Movie Trailer or Ad?

Movie Trailer or Ad?

by Maverick on 03/12/2018 | 2 Minute Read

Advertising , Amazing , Branding , Creative , Design , Design Life , Innovation , Inspiration , Something Cool , Video

Movie buffs were surprised to find IMDb pages popping up online and unexpected trailers dropping for what appeared to be a reboot of Crocodile Dundee. The trailers for Dundee looked expertly shot, with a dazzling cast of Danny McBride and Chris Hemsworth to match. Viewers soon learned the marketing for Dundee was a sham. There was no movie, but instead, fans were watching an ad from Droga5 for Tourism Australia.

A few weeks earlier, Taco Bell dropped an equally deceptive trailer, starring Josh Duhamel, to announce the addition of fries to Taco Bell’s menu. Other brands have tapped into the growing trend of disguising fake movie trailers as ad campaigns—from a fictitious film trailer by fashion brand Robert Graham, to the NFL’s cinematic trailer, “Hope,” ahead of the 2017 season. It’s keeping consumers on their toes and tapping into humour in a new way that viewers seem to welcome. While creatives who have worked on these projects argue the process to create a normal ad campaign and one for a fake movie trailer aren’t that different, there’s a lot more attention to detail when marketing a fake movie. So attempting the stunt isn’t for the faint of heart.

Taco Bell paid particularly close attention to how to market movies when thinking about its creative approach for the “Web of Fries” launch. “We wanted to launch Nacho Fries the same way we would an award-winning movie, by borrowing from the best-in-class movie release playbook. Our goal was for people to legitimately question whether this was an actual movie, which they did,” said Brian Darney, senior manager, advertising and brand engagement at Taco Bell.  That meant building authentic IMDb pages, creating billboards for the fake film and producing believable trailers. Droga5 also noted needing to create a believable world for the Tourism Australia ad, disguised as a Hollywood blockbuster, to live in. A key part of pulling off the fake movie trailer, according to experts, is finding the right time to release the work. For Tourism Australia, unveiling the faux film’s true identity during the Super Bowl created the perfect storm for success (and nearly 7 million views on YouTube). Taco Bell worked with agency Deutsch to strategically time the release of its faux film to a tentpole event, the NFC Championship Game. The brand also drummed up even more engagement with a Hollywood-style New York premiere of the trailer at a pop-up store, inviting fans and the media to watch it and taste the new fries.

 

Check out the ‘trailers’ here.