Paj! Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 Would go in a generic film thread but anyway- I noticed this and found it interesting. When Bounty Hunter (2010) was in cinemas, the poster was this: Now the DVD cover is this: It made me think about the marketing of films (and other entertainment products). Now I've never seen The Bounty Hunter, but the trailer makes it seem like a mix of romantic comedy and mild action (i.e guns! cars!). Isn't it interesting that the original poster, which gives off quite an "action"/masculine vibe has been replaced with a typical awful photoshopped rom-com cover, complete with the "GIRLY FILMS" border and even a pink title? I dunno why I made this thread, but I find the targetting of a certain audience/the packaging of a product (literally and figuratively) interesting. Was it aiming at male audiences with the poster and trailer highlighting the guns (with doses of the female-friendly Aniston-playing-Rachel moments), but failed to resonate or pull in the numbers it wanted? Is it now going after the 'female audience" with a stupid "funny" cover and flowers? Is this not a bit patronising? tldr; perplexed/annoyed/interested by the marketing of certain things at certain people.
ReZourceman Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 Yeah its funny/silly ain't it. (I actually pretty much thoroughly enjoyed that movie and recommend it). All films like that get a pink DVD. Looking at Claire's dvd's they're all like films that we saw at the cinema, and yeah all pink (completely different etc). Heck, get this - the LEAST pink and feminine one is "Confessions of a Shopaholic" Lolz.
Ellmeister Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 That DVD picture was advertised as well for the film but without the border I think.
Retro_Link Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 Yeah I watched this film on the plane, not bad but not great, t'was alright. I love Jennifer Aniston though so that made it WIN! I think that DVD image was used in the promotion for the film, but not sure.
ReZourceman Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 I love Butler personally. But yeah,....Aniston is super hot in that movie. Very sexy lady.
Grazza Posted February 4, 2011 Posted February 4, 2011 Yeah, it's interesting. The film poster is much better, but I don't think it's aimed at men, as such. It's more neutral - a "date movie", perhaps? The DVD cover is overtly girly, with its pink lettering and fancy border. Even Jennifer Aniston's pose is less sexual. I suppose it's all about selling DVDs via impulse buying. I know I've been in supermarkets and seen racks of DVDs that say "He'll love it...", "She'll love it..." and "They'll love it..." Interesting really, how they try to make you perceive things differently, when it's the same film.
Paj! Posted February 5, 2011 Author Posted February 5, 2011 I just found it interesting that in the first the characters are presented differently. It doesn't indicate humour particularly, looks more like an action film or something on the way to being one, the characters are expressionless, very little romantic hinted at apart from the "personal" bit, etc. *shrugs* It's a very supermarket thing I've noticed (and probably in other shops too but that's where I've noticed the "He/She" stickers and the girly borders. It's incredibly primitive and obtuse though...it's like...PAINT IT PINK AND PUT FLOWERS ON IT SO GIRLS KNOW IT'S FOR THEM. Probably works a little bit though. :/
MoogleViper Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 The same way most teen movies have a white background and red writing.
Dan_Dare Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 The same way most teen movies have a white background and red writing. Yeah, weird that one...is it partially due to a lot of them being produced by the American Pie crew? That's the earliest one I can think of and everything else follows the exact same marketing strategy with posters and dvd covers. Similarly, every single god damn military shooter fucking ever is exactly the same.
Goafer Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 It's clearly because men go to the cinema and women put DVDs on in the background whilst cleaning and thinking about kittens (and ideally how to satisfy her man when he gets back from the cinema/gentleman's club/rousing game of golf).
Charlie Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 It's a very supermarket thing I've noticed (and probably in other shops too but that's where I've noticed the "He/She" stickers and the girly borders. It's incredibly primitive and obtuse though...it's like...PAINT IT PINK AND PUT FLOWERS ON IT SO GIRLS KNOW IT'S FOR THEM. Probably works a little bit though. :/ That's what marketing is all about. Everything you see around you is marketing. iPods are the most popular music player because of the way they've been marketed and how people perceive them. You know how there are always loads of things like sweets and batteries next to checkouts in the supermarket? Sweets grab your attention and make you want one and batteries are the things that people always forget to buy but remember when they see them in an obvious place. In regards to that DVD cover, I would imagine they're all put in pink like that so it sticks out to girls and they know it is something that perhaps they could watch when they have friends round for a 'girly night' or when their guy is round. Also it makes guys think that it's a 'safe buy' for a small present. Colours are very powerful. White is iconic for Apple. The colour red is very strongly associated with Coca Cola (mmmmmmmmm, Coke). Purple and Dairy Milk (remember that advert with the gorilla, the background was entirely purple). Lovely, lovely Coke. Who wants some?
AndyWylde Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Budweiser. Not the best beer in the world by any means but it is hugely successful because of awesome marketing. "The King Of Beers" and all that.
Paj! Posted February 5, 2011 Author Posted February 5, 2011 That's what marketing is all about. Everything you see around you is marketing. iPods are the most popular music player because of the way they've been marketed and how people perceive them. You know how there are always loads of things like sweets and batteries next to checkouts in the supermarket? Sweets grab your attention and make you want one and batteries are the things that people always forget to buy but remember when they see them in an obvious place. In regards to that DVD cover, I would imagine they're all put in pink like that so it sticks out to girls and they know it is something that perhaps they could watch when they have friends round for a 'girly night' or when their guy is round. Also it makes guys think that it's a 'safe buy' for a small present. Colours are very powerful. White is iconic for Apple. The colour red is very strongly associated with Coca Cola (mmmmmmmmm, Coke). Purple and Dairy Milk (remember that advert with the gorilla, the background was entirely purple). Lovely, lovely Coke. Who wants some? Ja I know, I just found it strange that this film was marketed differently after being marketed one way earlier on. (Or at least not as heavily targeted towards one type of person) (it's not a perfect example but yeah)
Cube Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 batteries are the things that people always forget to buy And on the opposite side to things: everyone remembers, and most shoppers often need, bread and milk. Which is why you need to traverse the whole shop to get to them. White is iconic for Apple. It used to be, but in the past threw years they suddenly decided to throw that away. How long has it been since their last massively popular product (as in iPod//iPhone as Macs aren't really mass market yet) was released with white as the main colour? Edit: Actually, I seem to recall noticing that Apple stopped using white as their iPod colour soon after the release of the Wii.
Grazza Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 It's a very supermarket thing I've noticed (and probably in other shops too but that's where I've noticed the "He/She" stickers and the girly borders. It's incredibly primitive and obtuse though...it's like...PAINT IT PINK AND PUT FLOWERS ON IT SO GIRLS KNOW IT'S FOR THEM. I think it's just the culture of DVDs. It's not that the cinema release flopped, I assume (how popular did they think it would be? ), but DVDs are so cheap and popular, a culture has sprung up around them that is different to VHS and Blu-Ray. I've noticed that when they're shopping in a supermarket, people will pick up a DVD to watch that night. In this regard, the simplistic gender stereotyping is probably helpful to many! Budweiser. Not the best beer in the world by any means but it is hugely successful because of awesome marketing. "The King Of Beers" and all that. Too right. Budweiser is the favourite beer of the vast majority of my workmates. That's their choice - I'm not a snob - but I don't think it has any bite at all. They funny thing is, they don't even know about Budweiser Budvar (OK, I'm a bit of a snob). More interestingly, they haven't even really noticed that "Bud" is well-advertised or cool. I know they think it's cool, but I'm not sure they realise how well-targeted they've been.
dwarf Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 You want to see a marketing farce? Here's an old PSP Ridge Racer trailer And here's the new Ridge Racer Both trailers are shit, but the second one just screams of Japan's Westernisation fail. It may offend you to look at it.
Paj! Posted February 5, 2011 Author Posted February 5, 2011 That's a funny one...I assume the top one is playing on the standard appearance of teen movie posters.
ipaul Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 Both trailers are shit, but the second one just screams of Japan's Westernisation fail. It may offend you to look at it. That's fucking terrible. Yet strangely hilarious. I daresay it's my new 'favourite thing' (Copyright Pajdriver).
Charlie Posted February 5, 2011 Posted February 5, 2011 It used to be, but in the past threw years they suddenly decided to throw that away. How long has it been since their last massively popular product (as in iPod//iPhone as Macs aren't really mass market yet) was released with white as the main colour? Edit: Actually, I seem to recall noticing that Apple stopped using white as their iPod colour soon after the release of the Wii. The earphones supplied are still white though. And no one can argue that they aren't iconic. They just scream "Apple" whenever you see someone with them. Fair point about the actual products though; I hadn't thought of that.
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