By Ryan Parsons | Image property of Touchstone Pictures, Variety.
Wild Hogs
Everybody knows that the Super Bowl always delivers. Be it football, funny commercial or movie trailers. We have already been promised hilarious commercial campaigns for this year's Super Bowl XLI, but what about trailers? Spider-Man 3? Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End? Transformers?
It would seem that Hollywood studios did not find this year's Super Bowl to be a sound investment for any of their tentpole movies. With eight pricey movie plugs last year, fans can so far only expect to see two during this year's game; and they aren't even for tentpole movies.
Lionsgate is digging deep in their wallets to advertise the Terrence Howard-Bernie Mac film Pride, while Disney tries comedy with Wild Hogs. And that's it! Paramount is dodging the financial bullet by having their upcoming Eddie Murphy comedy, Norbit, sponsor one of the six hours in the pregame show. Sony is following suit with their February release of Ghost Rider. Pre-game spots are obviously much cheaper than ones during the game.
The in-game ads, however, get more viewers and are much more likely to become viral across the net; nearly free promotion at this point. It would seem that the studios recent shift of ad dollars to the internet has caused them to have little interest in any viral marketing off of the expensive spot.
Another big reason for less film promotions in Super Bowl XLI comes down to Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End. Well, not exactly, but the film makes for a perfect example. Pirates, Spider-Man and Shrek are just a few of the highly anticipated franchises returning for theatrical release in 2007. The studios that represent these films feel that the latest editions are already well-established with the moviegoing sector.
At Worlds End is due out in May and is considered "highly anticipated," yet Disney hasn't released a single trailer or official teaser poster for the film.
After Independence Day kicked off movie hysteria during a Super Bowl game a decade ago, film has always been the second leading category; trailing beer of course. This year things will change, and marketing consultants are even blaming film geeks.
"The problem is, if you're not ready with your creative, you are left way too exposed." Using The Hulk spot as an example, this miniature trailer was picked apart frame by frame and ridiculed by the more avid moviegoers out there. This attention was blown up across the net, causing the film to at least sound low-budget.
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