persuades him to commit a series of crimes, the thought-provoking Donnie Darko endures a treasured film today and stands among other well-known cult classics.
PatEtRomana looks back at some of the most memorable movie marketing of all time and highlights how "Donnie Darko had an interactive flash website which was bizarre, cryptic, and expanded on the story," to which maliciousorstupid replied in a comment saying how amazing the website was: "you could spend hours going down all the different paths."
8 'The Blair Witch Project' (1999)
This frightening 1999 high-grossing found-footage horror movie by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez follows three student filmmakers who hike into the Black Hills to explore the legend of a witch.
In addition to its storytelling that sends chills down every viewer's spine, The Blair Witch Project is also a fan-favorite when it comes to extremely well-executed and immersive marketing. Many users (like akuguitarist who said that the film got them "so bad I had a whole website I built about it as a project in grade 10 or 11") admitted that the movie's marketing was one of the most believable ever made. "It wasn’t until the MTV Music awards, where the cast came out that I realized it was a farce. That marketing campaign was amazing," Texas_Crazy_Curls wrote.
7 'The Ring' (2002)
This unforgettable horror film by Gore Verbinski is adapted from the Japanese supernatural horror Ringu and centers on Naomi Watts' character, a journalist who must figure out a way to escape death after watching a cursed videotape.
Speaking about terrifying movies that will haunt you in your sleep with showstopping marketing campaigns, The Ring has also managed to blow many minds. "The Ring played parts of the "video" as an ad on TV late at night without any other info," EnemySoil commented. Another user shared their experience with an even more immersive campaign for the movie: they stumbled upon an unlabeled videotape from a mysterious box. What happened next? "It was the tape in its entirety," kthshly said. At last, when they got to watch the whole thing, there was a URL for the movie's website.
6 'Terminator 2' (1991)
The second installment to an already popular franchise, Terminator 2 follows Arnold Schwarzenegger's character as he is tasked with the mission of protecting Sarah Connor's (Linda Hamilton) 10-year-old son John (Edward Furlong) from an even more powerful cyborg.
According to Trvlgirrl, the second film of the iconic action franchise counts on remarkable commerce. "Terminator 2 back in 1991. It was really the first movie I remember seeing advertising that shortened the name of the movie to T2. Everything after that became a shortened version as well but [to my knowledge] they did it first."
5 'Jurassic Park' (1993)
Steven Spielberg's iconic Jurassic Park marks the beginning of a legendary adventure franchise, depicting a power failure that causes cloned dinosaurs to run loose from an almost complete theme park. On top of its memorable storytelling, the movie also features some of the best scores ever made.
"Around here there where several billboards that got ripped up pretty bad. I remember thinking 'wow. Looks like some sort of monster clawed that up.' The next week all were replaced with Jurassic Park adverts," Eulielee said.
4 'I'm Still Here' (2010)
Starring Oscar-winner Joaquin Phoenix, the comedy-drama I'm Still Here is directed by Casey Affleck. It provides viewers with an outlook inside Phoenix's life, including his decision to quit acting stardom to pursue a different career as an aspiring rapper.
On Reddit, many users seem to agree that, as a user puts it, "Joaquin Phoenix genuinely convincing a lot of people that he'd lost his mind during the run up to the release of I'm Still Here was quite interesting." There's another recent example of this that happened during the Joker press tour: "He pulled something similar on Jimmy Kimmel for Joker. They played footage of him snapping at the crew on set and in make-up. Kimmel subsequently questioned him on his professional behavior," withoutcake wrote.
3 'Gattaca' (1997)
In Andrew Niccol's mind-bending sci-fi thriller, Gattaca, Ethan Hawke plays Vincent, a genetically inferior, less-than-perfect man who steals the identity of a superior one (Jerome Morrow, also played by Hawke) in order to pursue his dream of space travel.
OrdovicianOccultist also shares a very valid take on what brilliant movie marketing looks like: "Gattaca had a mock advertising campaign about getting your baby genetically engineered when the film came out that tricked many people into calling about it. I remember a billboard for it off the highway where I grew up. It definitely made me interested in seeing the movie," the user said, and many agreed.
2 'Men in Black' (1997)
This Will Smith-led adventure comedy is the first of many, and it is based on the comic book of the same name. Men in Black centers on a private agency named MiB, depicting a police officer's journey joining a covert group that controls and keeps track of extraterrestrial encounters on Earth.
On top of its unforgettable narrative, the Barry Sonnenfeld film also succeeded in appealing to viewers with its original marketing strategy. "A few weeks after release, there was a promo where Agent J flashes the neuralizer at the screen (in the movie it wipes your [short-term] memory) and says: 'Men in Black: see it again for the first time'. I still think that was a clever use of in-world tech," 5N4K3ii commented.
1 'The Matrix' (1999)
Long before his John Wick days, Keanu Reeves was praised for his work in The Matrix, which remains a very popular sci-fi franchise nowadays. The first entry introduces audiences to the series' staggering world-building and gripping concept that questions life as we know it as programmer Thomas Anderson (Neo) joins a rebellion.
The Wachowskis groundbreaking film is definitely a very innovative one for the time, so it's only natural that it counted on a top-notch commerce plan as well. "It was very mysterious and secretive I recall. Everyone wanted to see what it was all about and when we did our minds were blown," JynXten said. "Definitely remember going to whatisthematrix.com or whatever it was and clicking the little red pill," another user added.