You Must Choose - which new one-sheet sells The Dark Knight the best?
By Burbanked on Dec 14, 2007 in Movie Marketing 101, Movies, One-Sheetery, You Must Choose | 5,305 views |
This has turned into Movie! One-Sheet! Week! at Burbanked, with Indiana Jones a handful of days ago and now three new posters heralding Christian Bale’s return to the dark world of latex, psychotic badguys and the fine art of using only the lower half of one’s face to act.
We first saw a Batman-themed one-sheet (seen on the right; click it for a larger version and do I really have to keep telling you that?) for next summer’s The Dark Knight, courtesy of our newfound blog pal Gus over at Movie Poster Addict. This is a pretty terrific poster, using the iconic nature of Batman’s silohuette, combined with the solitary nature of his character, to remind us of the role of protector that he’s taken on. It’s a nice piece of artwork and I wouldn’t mind if Warner Bros. would simply leave it alone now, as opposed to giving us 16 more one-sheets by the time the movie comes out.
But if Batman gets those wonderful toys, then the Joker is the one who gets all the terrific marketing vehicles. The viral campaign for TDK, well-documented by every other blogger who isn’t me, has been completely devoted to the Joker character, and now we see a pair of one-sheets that also do an effective job of revitalizing this well-known and many-times-portrayed character.
And naturally, there’s lots of discussion about which of these Joker one-sheets is better, the domestic one (at left below) or the international one. Josh at Cinema Blend calls the domestic poster “awful” compared to the international version, but I wouldn’t agree with that. I like the extreme creepiness and oddity of the domestic poster. It ties nicely into the viral campaign and reminds us that the Nolan/Ledger Joker is going to be something quite different than what we’re used to - which is absolutely a great thing.
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So here’s the part where You Must Choose: Of these three one-sheets, which one sells The Dark Knight in the most effective way to its target audience? And for extra credit: which of the two Joker posters do you like better?
Okay, now I’ll just admit that I’m trying to freshen up my sidebar a little. But this is a nifty piece of Batman-themed editing:
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pacheco | Dec 14, 2007 | Reply
Honestly? I think this one is the best.
But that being said, the one that sells The Dark Knight to it’s audience? That’s tough.
On one hand, the film is not called The Joker. It’s about Batman. So the lonesome first image, out of all, shows that this is about Batman’s journey and tribulations. This Is His Story.
On the other hand, if we’re talking target audience, everyone is DYING to see the new Joker, and what better way to appeal to the hopeful than with some rockin’ images of the Clown Prince?
Even though it contradicts what the movie is truly about, I think the best marketing decision would be with the Joker images. I choose the one on the left as the best in marketing, and also as the coolest one up there, in my opinion.
Ray | Dec 14, 2007 | Reply
Pacheco, you hit it right on the head.
The one that highlights Batman makes me shrug. Gee, he’s looking out the window. YAWN.
The two Joker posters are more effective at their job - SELL THE MOVIE.
To that end, I choose the domestic poster, because it is horribly creepy and twisted.
Burbanked | Dec 14, 2007 | Reply
pacheco | Dec 15, 2007 | Reply
I agree that this isn’t some twisted horror movie — and after showing someone the poster, they were first creeped out and then mentioned that it looked like a Saw poster. Hmm…
The thing is, while this is a major mainstream franchise, I think a lot of the selling point for this series was that this was going to be Batman done REALISTICALLY. So we see him struggling, we see him develop his look and gadgets. The Batmobile isn’t some sports car, it’s practically a tank.
So how do you do The Joker realistically? I think most people are looking forward to seeing a Joker who’s not goofy and silly and a pushover. If this is Batman’s arch-villain, there’s gotta be something to him. What kind of person in a more realistic world would do what the Joker does? Someone highly disturbed. I think they’re really trying to push the disturbing elements of his character with his portrayal in this film, and also some of the marketing.
I just think that people want to see a worthy, creepy, messed up, bad*** Joker, and in my opinion, that’s what the “Why So Serious?” poster does. That’s why I think ultimately that poster will be more appealing to the target audience. I really think that a lot of the target audience consists of fans, former fans, and casual fans of Batman, so you appeal to them by saying “The Dark Knight is gonna be DARK.”
Burbanked | Dec 17, 2007 | Reply