4. Love Will Tear Us A New One
The Film: The Love Letter
The Big Idea: Aiming for a little counter-programming promotion, the marketing geniuses behind the movie sent stalker-like love notes to journalists, which explained how they loved them, missed them and were... near... them.
The Result: Despite a follow-up, which invited their “crush” to check out the film instead of the Star Wars, re-release, the letters only soured the recipients’ attitude towards the film.
Romantic dramas are not supposed to scare people. Unless they star Martin Lawrence.
5. Ego Driven
The Film: Meet Dave
The Big Idea: How to get around the problem that Eddie Murphy largely refuses to do print press? Why not trundle a giant version of his head across the country to promote the Murphy-as-spaceship “comedy”.
The Result: Mockery. The jokes about Murphy’s ego were endless and blogs encouraged US drivers to crash into the giant noggin.
No one took up the challenge, but the film still flopped.
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