At one point, it seemed as if creative movie marketing had vanished from the mainstream, only to be found for films with lower budgets. This makes sense. Films for a big audience cannot have a marketing campaign that is too specific; they need to target the general public. But in recent years, audiences have seen a notable return to marketing in a way we have not seen in a while. The use of social media, and more specifically, its unpredictable nature, has changed the way movies are marketed.
There is no rule book for what will reach people on social media. Most of the time, if a movie is lucky enough to have a viral meme or social media moment, like the upcoming romantic drama We Live in Time, it is entirely accidental. On the surface, this doesn’t seem like a problem. What does present a problem for studios is that they never have any control over them. It was created by someone they don’t know, popularized by chance.
This leads studios to chase the meme, but in the process, they contradict the tone of their upcoming releases. Someone not familiar with We Live in Time but has seen the funny memes about it ends up going into a cancer drama and leaves unhappy because they feel misled. How does this damage an upcoming release? How do marketing and social media impact audience perception? Is it a bad thing? Here’s what you need to know.
Blake Lively’s It Ends With Us and the Marketing Mistakes
Those who recall the controversy surrounding It Ends With Us will know just how damning a mismatched marketing campaign for a movie’s actual tone can be. Blake Lively drew criticism for seemingly not treating the themes of domestic violence found in It Ends With Us with the same tone that director Justin Baldoni did. Movie marketing has never been more unpredictable. As social media’s parasocial relationships evolve with the popular actors that studios want in their movies, it’s hard to align your marketing messaging with the movie you are selling.
Justin Bladoni’s social media presence during the press run was mostly separate from Blake Lively’s, meaning that it felt like the actors were promoting different movies. The studio had no control over this speculation of on-set feuds because it spread like social media wildfire.
An example of alignment can be found in the recent Twisters movie. The studio was smart with its use of TikTok and putting their actors in promotional materials that would allow them to conjure the kind of banter and chemistry that matched with the fun tone of the film. Luckily for them, the chemistry was obvious to everyone. Studios cannot guarantee that their stars will have a successful marketing push, and with social media acting as a detective sniffing out fake niceties, it’s impossible to fake it.
Studios want their actors to appear like friends, even if they aren’t. When they play games about how well they know their costars, it can be awkward when it’s clear they are simply co-workers. An awkward atmosphere for the press will not get audiences in seats. Picking where to put your actors is key, wanting them both in an unfiltered environment where they can be themselves but controlling them enough to prevent mishaps from slipping through.
We Live in Time and the Viral Horse Meme
The new Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh movie We Live in Time has just premiered at TIFF. It’s already known more for something other than its story of cancer survival. When the poster came out, social media couldn’t help but poke fun at a funny-looking carousel horse, and in an instant the marketing’s direction had to change. It would be bad business sense not to capitalize on a meme that’s drawing attention to your movie. Suddenly, Garfield and Pugh spent more time joking about a horse.
Two actors joking in the press is not inherently bad. What it does do is rely on a meme that, on the internet, has the potential to vanish overnight as soon as the bandwagon moves on. Studios spend huge amounts of money on marketing campaigns and hire the most talked-about actors they know are popular with their audience. With a marketing campaign comes a planned direction, but a social media meme can divert that into unplanned territory.
This means that some people might go into We Live in Time expecting a comedy, or at least something lighter than a story about a family’s battle with cancer. Plenty of people go to the movies without knowing anything about the movie they’re seeing. All they saw was the funny horse on their social media feed. This can damage a film because audience expectation is one of the most valuable currencies.
Where Does Movie Marketing Go From Here?
Andrew Garfield and Florence Pugh will unlikely be overshadowed by a yellow horse. They are already making social media moments, joking about it and using their natural chemistry which, beyond marketing purposes, is just nice to see. We like to see people we like having fun with other people we like.
It remains to be seen where the marketing for We Live in Time goes. When it starts its big marketing push and Garfield and Pugh are struggling on Hot Ones, will the studio want to lean into the horse meme, or ditch it and play off chemistry? Like anything on social media, memes are impossible to intellectualize, making a planned-out marketing campaign near impossible. Whatever route they choose, if it doesn’t go well, a multi-million dollar movie will be derailed by a yellow carousel horse. In fairness, that would hardly be the strangest day for memes. We Live in Time is headed to theaters on Oct. 11, 2024.
