I really wish I’d blogged about this back when I first noticed it, because now Variety has a full piece about it. Mel Gibson’s new movie, Apocalypto, has a very odd marketing strategy.

From the article:

“There will be no splashy Hollywood premiere for ‘Apocalypto;’ instead, Gibson will appear Friday at a preem in Oklahoma benefiting the Chickasaw Nation.”Disney is also making a push with Latino and Native American auds. On Tuesday, Los Angeles’ Latin Business Assn. hosted a screening of the movie in Century City.”

What stood out more to me, though (it’s mentioned far later in the article), is that Mel Gibson is really at the forefront of the campaign. He’s actually interviewed in some of the TV spots, which is more publicity than directors typically get. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a director interviewed in a TV commercial for a theater movie before (I’m sure it has happened, as I don’t watch much TV). He’s also doing a lot of interviews on news programs and talk shows.

Of course, the reason this might backfire is that Mel Gibson isn’t exactly the most popular person right now. I’d be kind of interested to hear the marketers’ rationale behind pushing him front and center.

Robert VerBruggen blogs at http://robertsrationale.blogspot.com.

Let Others Know About This Post These icons link to social bookmarking sites where readers can share and discover new web pages.
  • blogmarks
  • del.icio.us
  • Digg
  • Fark
  • Ma.gnolia
  • NewsVine
  • Reddit
  • TwitThis
  • Facebook
  • Google
  • Live
  • YahooMyWeb