Advertising campaigns can make or break a film’s success. Ironically dubbed “Jokeropolis” on X, formerly Twitter, the double feature described as the antithesis of “Barbenheimer” has seemingly been endorsed by none other than Francis Ford Coppola himself. Despite becoming viral online, almost on par with last year’s Barbie and Oppenheimer, the two newest films, Megalopolis and Joker: Folie a Deux, have seen the opposite effect in the box office. This contrast in online and real-world performance challenges the old adage that any publicity is good publicity.
Two very different publicity campaigns or approaches
In July 2023, two big movies from illustrious directors were released around the same time: Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer. The close release window spawned a viral meme online called “Barbenheimer”, in which people were excited to watch the two radically different films back-to-back. The joke was also embraced by the actors and people involved in the films, adding fuel to its popularity. Eventually the films came out, both seeing a massive success at the global box office.
This year, legendary director Francis Ford Coppola released his magnum opus, a film that took him 40 years to create: Megalopolis. Around the same time, Todd Philips’ sequel to the record-breaking Joker movie also saw a wide theatrical release. The stars were aligned for another massive “Barbenheimer” marketing moment, however the results were far from it.
Despite both films going viral online, word-of-mouth was generally quite negative, leading to two massive box office disasters.
Coppola contributed $120 million of his own wealth to finance Megalopolis and, since release, the film has made a measly $8.5 million at the global box office. Joker: Folie a Deux has a similar story, with a budget of $200 million, the film was only able to gross a fraction of that, opening to $37.8 million.
When analysing the marketing for both movies and the general consensus and debates going on within the film community, something interesting emerges: the seemingly wrong idea that bad publicity is good publicity.
Bad publicity: does it actually work?
Even people unfamiliar with the world of marketing have heard the adage: bad publicity is better than no publicity. However, perhaps this isn’t a universal truth. Megalopolis has been a passion project for Coppola for over 40 years, and when it was announced that it would finally come to fruition, film enthusiasts were overjoyed. Unfortunately, poor reviews from early screenings of the film, combined with reports of harassment by director Francis Ford Coppola on set, seem to have left a bad taste in movie-goers’ mouths.
Something similar happened with Joker: Folie a Deux. Following the absolute massive success of the first movie, the studio was quick to greenlight the sequel. However, in the years since its release, Joker has become somewhat of a “hero” to a problematic group of fans, subsequently alienating parts of the film community. Moreover, remarks made by director Todd Philips and the sequel’s clear change in tone, likely alienated both the small group of fans who were still hungering for a follow-up to the original and those who were hoping for something different.
Examples of effective advertising campaigns
Unlike Megalopolis and Joker: Folie à Deux, Barbie, for example, demonstrated how a targeted communication strategy can make a difference. The advertising campaign created a strong emotional connection with the audience, using iconic imagery and messages of empowerment. Collaborations with fashion brands and products were integral to a marketing strategy that turned the film into a cultural phenomenon. Barbie’s ability to connect with the audience and leverage social trends showcased how effective communication can transform a film into a highly anticipated event, in stark contrast to the experiences seen with Megalopolis and Joker: Folie à Deux, where the lack of effective communication strategies led to disappointing results.
The results speak for themselves; both films bombed at the box office despite being massively talked about for the past few months. It’s an unfortunate, yet fascinating, example of how not all publicity is good publicity, sometimes the way a product is marketed has to get people excited not just aware of its existence. Nevertheless, the films’ poor performances haven’t stopped legendary director Francis Ford Coppola from doubling down. In the past week or so, the director has posted about “Jokeropolis” on his instagram and even tried making the success of his film a political stance against “cancel culture”. Time is yet to tell if these actions will pay off but, for the moment, “Jokeropolis” really seems to be the antithesis of “Barbenheimer” in both quantity and quality.
