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What Marketers Can Learn from Horror Movies like Jennifer’s Body
And about the psychology of priming.
Happy Halloween folks! It’s time to make sad memes about our jobs in the form of Spirit Halloween costumes and watch horror movies while giving out free candy so kids don’t TP your house.
Truly, it’s my favourite holiday.
And it’s also a great time to take about marketing! Terrifying marketing that is…
So let’s start with a horror film where the studio dropped the ball horribly — Jennifer’s Body. Now, some of you might be confused as to why I’m defending a film with a measly 45% on Rotten Tomatoes…
Do people hate horror comedies?
Well, no. Cabin in the Woods, a similar horror comedy, has over 92% on Rotten Tomatoes. So, as a genre audience DO like horror comedies, but I think there’s a key reason Jennifer’s Body flopped at its initial release:
Marketing.
And I’m not alone in thinking that.
Even when it came out, I remember seeing the trailer and the poster and thinking, “Man, that looks terrible.” I was in high school at the time, and I was even part of the target audience according to the director, Karyn Kusama.
