19. Marketing Frequently Has Little To Do With the Final Film

While everyone loves surprises now and then, an audience should have a rough idea of what to expect when they sit down in a theater.

You wouldn’t expect Frodo and Sam to start tap dancing across Middle Earth chanting Katy Perry tunes, after all. A movie’s marketing has to reflect its content.

There have been a few films that didn’t seem to get that memo and would be more than happy to put tap dancing hobbits in their trailers if it meant getting people into the seats.

2003’s “Kangaroo Jack” is one of the most infamous examples. The trailer prominently featured a CGI kangaroo delivering a rap into the camera, giving the audience the assumption that the film would be a light-hearted fantasy for kids. The resulting film was actually more in line with a crime thriller, featuring a mafia plot framing device that left many in the audience scratching their heads.

Visit Amazon and watch “Kangaroo Jack” instantly

The infamously terrible Cuba Gooding Jr. vehicle “Snow Dogs” used a similar tactic, putting a brief dream sequence about sassy talking dogs front and center in the film’s trailer.

The most recent “Godzilla” film followed suite, giving Bryan Cranston a large portion of the trailer’s screen time and then killing off his character barely a half hour in. This kind of dishonesty in marketing is all too common behind closed doors in Hollywood.