Red Notice (2021) and the Gray Area of Film Marketing Stunts
Red Notice (2021) and the Gray Area of Film Marketing Stunts
The story behind the missing MOA Globe.
Disclaimer: I haven’t watched it yet, but due to its, in my opinion, problematic marketing stunt in our country, I think I need to speak out about this issue.
Just as people were about to go to sleep on November 13, news about a certain mall attraction in the Philippines, SM Mall of Asia’s MOA Globe, went missing. An eruption of reactions from Filipino netizens surged on every social media because of its ludicrousness and insane nature. It was random because who would dare steal a gigantic exhibit in the middle of a busy mall and place in general? No one. I found it to be extremely ridiculous just thinking about the logistics of lifting and carrying it to another location without getting caught.
SM MOA public notice (Retrieved from SM Mall of Asia Official Facebook account).
And just 12 hours since the news came out, my suspicions were confirmed. It wasn’t stolen. It was all a marketing stunt. And a bad one at that. A 1-minute trailer for Red Notice dropped in Netflix Philippines’ Twitter account in the afternoon of November 14, heavily citing the MOA Globe missing incident and its supposed investigation. I find it extremely distasteful that Netflix and SM Supermall would collaborate in doing such a careless marketing act, guised as news before revealing that it really wasn’t.
First off, the main cast of this film are already popular, so doing this isn’t really necessary. I doubt that people, especially Filipinos, wouldn’t know Gal Gadot, Ryan Reynolds, and Dwayne Johnson. Each actor I’ve mentioned already has a substantial fan base of their own and combining all these A-list celebrities will make everyone curious to watch it. And since it’s on Netflix, it’s for sure getting a lot of viewers already.
The plot, which I’m solely basing off of Letterboxd’s description, is a generic western art heist and police hunt plot, like it hasn’t been used a thousand times already. And based on the IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, and Letterboxd reviews of the film, it wasn’t even worth watching. Netflix should put more time, effort, and money in producing quality written and executed movies instead of wasting it all for marketing stunts like this.
Trese’s marketing campaign.
The gimmick isn't as original and new, as Trese (2021) pulled a similar, albeit more effective marketing campaign before and during its release back in June 2021. The Netflix executives might have thought that doing the same thing again would yield the same reception and result as before, but it got the opposite due to the circumstances the country is currently in.
Lastly, the Philippines is currently facing a ‘fake news’ problem. I know this isn’t exclusive to my country, but believe me when I say that it’s so rampant here it’s insane. Multiple news agencies reported this marketing stunt as real last night, and finding out it wasn’t even real only exacerbates the distrust in credible media. It also shows how easy it is to buy news nowadays and fabricate it as facts. News outlets should label advertising posts like this as ‘sponsored content’ or something similar, in order to not confuse the audience into thinking that a group of people actually stole the MOA Globe.
A still from Red Notice’s trailer (Retrieved from Netflix Philippines’ Twitter account).
It’s extremely dangerous and irresponsible to do this, especially right now considering that the Philippine election is coming next year. It gives an idea to certain candidates that they can also pull a stunt like this and cause chaos just to get their name out. What pushed me to write this article is Netflix Philippines’ Twitter caption in the trailer of Red Notice (2021):
You may or may not have missed the biggest con while you were sleeping 👀 I know who did it, and the Red Notice is out for them 🚨
I may have not watched the film yet, but I know for sure that the corrupt Philippine politicians, especially the Marcoses, have stolen more from the Filipino people than anything this film can ever show. And while I wish that the Red Notice would also go out to get them, I only want the organizers of this fiasco to be more responsible and also consider the implications of pulling such a marketing stunt in a country full of misinformation already.
