Coming Soon: 2013's Most Advertised Films

How much is too much advertising? Studios are now releasing trailers a good six months before a film’s release, simply ending them with ‘coming this year’, but while increasing awareness of their products, is Hollywood inadvertently alienating possible spectators? Here, Roobla looks at some of the most advertised films of the season and whether their techniques are annoying or successful.

1. After Earth

After Earth was advertised in cinemas as early as January and had a prominent television, print and billboard presence; it maintained a variety with numerous trailers and posters, alternating the lead between Will Smith and his son Jaden. Despite the repetitiveness of the main trailer, it is a fascinating one, with a great voice over by Will Smith; in addition, it is edited to not reveal much of the story (which is happening too frequently now). Personally, we never got tired of After Earth’s advertising, and it definitely got us pumped for its release. Unfortunately, it has bombed critically, holding an 11% rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is currently grossing $98 million, a box office failure considering its $130 million budget.

While its commercial failure may be attributed to its awful reception and the reputation of director M. Night Shyamalan, it would be interesting to know whether After Earth’s premature advertising peeved spectators and influenced them not to see it.

2. World War Z

Due to the presence of A-lister Brad Pitt, World War Z’s production has been documented for years and the crew’s time filming in England was highly publicized. Now, and for the past couple of months, the film has invaded television ad time, repeatedly popping up in the same time slot, the same long ad depicting its story pretty much start to finish. Its trailer is typical and similar to many, one that should end early but it insists on giving us a run-down of the film’s events. In addition, Brad Pitt’s figure standing before a destroyed city is all over towns and cities, and in papers and magazines.

Its advertising lacks variety and we personally have gotten tired of seeing the same images and clips popping up all over the place. After being excited for a zombie film for a long time, we are now excited for its release to finally be free of its boring promotion. Nevertheless, we’re sure it will make a fortune with a huge opening weekend.

3. The Bling Ring

Emma Watson’s transition from nerdy school girl to a hot, partying thief has excited many people online, and is highly publicised on news and gossip websites. A shot of her licking her lip whilst dancing is infamous and her presence is the most anticipating thing about The Bling Ring, despite Watson herself proclaiming that her role is small. Whilst it does not appear to have a huge presence in print and in the cinemas, the film is advertised a lot before videos on sites like Youtube, and of course, they predominantly feature Emma Watson.

We’re sure it will make a lot more than its $8 million budget from Watson admirers and those interested in the famous celebrity robberies, and it does look intriguing, although perhaps a little misleading to those expecting Emma in a leading role.

What films do you think are over-advertised, and does the repetitive promotion of films deter you from seeing one?