joyThere’s a strong belief in America that anyone can accomplish anything. Usually this is put forward in the context bettering one’s self or rising above one’s given circumstances. We can debate how realistic that may or may not be, but there are enough stories out there about how people have either worked hard to become a success or had some form of incredible big idea – or flat out luck – to make it a narrative that persists.

The new movie Joy is about just such a narrative. Based on a true story, the movie stars Jennifer Lawrence as the titular character, a woman who has struggled with problems in family relationships, romantic relationships and life in general. But one day she creates something that not only brings her great success, which impacts all of those relationships, but also the kind of personal satisfaction and power that she’s always sought. The movie reunites Lawrence with Silver Linings Playbook director David O. Russell as well as co-stars Bradley Cooper and Robert DeNiro.

The Posters

The movie’s one poster puts the focus, unsurprisingly, on Lawrence. She’s shown alone on the one-sheet looking up into the sky of falling snow while wearing sunglasses and a leather jacket, which are meant to give her kind of an attitude. The cast list appears at the top while below it we’re reminded of some of Russell’s recent directorial efforts, including the two previous collaborations with the stars of this movie. At the bottom we’re told the movie is coming out on Christmas, a message that’s emphasized by the falling snow.

It’s a good poster that, mostly through the outfit Lawrence is wearing, tries to convey something about the character and the movie, but there’s not a lot to go on. The inclusion of snow on the poster seems like it’s trying to sell this as an outright Christmas movie, which isn’t supported by anything else about the campaign but which makes for a memorable visual if you see this online or in the theater hallway on your way to another movie.

The Trailers

The teaser trailer starts off with a young girl being told she’s going to grow up to be a strong woman. We cut to shots of Joy living her life, hanging out with friends, getting married, putting her daughter to bed and more while the narration continues. Then we see Joy’s life isn’t all that great with various scenes showing the rest of her family, a few shots of her sketching something (her mop invention), getting arrested and more, all while “You Can’t Always Get What You Want” plays. The spot ends with Joy firing a shotgun at something offscreen before she stops and finally introduces herself.

There’s very little dialogue here outside of the woman who is telling Joy what’s going to happen to her in her life, but we’re definitely able to get a sense of the movie and figure out that we’re going to be watching the ups and downs of Joy’s life. She’s presented as a no-nonsense woman who overcomes a lot of stuff but keeps her sense of self-worth intact.

The official theatrical trailer skips some of the setup and cuts straight to Lawrence’s character imparting some hard advice to her daughter before it cuts back to more of her story, from her marriage to her career and more. The focus here is on Joy’s independence and how hard she’s worked to get what she has

This one feels a lot tighter and more solidly constructed than the first one, giving a lot more detail into Joy’s character and showing off the core of the story much more clearly than the previous trailer.

Online and Social

The official website for the movie is a one-page site but has some cool stuff going on. At the top of the page, just below the title and a picture of Lawrence, are buttons prompting you to Watch the Trailer or connect with the movie on Facebook or Twitter. Below that there’s a prompt to get tickets now.

The first actual section here is “Videos” which has both trailers, a bunch of the TV spots and a featurette with Lawrence. Then the “About” section has a decent synopsis as well as cast and crew credits.

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You can see the one-sheet in the “Poster” section, which is followed by a prompt to sign-up for email alerts. The “Gallery” has nine stills from the movie you can scroll through. The site pulls in some of the movie’s Twitter posts in the “Social Updates” section with prompts to view more on Facebook or Twitter if you so choose.

Two very interesting sections finish the site. “News & Press” pulls in headlines and links to some of the stories in the press about the movie. And then there’s a section of “Related Movies” that shows the audience some other Fox films they may enjoy.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

TV spots would run that played with much more of a sense of whimsy than the trailers did. They show the dire situation Joy is in with debt, pressures of family who don’t get along and all that before showing she gets herself out of those situations with her big idea, which isn’t shown but which we do see is kind of a game-changer.

There was some online advertising done as well, most of it using either the one-sheet or another image of Lawrence. No promotional partners here, which isn’t surprising.

Media and Publicity

Lawrence would make the rounds in the press and via, talking about the movie while also promoting the latest Hunger Games movie.

Russell would also get a chance in the press, which is good since he just had the one movie to promote and not two. He talked about how this was his first female-centric movie as well as what it was like to work with a very similar group of actors time and again and more.

Lawrence’s previous comments about the gender pay gap in Hollywood would continue to resonate as she was asked about it time and again, as if the press was waiting for her to recant and disavow those comments. And her relationships in general would keep coming up in a way that it just doesn’t for male stars.  

Entertainment Weekly named Lawrence their Entertainer of the Year, an award that was ostensibly tied to The Hunger Games finale but which also provided a decent boost for Joy.

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After The Hunger Games was released the publicity campaign really kicked into high gear, with multiple interviews and more going out within days. That was both a result of likely needing to wait until the other movie’s cycle was finished and the desire to ride the wave of the last few stories about the finale of Lawrence’s best-known franchise.

That renewed push would focus primarily around a cast Q&A where Russell talked about making a movie with a female protagonist as the main character – something he hadn’t done before – the challenges of Lawrence playing a character over so much of her life and more. Lawrence would also tell Russell she was down for anything he was doing since she’s enjoyed working with him so much, as evidence by this being their third collaboration. DeNiro talked about the pleasure of being part of Russell’s regular troupe, something that allows him to gain some experience with the actors he’s working with over time.

The screening of the movie that preceded the Q&A also allowed some critics and speculators to point out that this is absolutely Lawrence’s movie, something that could have awards implications as the year winds down.

Not all of the press would focus on Lawrence, though, as this story turned to the working relationship between Russell and Cooper and how they too have made three movies together. That theme would continue in stories like this that focused on how these four are reuniting once again.

Overall

How much this campaign works for you will, I’m thinking, depend greatly on not only your perspective of Jennifer Lawrence and her body of work but also your awareness and fondness for the previous movies she, Cooper and DeNiro have made with David O. Russell. That reunion between the director and those actors is the centerpiece of the campaign as a way to not only appeal to Lawrence’s legion of fans (both those who came to her after Winter’s Bone and those who are more Hunger Games-oriented) as well as the crowd that is more into discussing talent and other industry-centric topics.

Outside of that the campaign presents a movie that’s focused on a “give zero fucks” woman who isn’t afraid to fall in love even if that someone may not be a guy everyone approves of. But at a time when strong, independent women who are in control of their own lives and fate are a hot topic in all aspects of culture and media this movie could strike at a great time, and assuming the campaign has reflected and sold the movie accurately. There’s a lot to like here, even if some of the choices the campaign makes are a bit dodgy, such as the lack of dialogue on display in most of the trailers. Still, a solid effort for what looks like an entertaining film.

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