Every single Bayformers movie trailer since the second one.

Second one promised a dark, horror sci fi movie, and we got what we got.

Third one promised an awesome city battle with high stakes, got a complete scam instead.

Fourth one was...well, not a scam, and certainly a huge improvement over the last two, but the trailer is still misleading, because it tells you it's going to be an action thriller where the Autobots and their human allies are chased by the US gvt. and possibly others as well. Instead, we get only a little of that and more about flying blocks.

And to get it out of the way, Frozen had a super-generic trailer.  "It was warm but now it's cold, because of an ice woman I guess, and there's a princess and a guy.  And a hilarious talking snowman!!"

...And I think that's great.

If Frozen had been marketed as subversive, I think the movie would've been half as effective.  The ideal trailer for Frozen should have barely a hint that you will see ideas that you've never seen explored in a Disney movie before.  I wouldn't have seen that movie.  I would have rolled my eyes at Disney's attempt to be hip and edgy.  (I didn't see Enchanted, which was marketed that way, until OITL sat me down, for exactly that reason.)  Instead, Disney -- I'm sure with the help of social media tendrils -- let the word about the movie spread after release.  "You're not going to believe what they did."  The first I saw of Frozen was an out-of-context YouTube upload of "Let It Go," and based on that song alone I knew I needed to see the movie, because on one hand, this is an absolutely classic "Disney Princess Wants To Escape Castle" song, and on the other hand, she is isolating herself, and this is never a good thing in Disney.  But princesses are never bad!!  I wanted to know who this character was, and I was not disappointed.

(Maybe a little.  Just near the end.)

A cunning stratagem by Disney, or just lazy play-it-safe marketing?  I don't know and I don't care.  To be fair, the snowman was less awful than the comic relief usually is.  Thank you, Arnold Cunningham.

Last edited by satyreyes (07-26-2014 12:19:36 AM)

Satyr, you might find this piece about Frozen's ad campaign interesting.

That's a pretty great article

Under-promise and over-deliver is an underrated tactic in sales, but it sure works better in the long run than the reverse.