Top 10 Innovative Movie Marketing Campaigns

Sometimes, all it takes to make a movie successful is great advertising. Welcome to WatchMojo.com, and today we’re counting down our picks for the Top 10 Innovative Movie Marketing Campaigns. 

For this list, we’re looking at those movie ads and ad campaigns that went above and beyond to create intense buzz and media speculation for their respective movies. As staggering as the whole North Korea debacle surrounding “The Interview” was, it won’t be on this list, as it was never intended as a marketing strategy.

As the first film in this beloved franchise had been released fifteen years earlier, the marketing team for “Toy Story 3” had the genius idea of targeting the third installment at college-aged men and women who had been fans of the 1995 hit when they were children. Pixar did this by releasing a fake Lots-O’-Huggin’ Bear commercial, complete with cheesy song, distorted sound, and crappy video quality to give it the effect of an old 1980s VHS recording. If that didn’t get the nostalgia flowing enough, Pizza Planet job flyers were also posted across school campuses, with the attached URL sending visitors to an info page about the movie’s screening.

“The Ring Two” wasn’t an enormous success, as it only made $161 million on a $50 million budget. In order to boost DVD sales, the marketing team took the ingenious approach of using the movie’s own signature scare against its fans.7daysleft.com was set up, and pranksters were encouraged to enter the email and phone number of a friend. That friend would then be sent a link to the trailer, and as it’s playing, their phone would ring. As you can imagine, when they answer it, they’re met with the movie’s creepy “seven days” warning. However, it turns out the marketing was scarier than the movie itself…

“Inception” was shrouded in secrecy before its release, which is always great to get the ball rolling on speculation. The movie’s website featured only a spinning top for four months before visitors were granted access to the “Mind Crime” online game, which – when completed – gave them access to the movie’s poster. Another piece of impressive advertising was a giveaway where t-shirts featuring a QR code were handed out, and that code would send users to an instruction manual for the briefcase used in the film to build the dream space. Also, a book filled with strange images and text was sent to Wired magazine. A video game and weird, cryptic ramblings? Sign us up!

“Chronicle” follows the adventures of an abused teenager who gains superhuman powers, including the ability to fly. But for such a small movie -- its budget being only $12 million -- it had an ambitious and daring marketing strategy. Human-shaped remote controlled planes were flown over New York, giving the wondrous impression of three individuals flying through the air above the city. It actually fooled hundreds of New Yorkers before Fox confessed that they were behind the stunt. Even if it scared some people, this campaign helped spread the word for the movie, leading it to gross over ten times its budget.

The minds behind the ads for “Paranormal Activity” took an experimental selling strategy. Before the film became a huge success, it was only shown in select cities, while folks in other locations waited with baited breath after only being shown the trailer. Soon, an Eventful page was set up for the film, and fans were asked to “demand” the movie in their town and sign a form on the site. As a result, the city with the most signatures would become the next location for a screening. Risky, right? It worked so well that after reaching one million signatures; the film was released nationwide to huge success, making $193 million on a $15,000 budget.

Similar to “Inception,” “Cloverfield” was steeped in secrecy before its release. The mysterious teaser was attached to “Transformers,” but never revealed the film’s title and showed only brief glimpses of action, including the captivating sight of the Statue of Liberty’s decapitated head. In the title’s place, only the release date of “1-18-08” was shown, throwing everyone into a speculative frenzy, with many taking to online forums. MySpace pages were created for every character in the film – hey, it was 2008 – and the Slusho! beverage from the movie was even used as a red herring in the marketing campaign. This elusive type of strategy would again be utilized three years later for another J.J. Abrams production, “Super 8” to equally thrilling and unexpected results.

The mockumentary “I’m Still Here” confused many a moviegoer by blurring the line between truth and fiction. The film follows a Joaquin Phoenix-esque character as he quits acting to begin a hip-hop career. Although it’s a great story, its tie-in marketing campaign was what caught our attention. Throughout the press junket, Phoenix appeared with bedhead and a bushy beard, staying completely in character, which even led to a terribly awkward interview with David Letterman. People actually began to suspect that Phoenix was actually interested in hip-hop and worried for his future. But that was before it was all revealed to be an elaborate hoax. Phew.

It’s safe to say that “The Simpsons Movie” didn’t need to go all out in terms of marketing, but that didn’t stop the studio from spending $10 million to briefly immerse fans into one of their favorite locations. 7-Elevens across the country were made over into Kwik-E-Marts, complete with fictional brands like Buzz Cola and Squishees for Simpsons lovers who have always wanted a taste of Springfield. Homer even appeared before “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno,” to deliver a monologue filled with pop culture references, cringe-worthy humor, and an animated Leno. As a result, the film really brought in the D’oh!

“Ex Machina” follows a young man who begins a personal bond with an attractive and highly intelligent android. In keeping with the movie’s reflections on our relationship with technology, a Tinder profile for Ava, the movie’s android, was created. At the South by Southwest Festival, where the film was screened for younger audiences, specific users were matched with Ava on the app. A piece of text accompanied her profile, which led readers to the movie’s Instagram handle. It was not only a fantastically original strategy, but it nicely complemented the movie and its ambitious ideas. 

Before we look at our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
- Deadpool Breaks the Fourth Wall in the Trailer
“Deadpool” (2016)

- Interactive Website for the Park
“Jurassic World” (2015)

- Tiny Billboards Placed Across Cities
“Ant-Man” (2015)

- Peter Weyland Gives a 2023 TED Talk
“Prometheus” (2012)

- Virtual Reality, Oculus Rift Experience
“Interstellar” (2014)

- A Blog Was Posted Claiming Aliens & MIB to be Real
“Men in Black 3” (2012)

While debates continue to rage regarding the film’s quality, there’s no denying the sheer impact that “The Blair Witch Project”’s marketing had on the world. The film follows three teenagers as they get lost in the woods while filming amovie and are terrorized by an unseen threat. The flick’s found footage concept was a unique idea, and as such, the movie was marketed as real footage that was found in the woods. The website featured fake police reports, and flyers were distributed asking for information on the missing students. The campaign’s authenticity was widely debated online, but even so it helped the movie gross $248 million on a measly $60,000 budget. 

Do you agree with our list? What marketing strategy do you fondly remember? For more ingenious top tens published every day, be sure to subscribe to WatchMojo.com.