…and not in a knowing nod to the cognoscenti way. Shana O’Neill on SyfyWire wonders Where is the Wonder Woman movie advertising?
Wonder Woman finally gets her own movie and the movie marketing machines for DC and Warner Bros. haven’t seemed to have chugged to life.
We’re less than six weeks out. There’s been more advertising for Justice League than the movie that’s supposed to kick off the whole JLU film arc. On Warner Bros.’ YouTube Channel, Wonder Woman has only three trailers to Justice League’s six. Where are the TV commercials and product tie-ins (yes, I know about Dr. Pepper, other ones please)? Batman and Supes both had their own breakfast cereal, so where’s my Wonder Woman cereal, General Mills? I’ve seen toys but no toy commercials.
It’s been pretty quiet out there, regardless of the fact that people have reacted positively to the little advertising that’s been released. The few trailers Wonder Woman has have garnered close to 60 million views. Imagine what would happen if the trailer were embedded on major entertainment sites and there were stories out there about the film?
O’Neill compares and contrasts marketing for other DC movies 6 weeks out from release, and finds the disparity somewhat alarming.
As a woman who is 100% in their target demographic, I’m sitting here wondering why they don’t want to sell me this movie. And the only explanations I can come up with for a studio failing to market a major blockbuster aren’t leaving me with much hope.
As she lays out her speculations, I’m not feeling too optimistic about possible reasons either. That bothers me: I really want to finally have a Wonder Woman movie I can enjoy and for it to succeed at the box office so that more woman-centred films get made and help close that particular gender gap. Anyway, just as O’Neill has done, I’ve embedded a trailer at the end of my post to hopefully get them a few more views. As it happens, since O’Neill’s article, Warner Bros official YouTube channel has finally released some 30-second TV spots, so I’ll give you one of those.
COURAGE -an official poster for the Wonder Woman movie 2017
In the longer trailers I did notice that, true to the WW2 DC comic books regarding Wonder Woman’s origin story, Diana Prince does almost as much Nazi-punching as Steve Rogers in Marvel’s Captain America vehicles. Given that every news outlet in Murdochistan has a chorus line of op-edders wailing that punching Nazis is somehow unAmerican all of a sudden, that might be part of why the ad spend is just a little restrained. That’s the most optimistic speculation I could come up with anyway.
O’Neill’s article isn’t the only one out there wondering what’s happening with the lack of promotion for this film. Vanity Fair’s Hollywood Daily column rounds up a few more and concludes that maybe everyone should just chill for a little while yet; this could well be strategic due to the relentless wallpapering of promos for upcoming releases of competing action movies and that WB are biding their time for a gap to make the most impact. I hope they’re right.
h/t File770’s Pixel Scroll link roundup
Categories: arts & entertainment, gender & feminism, media
2016 Hoydens: Debbie Reynolds and Carrie Fisher 
Quick Link: the 2014 Ernies are in 
Signal Boost: Wonder Women! 
More of this, please 
There have been trailers for it at the last two movies I saw at the cinema (which were not close together because I don’t go to the movies much). Mr angharad was of the opinion they have delayed the release because execs weren’t happy with it. I hope not. The trailers look awesome, and I really want the movie to be awesome too…
Me too. I am so excited about this film. Gadot was spectacular in Batman vs Superman, and I can’t wait to see what she brings to the lead.
I didn’t see BvS – it didn’t appeal to me at all, even just to see her cameo – so i am hanging out extra hard for this one…
Well, I won’t try and convince you otherwise, but I will say you should check this out if you haven’t already:
… which is her theme from that film, even if you don’t watch the footage, because when was the last time a female character got music that epic?
The marketing in Britian isn’t far different from Batman vs Superman or Suicide Squad, but that’s more about the others being marketed less than Wonder Woman being marketed more.
There is one relatively optimistic reason I can think of for why they might be quieter about it. Batman vs Superman and Suicide Squad were both very badly received, but Wonder Woman was widely regarded as the best thing in BvS (and Harley Quinn, or at least Margot Robbie, in SS). DC might think that pushing an aggressive campaign will provoke more negative buzz than positive by renewing grievances about the previous films, and the brand, even compared to relative word of mouth stoked by good memories of Gal Gadot’s Wonder Woman herself.
It sounds like sophistry when I write it down and read it back. But it’s the most optimistic spin I can think of.
Incidentally: Jill Lepore’s The Secret History of Wonder Woman is worth reading. Really puts the creators in the context of first-wave feminism, particularly the link to Margaret Sanger.
I’ve read reviews of it, but not yet grabbed a copy. They were decidedly unconventional! Several folks I follow have noted how reluctant people have been to use the term ‘polyamory’ to describe their relationship though.
Especially after reading Lepore, I can kinda see why. They’re not really the poster children for modern third-wave-feminism egalitarian ethical polyamory. There was more than a little multiple-wives biblical patriarch in the mix.