I read this morning that the top movie in theaters this weekend was Ice Age 2: The Meltdown. It took in an estimated $70.5 million. That's an awful lot of money. What I wonder is how much of that was due to people going to see it because they found out that the Simpsons teaser was attached.
Let me explain what I mean:
I saw the first Ice Age at the theater. It was amusing in an unimpressive kind of way. I was actually pretty surprised to find out that they were making a sequel, and didn't really care if I saw it. Sure, maybe it's worth picking up at Blockbuster or from Netflix, but I'm not going to rush out to the theater to see it. No one that I had talked to really seemed that excited about this film. Then on Friday it was released, and everything changed.
Suddenly, people were going to see it and there was this buzz about it all over the internet. The problem was that no one was talking about how great the movie itself was, instead they were talking about things that happened before it even started. As soon as people started coming back and saying, "Hey I went to see Ice Age and there was a trailer for the Simpsons movie," the word spread like a rhinovirus at preschool. People who didn't care about seeing the movie read this and started thinking about going. "Sure, I don't care about Ice Age, but going to the movies is fun even when the movie is only so-so and I have to see if this is really there." Then the second batch of reports started coming in, "I had to go see if it was there, and there really was a teaser for the Simpsons movie." Now there was confirmation, and there were people who were definitely going only because of the trailer.
Did I go see it? No, but that doesn't mean I didn't think about it. In fact, it really came down to just simply not having the time to go when the only reason was that I wanted to see this trailer. As it turns out, it was on during last night's new episode of the Simpsons, so there really wasn't much of a need to rush out.
In reality, this is a great example of viral/word of mouth advertising. The Simpsons has been on for 17 years and people have been waiting for and talking about a movie for at least the last ten. The movie was one of those projects that has been discussed, but that everyone assumes will never really happen. Then all of the sudden, there is a trailer in theaters advertising the release date of July, 2007. The word spread, people acted on it, and I guess we'll have to wait until next weekend's box office numbers to see how Ice Age does on it's own without the buzz surrounding the previews. Maybe the movie is good enough to keep people coming in, or maybe we'll find out that it received a sizeable bump from a clever advertising tie-in.
Until later...
April 03, 2006
The Homer Effect
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3 comments:
Cindy LOVES trailers. If they would just have a 2 hour showing where they played nothing but trailers, she'd be happy.
Plus, who pays money for a trailer when they don't really care about the movie? Wait a few weeks, and the trailer will be online.
I'll be seeing Ice Age 2 in the theater, but only because I'll be taking my 3 year old to see it.
MC, way back in the day (ok, late 80's) there was a cable channel that showed almost nothing but trailers for upcoming movies. I would sit and watch that channel until they started repeating themselves (and sometimes, I'd keep watching). It's something about the anticipation that makes trailers so great.
There were plenty of people who have gone to see Star Wars or Harry Potter trailers and then left when the actual movie started. I'd at least stay for the movie.
Becki, I think that actually sums up my thoughts on Ice Age. If I had a child to take, I'd go. Otherwise, I can wait. The best parts of the first movie were in the trailer. If the second one follows suit...well at least you can have popcorn and candy when you take her.
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