Monthly Archives: April 2019

Selling Avengers: Endgame

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My latest contribution to The Hollywood Reporter is a recap of the marketing for Avengers: Endgame.

Last year’s marketing campaign for Avengers: Infinity War relied heavily on 2018 being the 10-year anniversary of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s launch. The message at the time was that the movie was the culmination of everything that had been building over the course of 18 films, ever since Tony Stark first came out of a cave and later announced to the world he was Iron Man. It wasn’t really the end, though: Infinity War was just the first of a two-part story, one that now concludes with this week’s Avengers: Endgame.

‘Avengers: Endgame’: How Its Marketing Sold the Finale of a Neverending Series | Hollywood Reporter

The Avengers Stand Up To Cancer

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For Adweek, I wrote about the cross-promotional campaign that enlisted stars from Avengers: Endgame to raise awareness for Stand Up To Cancer.

To promote the massive (literally, as it reportedly clocks in at an endurance-testing three hours) conclusion, Marvel Studios has run a substantial campaign that has heavily played into the history of the MCU. The stakes of the story are clearly communicated throughout the trailers, and other elements as Captain America and other characters frequently intone how the fate of the world depends on being able to reverse what Thanos has done. The stakes are just as clear in a cross-promotional campaign between Marvel Studios and Stand Up To Cancer to raise awareness of the latter’s cancer research programs. Launched in conjunction with long-time SU2C partner MasterCard, the PSA campaign begins today with print, TV, radio, digital and out-of-home executions.

Avengers: Endgame Heroes and Stand Up To Cancer Battle ‘the Biggest Villain of All’ in New PSA – Adweek

Selling Shazam!

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The marketing of Shazam! is the subject of my latest column at The Hollywood Reporter.

With an opening weekend estimated to bring in between $45 and $55 million, Warner Bros. and DC is hoping lightning strikes at the box office as it brings an unconventional super hero story to theaters. To bring people out it has mounted a campaign that has played into the character’s hopefulness and playfulness, focusing on the wish fulfillment of being able to turn yourself into a hero but also the responsibility that comes with it.

via ‘Shazam!’ Marketing Sells the DC Film As the Anti-‘Justice League’ | Hollywood Reporter