Let me just start things off by saying I LOVE movie trailers and I always have! If done well, there¹s something so undeniably exciting and enticing about them. I¹ve been watching them closely my whole life. Some are creative teasers that spark your imagination and curiosity like wildfire. Some are basically the best parts of a movie with a popular song attached, tricking you into seeing a longer version of what you already saw in the trailer.
Other trailers are just a big name-dropping list of columnist endorsements praising the film. Even a few years back I noticed a new trend of trailers using the desperate hard-sell technique of imposing the movie title and release date throughout the entire trailer… WEAK SAUCE!
But, last week during game 4 of the NBA finals, I saw something entirely new on a movie trailer… A collective endorsement from a web site. The popular movie review site RottenTomatoes.com has developed a new "Certified Fresh" icon that is being used in the new film "X-men First Class." Stamped on at the end of their trailer, it serves as a seal of approval by meeting the "Rotten Tomatoes" criteria. If you are familiar with the web site, you know it¹s a reliable and accurate resource for reviews. "Rotten Tomatoes" offers reviews from both critics and audience, and they often vary. I found this interesting because the very same day I was talking with a few co-workers about movies and even looking over the "Tomatometer" with them to see results. I left work that day wondering if I had become too reliant on Rotten Tomato for movie reviews… then I saw the X-Men trailer that night with the seal and realized… it¹s not just me.
But the more I think of it, the more I wonder. Will this become a new standard in trailers? Will this approach be taken in other film genres? For example would "Funny or Die" start endorsing comedies of high ranking? Or is this just a one time thing? Maybe the marketing department that worked on the X-men trailer has a great understanding of their young tech savvy audience and realized that they would respect the RT-Certified Fresh Seal. Or maybe it¹s just because that younger, tech-savvy demo never reads the newspaper, so why reference newspaper film critics? Beats me? Should be interesting to see where the next web-based film endorsement comes from. If at all. What do you think? Do you use Rotten Tomato or other online sources for your film watching decisions?
Phil M. Buff – Yaffe Sr. Art Director
