Not a real porno film, but Kevin Smith's new raunchy romcom the title of which, 'Zack and Miri Make a Porno', which is causing a marketing nightmare for the Weinstein Company with newspapers, cable and TV channels refusing to run ads.'Zack and Miri Make a Porno', which tells the sweet story of how some broke friends get together and try to make a buck or two out of making a porn movie, has been having a tough time of it. It has been rated R (under 17 requires an accompanying parent or adult guardian) having first been given a NC-17 rating (no one under 17), which is pretty much movie death but was over turned on appeal by Kevin Smith.The Motion Picture Association of America then banned the US poster featuring stars Elizabeth Banks and Seth Rogen. It had the pair standing side-by-side with their opposing heads pasted over their crotches.
Hardly offensive and the Canadians let it run. So go Canada. This all led Smith to despair on his My Boring-Ass Life blog:"Our frustration in getting an MPAA approval on the American poster led to last-resort ideas about showcasing dopey, simple images instead of risque pics of our leads - which, in turn, led to what’s now the official American poster for the flick…"
The film's posters have faced protests in Boston where their placement on bus shelters and city buses was called "totally inappropriate". The posters were banned in Philadelphia before they could even appear. With the city's deputy mayor saying: "Zack and Miri can make a porno, but not on my bus shelter." The Wall Street Journal says that after receiving viewer complaints about an ad that aired during a LA Dodgers' baseball game in September, News Corp.'s FSN Prime Ticket cable channel refused to run more ads. Fox television network has also refused to run the 30-second spots as have more than 15 newspapers and a number of other TV and cable channels and those that have taken the cash have opted to abbreviate the title to 'Zack and Miri.It is not the first time Smith's films have caused a stink. 'Dogma' his all star (Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, Alan Rickman, Linda Fiorentino) cast film took a pop at the Catholic church that caused a mini storm in America and hit the movie with Christians demonstrating against it. It annoyed the Catholic League (due to a reference about the Virgin Mary having post-Jesus sex with Joseph) and Smith received over ten thousand pieces of protest/hate mail and three death threats.After the controversy surrounding Dogma, Smith said he wanted to make a movie that couldn't be attacked for its content, well he did that three times (none of which have been a touch on his best film 'Chasing Amy') with mixed results (remember the post-Gigli Bennifer movie 'Jersey Girl' – ouch).Smith, who loves a smutty *** joke or ten, had to know when he started his new film that the title would cause a stink bomb size smell. After not great performances at the box office with 'Jersey Girl' or 'Clerks II' he is hoping the hullabaloo helps."If anything, the controversy might help us pick up a wider audience, simply by virtue of the fact that people have been talking about it so much"What is so interesting is that despite the economic downturn so many people are refusing to take the advertising. The film looks very funny and I don't expect that when its UK release rolls around that there will be any furore in the UK, but I could be wrong. What do you think?
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After the storm that is Brand & Ross i can see the Daily Mail brigade taking exception to the title & concept (along with the god squad)... but hey, whats in a joke anyway...
oh yeah!! a bandwagon to jump on for people with nothing better to do with their time.
I think the ads won't have as much restriction as in the US but you'll get old Mrs Smith from down the street penning a letter of complaint for sure.
I don't get it. We're cool with news footage of people blowing themselves up, war footage, televised boxing matches (all without a parental-guidance filter) and other forms of socially-sanctioned violence but when it comes to sex, people go all NIMBY ("Not In My Back Yard").
How did these mother grundies make it to this planet? Immaculate conception? Did they spring fully-formed from a sunflower? Methinks these folk should rather just hide under the bed and dream of the world that was - where sex was something that only happened on the odd dreaded weekend when Father was absolutely sure there wasn't a foxhunt or a ball to attend and slavery was a rather effective way of getting things done.
If its as funny as clerks who cares if its a marketing disaster, it'll sell by the best marketing, word of mouth.
True and clerks II was good. I saw this on TV last night it was certainly running with the Porno word and all on Sky One in Prison Break and i even stopped Sky + and watched. I guess it would run on Channel 4 without incident as well.
Thought you might enjoy this quote from Seth Rogan: "People have been banning our posters and the Saw V poster they're fine with - literally a guy with a dead person's face cut off and strapped to his face, and no one has a prob with him."
To answer the original question - the best way to promote a porno film is by getting people to the cinema under false pretences - straight forward rom com angle should do it - people watch get shocked and go tell their friends about it. The papers and TV pick up the story and the subsequent PR activity does the rest. You get the coverage by the media the film was seeking, but at a knock-down price.
Gordon Macmillan
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