2016 saw one of the biggest marketing fails in the history of entertainment. Especially in the realm of digital advertising. We are ...
Sony Pictures Entertainment's YouTube trailer for the 2016 reboot of the much beloved 1984 classic seems to have earned a very vocal and critical digital audience, quickly becoming one of the most disliked videos on YouTube's platform EVER.
Whilst the original movie from the imaginations of Dan Akroyd and Harold Ramis reached cult status and spawned a huge range of merchandise, computer games and fanfic. Not to mention it become the platform of popularity for the careers of many of the main cast, we are however still awaiting the July 15 release of the 2016 reboot to see what the results will be.
In the meantime the managers of the Sony Pictures Entertainment YouTube channel have been busy trying to hide evidence of the unrelenting stream of comments that do not support the upcoming release. A tactic that certainly hasn't gone unnoticed by YouTube users who keep posting back their deleted comments in droves.
While busily deleting the stream of negative comments is possible to a certain extent the 850K+ dislikes is not so easy to cover up, especially without removing the entire clip and starting the view count from scratch. The marketing spin doctors have been quick in an attempt to portray the public outburst as a case of misogyny in action they all seem to very conveniently step over the fact that many of the detractors are female and a large majority of the comments generated seem to be from fans of the original series.
Any commentator who says they have true statistics on the demographic and true intent of the commentators is pulling your leg of course.
Yes it is true that being fans doesn't necessarily mean they are going to get what they want in a remake or spin-off, nor should movie makers feel inclined to pander 'just because'. However this has happened to many a cult classic; Star Trek & Star Wars being prime examples, the resistance in both cases was never as severe as what we have seen here.
It is all too easy to blame the unpopularity of a concept on everything but the concept itself and the modern, media savvy public are increasingly aware of that tactic when it comes to excuses.
The proof however is in the proverbial pudding. The box office results will show whether the on-line sentiment transfers across to real life sales. Money talks and will be the ultimate tell-all in this debate.
What do you think about this brouhaha? Let us know in the comments below.
