table_nineteen_ver2Eloise (Anna Kendrick) is an an awkward situation in the new movie Table 19. She *was* scheduled to be the maid of honor at an upcoming wedding, but those duties have been stripped from her after being dumped – via text – by the best man. Determined not to let that change in situation beat her down and maintain face, she decides to attend anyway.

As she does so, she finds herself at the titular Table 19, the least important table at this particular wedding. It’s filled with the kind of people who needed to be invited but who the hosts were hoping wouldn’t show up. This group of random misfits quickly bonds, though, and make the best of the situation in a way that of course allows everyone to learn an important lesson about life and happiness.

The Posters

table_nineteenThe first poster is pretty simple, making the ensemble cast the main selling point. So it’s just a place card with the names of the cast members on it that’s being held by a fork which is meant to look like it’s giving you the middle finger. Copy at the top tells you “You’re invited to the wedding of the season” which is pretty generic and has been used many times before. Slightly better is the tagline that’s below the title treatment: “Don’t fit in? Take a number.” This one features the January release date the movie originally had.

The next poster is laid out to look like an Instagram photo, showing a photo of the main characters that’s had some kind of filter applied to it at the top. Above that is the movie’s title, which looks like an account name and the caption includes the “tagged” names of the cast. A series of comments from the characters in the photo follow along with one from “legal_derp” that includes the credits. It’s actually…kind of clever.

The Trailers

We meet Eloise as the trailer begins and she’s awkwardly finding her place card before a wedding reception, half-flirting with a guy as she’s doing so. The table she winds up at is filled with misfits, the dregs of the party who RSVPd but who shouldn’t really be there. Turns out she was dumped by the brother of the groom, which is its own situation. But the misfits at the table bond and get into all kinds of hijinks together, including Eloise who also continues flirting with the guy she met earlier.

It’s funny in that gentle, quirky kind of way. It’s being sold as an Anna Kendrick comedy but it’s clear there’s a strong ensemble that makes up the supporting cast and who may be as big a draw as Kendrick herself. Nothing groundbreaking going on here, but it looks like it will provide more than a few chuckles.

Online and Social

The movie’s official website continues the Instagram-like motif that was established on the second poster. The same photo makes up the biggest part of the front page, with the cast list and some comments from the characters on the right along with a prompt to either watch the trailer or get tickets. There are links to Fox Searchlight’s social profiles but the only one for the movie itself is, of course, on Instagram.

If you click on any of the characters on the front page you jump down to a profile of that person, which includes a link to an Instagram page that purports to be from that character. That’s about it for the site.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

A series of TV spots like this one tried to boil down the essence of the movie to 30 seconds, showing the kind of hijinks Eloise and the rest of the gang at the rejects table get into.

There were also some spots that included footage like you’d see on “America’s Funniest Home Videos” of people knocking over cakes and other wedding mishaps.

Media and Publicity

There doesn’t seem to have been a huge press push for the movie. Most of it was focused around Kendrick doing the talk show rounds, which is always great as she’s a fun interview and massively charming.

table-19-pic

There doesn’t seem to have been a huge press push for the movie. Most of it was focused around Kendrick doing the talk show rounds, which is always great as she’s a fun interview and massively charming.

Overall

I’m slightly overwhelmed by the way the marketing team decided to go all-in on the “let’s make everything look like Instagram” idea. That direction makes some amount of sense in a way since weddings are big sources of photos on that social platform. So it’s a natural fit. But it also means the campaign is going to feel dated in short order. Indeed it already seems about 12-18 months behind the times as the more in-the-moment approach would have been to frame this as a Snapchat Story.

Outside of that, this is a lighthearted and charming campaign. It relies greatly on the audience liking Kendrick, a result of her press activity over the years, her previous film roles and her seemingly unfiltered candor on her own social media channels. That’s not to downplay the role of the supporting cast, which includes Stephen Merchant, Craig Robinson, Lisa Kudrow and others, but it’s Kendrick that’s the main draw. Whether or not her appeal brings out enough of the audience to make this a success remains to be seen.

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