# The worst marketed movies of all time. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 10, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672 "2012-06-10T03:04:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/21 "2012-06-11T14:21:10Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > Wow, you’re right, that cover art is pure-Dee Skinamax. Would never have guessed it was a real historical epic. Do you suppose the studio ran the numbers and figured they could make a profit based on Skinamax flick type sales, rather than art house film sales? I can’t imagine it would be so, as costuming and sets alone would have been very pricey compared to Skinamax films. But nothing else makes sense, if that’s the right word to be using here. No idea. And look at the cast! Not A list, perhaps, but solid B+ list: Catherine McCormick (2 years post _Braveheart_), Rufus Sewell, Oliver Platt, Fred Ward, Naomi Watts, Moira Kelly… I don’t know who pissed off whom, but I think this was intentionally sunk by inadequate marketing, too. Wikipedia tells me it was a limited release in theaters, where it didn’t do well. I didn’t hear of it until, as I say, it showed up on my wall, and I was an avid reader of Hollywood/video retailer insider magazines at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/22 "2012-06-11T15:03:03Z")
_Hancock_. The trailers made it look like a one-joke comedy, and it was anything but. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/23 "2012-06-11T15:56:08Z")
I’m gonna go ahead and nominate Pixar’s _Brave_. I don’t know what it is from the trailers. An adventure film? Historical fiction? Hero’s journey type movie? Lighthearted family dysfunction movie? Not to mention too it seems to have none of Pixar’s heart, originality, or uniqueness. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Scud](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f08c70/32.png) [@Tom\_Scud](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Scud)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/24 "2012-06-11T16:06:37Z")
The 1983 movie of Pirates of Penzance [might be the all-time winner](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Pirates_of_Penzance_(1983_film)): [QUOTE=Wikipedia] The film was not a box office success, but, according to the IMDB, this “had nothing to do with the reviews, which were often quite positive. The real problem lay with Universal Pictures’ decision to release the film simultaneously to SelecTV (a Los Angeles subscription television service) and to theaters. Theater owners were so angry that they boycotted the film; in the end, only 92 theaters agreed to show it, and it enjoyed a long run at only one of them.” [/quote] ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/25 "2012-06-11T16:12:37Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m gonna go ahead and nominate Pixar’s _Brave_. > > I don’t know what it is from the trailers. An adventure film? Historical fiction? Hero’s journey type movie? Lighthearted family dysfunction movie? > > Not to mention too it seems to have none of Pixar’s heart, originality, or uniqueness. Yeah, but you know it’s gonna have John Ratzenberger. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/26 "2012-06-11T16:14:11Z")
I thought the advertising for John Carter pretty accurately presented the movie. Mediocre action slummer. Personally, it seemed to me I saw plenty of advertising for Pirates! Band of Misfits, but I disagree with the OP in that I found it adequate but almost boring. I tend to think that “Bad Marketing” means “I liked the movie but it didn’t do much business, the marketing must have sucked.” One of the worst bits of marketing I’ve seen are the trailers that ran for The Seven Samurai. Gave away the entire movie including showing the deaths of many important characters. ---
**Author:** ![obfusciatrist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4af34b/32.png) [@obfusciatrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/obfusciatrist)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/27 "2012-06-11T16:15:21Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m gonna go ahead and nominate Pixar’s _Brave_ Pixar’s trailers always kind of suck. I’ve never really watched one and said “yeah, that’s going to be a good movie.” And then (up until Cars 2) I leave the theater saying “dammit, they fooled me again.” ---
**Author:** ![Simplicio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c37758/32.png) [@Simplicio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simplicio)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/28 "2012-06-11T16:17:40Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m gonna go ahead and nominate Pixar’s _Brave_. > > I don’t know what it is from the trailers. An adventure film? Historical fiction? Hero’s journey type movie? Lighthearted family dysfunction movie? Really? We saw the trailer and had the opposite complaint, that it gave away too much of the plot (granted, we haven’t seen the actual movie, so maybe it’ll turn out to have been misleading). Watching the actual movie seems kind of superfluous now. I complained about the marketing for **Reign of Fire** in another thread. The trailer and posters used a bunch of footage that didn’t make it to the actual movie, making it seem like the movie was a Godzilla type “dragons destroy modern cities” type movie instead of the post-apocalyptic thing it actually was. I’ll add **Hugo** to the list. The movie was alright, but it wasn’t a particularly great film for little kids, despite the fact that it was marketed as such. We brought a bunch of my SO’s little cousins to see it, and they were bored out of their skulls. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/29 "2012-06-11T16:21:28Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m gonna go ahead and nominate Pixar’s _Brave_. > > I don’t know what it is from the trailers. An adventure film? Historical fiction? Hero’s journey type movie? Lighthearted family dysfunction movie? > > Not to mention too it seems to have none of Pixar’s heart, originality, or uniqueness. Actually, the trailers for Brave have intrigued me. It looks like fun. Lighthearted adventure, spunky redhead with a mean bow vs. medieval sexism, plenty of humor and snark, is what I got from them. Sold! [Here’s a link to the trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_GeQmhxc6g), see for yourself. (Ironically, you will have to watch a 15 second Youtube ad in order to watch Disney’s ad for the movie. If this is Just Too Much, I totally understand.) ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/30 "2012-06-11T16:51:09Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > [Here’s a link to the trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_GeQmhxc6g), see for yourself. (Ironically, you will have to watch a 15 second Youtube ad in order to watch Disney’s ad for the movie. If this is Just Too Much, I totally understand.) And, amusingly, it was a Universal Studios ad before the Disney ad. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/31 "2012-06-11T17:04:08Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > I’m gonna go ahead and nominate Pixar’s _Brave_. > > I don’t know what it is from the trailers. An adventure film? Historical fiction? Hero’s journey type movie? Lighthearted family dysfunction movie? > > Not to mention too it seems to have none of Pixar’s heart, originality, or uniqueness. Yeah, I’m on the bandwagon having the opposite reaction too. It painted a very clear picture to me that the story was about a brash and willful princess who refuses to play into her parents ideas of duty and gender roles. There’s adventures with archery. And the foe is likely not who it seems, re scary bear is actually a friend. It also looks to follow Pixar’s tested script formula. Paint a vivid picture of a protagonist’s world and family. Isolate protagonist from family. Protag learns lessons, self-discovery, revelations, etc. Dramatic reunion. I’m even thinking of ripping it off myself, it’s such a rock solid arc. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/32 "2012-06-11T18:01:38Z")
> [@Evil\_Captor](#): > > [Here’s a link to the trailer](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_GeQmhxc6g), see for yourself. (Ironically, you will have to watch a 15 second Youtube ad in order to watch Disney’s ad for the movie. If this is Just Too Much, I totally understand.) Well obviously I’ve seen the trailer that’s where I made my opinions from. I assumed that I would be in the minority with my opinion too, it’s just for it being the next big thing from Pixar I’m not impressed. (Also how in the hell are they gonna have the Pizza Planet truck in there?) ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/33 "2012-06-11T18:15:33Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > I’ll add **Hugo** to the list. The movie was alright, but it wasn’t a particularly great film for little kids, despite the fact that it was marketed as such. We brought a bunch of my SO’s little cousins to see it, and they were bored out of their skulls. I loved Hugo, but definitely agree that it would bore kids to tears. > [@WhyNot](#): > > No idea. And look at the cast! Not A list, perhaps, but solid B+ list: Catherine McCormick (2 years post _Braveheart_), Rufus Sewell, Oliver Platt, Fred Ward, Naomi Watts, Moira Kelly… I thought it was amazing. And the costuming was fairly accurate. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/34 "2012-06-11T19:02:30Z")
> [@Sir\_T-Cups](#): > > Well obviously I’ve seen the trailer that’s where I made my opinions from. > > I assumed that I would be in the minority with my opinion too, it’s just for it being the next big thing from Pixar I’m not impressed. IIRC there were many different trailers and teasers for Brave. The first ones were certainly short on information, but I saw the latest trailer just before Avengers and saw nothing wrong or confusing with it. It looked funny and full of heart, with some beautiful scenery. Typical Pixar movie. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/35 "2012-06-11T19:43:20Z")
[Fast Girls](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daYVAtd1IWI) - There’s no reason to watch the film if you’ve seen the trailer, as it contains the entire plot. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/36 "2012-06-11T20:19:48Z")
> [@RandMcnally](#): > > I remember that Bridge to Terabithia was horribly mis-sold. I remember the trailers as some Narnia-esq romp through a magical kingdom. Another Gabor Csupo movie had the same problem - _The Rugrats Go Wild_. It was originally intended to be a crossover between _Rugrats_ and _The Wild Thornberrys_ (in fact, the original idea was to release this before _The Wild Thornberrys Movie_, in order to “introduce” people familiar with Rugrats to the characters, and never mind that TWT had been a TV series for about five years), but for some reason, was marketed as “just” a Rugrats movie - and, at one point, the commercials consisted of showing three young kids saying, “Spike (the Rugrats dog) is going to talk!” followed by the kids _doing a hula dance_ for the rest of the commercial. (On top ot that, it turns out Spike “talks” only for about a minute.) However, the “worst marketed” movie is probably the _Aqua Teen Hunger Force_ movie, which had no advertising whatsoever outside of Cartoon Network. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/37 "2012-06-11T20:39:24Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > _Hancock_. The trailers made it look like a one-joke comedy, and it was anything but. Well, yes, but the rest of it stunk, so I can understand why they went that direction. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![drastic\_quench](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e36b37/32.png) [@drastic\_quench](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drastic_quench)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 8:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/38 "2012-06-11T20:42:22Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > However, the “worst marketed” movie is probably the _Aqua Teen Hunger Force_ movie, which had no advertising whatsoever outside of Cartoon Network. That’s just savvy business as buying airtime for ATHF spots would be akin to burning money. That’s coming from a guy who liked the first couple of seasons of the show for the disposable silliness it is. ---
**Author:** ![dzeiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/46a35a/32.png) [@dzeiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dzeiger)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/39 "2012-06-11T20:58:05Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > However, the “worst marketed” movie is probably the _Aqua Teen Hunger Force_ movie, which had no advertising whatsoever outside of Cartoon Network. The Boston Police department might disagree with that statement. ---
**Author:** ![well\_he\_s\_back](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3ab097/32.png) [@well\_he\_s\_back](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/well_he_s_back)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2012, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672/40 "2012-06-11T22:21:33Z")
Why was Idiocracy so little marketed? Someone above said it was intentionally buried.why? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-worst-marketed-movies-of-all-time/624672.md?page=3)