It is known that people use various marketing tactics to manipulate their audience into thinking something about their product. These methods can be found when people know what they are looking for, but it is often overlooked when these strategies are used in movie advertisement. The marketing teams for movies may alter their strategies if they know their audience is looking for something different in their production. In most cases, they make the movie appear different during the entire advertising process, resulting in the audience feeling disillusioned when they watch the film, but there are also cases where they change their advertisement strategies in the middle of the process when they see that the general public is frustrated by a choice.  

There has been a plethora of cases where the marketing for a movie is completely off base from what the movie is truly about. This technique is usually employed if the producers believe that people would not be inclined to view the production for what it really is. The marketing team sticks with their false cover of the movie until it comes out and shocks the audience who was expecting something different. A recent demonstration of a film not being what the audience expected is seen in the thriller Abigail (2024), which was advertised as a seemingly adorable, but actually vampiric, ballerina killing off her kidnappers. It is an intriguing plot, yet the issue was that the reveal of the Abigail’s true nature was not revealed until about half-way through the movie. According to WhatCulture, “Instead, it was clear that the filmmakers intended for the vampire reveal to be a left-field surprise, and yet the trailers gave it away for free, ensuring many viewers were left impatiently sitting through 50 minutes of build-up.” The faulty advertising of the plot of the movie caused the audience to feel disappointed in a seemingly promising film.  Another example of manipulative marketing is when a movie that is a musical is not portrayed as one, which angers the audience who went into the experience expecting something different. A couple examples of movies like this that came out recently are Wonka and Mean Girls, the later of which has an average IMDB rating of 5.6/10. Also released recently, Wicked was promoted as a musical through the advertisements that showcased singing and dancing. This musical did extremely well at the box office, earning a worldwide total of $733,700,120. The success of this musical and the shortcomings of the others shows how instead of being angered because of the true nature of the movie, viewers were more upset by the fact that they were deceived.  

A demonstration of a marketing team changing their strategies mid campaign is currently taking place with the live-action adaptation of Snow White. When the advertising campaign first started in 2023, it was clear that they intended for this adaptation to not be like the original; Snow White was to be portrayed as an empowered woman who did not need the support of a man, demonstrated when lead actress Rachel Zegler said, “It’s no longer 1937 . . . She’s not going to be saved by the prince, and she’s not going to be dreaming about true love. She’s dreaming about becoming the leader she knows she can be.” The lack of adherence to the original angered fans who thought it was unnecessary to alter the original story. The marketing team realized that they misinterpreted what the audience would want from this movie, causing them to alter their marketing strategies. Now, they are emphasizing the adaptation’s similarity to the original, such as showing scenes shot in the exact same manner as the original cartoon. Another way the marketing team is manipulating their audience is by limiting who is welcome to the premier, as stated in Variety, “The red carpet will not include the dozens of media outlets usually invited by Disney to interview the cast and creatives at its premieres.” This limitation of invitees seems like a method of restricting the voices of cast members who have opinions that go against the films altered message. If these people were to express their controversial views, it may impact the viewership of the movie. With this movie being released on March 21, 2025, the marketing team found it necessary to change their techniques to make the movie’s plot and message be more appealing to their audience. 

There are countless examples of marketing being used to manipulate the meaning or message of a product so that the audience will be more interested in consuming the product, specifically in movies. This manipulative marketing is a slippery slope because the audience may be more angered by the disillusionment they experience when something they were looking forward to is not what they expected. However, because of this, it is easier for us to identify this manipulation and not let it impact our viewpoints. If we examine advertisements from an unbiased perspective and are critical of possible marketing strategies, we can avoid the manipulation of those whose job it is for us to consume their product.