By Gerardo Sanchez, Apr. 16, 2024
From the odd design of the “Dune: Part Two” popcorn bucket, Michael Cera’s cream on your face and 19 inches of Venom, the internet has seen its fair share of attention-grabbing marketing strategies designed to make consumers stop blankly scrolling.
This new form of marketing has made its rounds on social media but middle school-esque humor is not the key to consumer wallets, and companies should grow up and market their products maturely.
“Dune: Part Two” produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Warner Bros., received its first trailer in February to positive public reception. Audiences were ecstatic to return to the Dune universe, but attention quickly shifted after AMC Theatres released images of the promotional popcorn bucket.
The $24.99 tin bucket was modeled after the movie’s sandworm erupting out of the ground with its mouth wide open, displaying countless rows of silicone teeth. To some, this was a reasonable purchase for an iconic creature from the movies. To others, it resembled an adult toy. was modeled after the movie’s sandworm erupting out of the ground with its mouth wide open, displaying countless rows of silicone teeth. To some, this was a reasonable purchase for an iconic creature from the movies. To others, it resembled an adult toy.
It quickly became an internet meme as comparisons to male sex toys circulated around the design of the bucket, including the circular opening and silicone teeth found within. A picture posted by X user @3CFilmss, which now has more than 535,000 views, was the hot spot for a variety of comments discussing alternative uses for the bucket.
However, the viewership for the trailer of “Dune: Part Two” pales in comparison to skin care company CeraVe’s Super Bowl 2024 commercial starring actor Michael Cera. In the commercial “Michael Cera-Ve,” Cera says, “Let my cream hydrate you,” referring to the play-on-words in the title. With about 123 million people watching the Super Bowl according to Nielsen and the Wall Street Journal, estimating roughly $7 million spent for the 30-second ad, CeraVe searches on Google didn’t move an inch. Instead, searches for Cera peaked the day after the Super Bowl and quickly fell to where it started.
Even video game companies such as PlayStation have attempted this type of advertising to promote the collector’s edition of “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2.”
Sony’s “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” collector’s edition was revealed in September 2023 for pre-order following the game’s reveal trailer. The collector’s edition contained standard items such as the game itself and in-game rewards, but PlayStation’s tweet advertised the 19-inch collector’s edition of a Venom statue as treating yourself to 19 inches of Venom.
PlayStation’s tweet was filled with consumers expressing their shock over the absurd tagline, with countless gifs and comments repeating the phrase “19 inches of what,” referring to Venom’s other statue.
But did 19 inches of Venom lead to an increase in sales for “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2”? The answer is unlikely. PlayStation UK’s tweet has more than 95 million views and 29,000 retweets, but Google Trends show that “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2” searches peaked two days earlier and fell by the time the tweet was published. The viral tweet did not contribute to an overall increase in sales and instead made the company look immature.
A similar story is shown in “Dune: Part Two,” which got its official trailer May 2023 on YouTube and currently sits at 27 million views. Google Trends shows a similar story to “Marvel’s Spider-Man 2,” with searches peaking two days after the popcorn bucket was revealed Jan. 25. Searches for “Dune: Part Two” peaked a day before the reveal and dipped the day of but began to rise the day after.
While the sequel “Dune: Part 2” is currently at an incredible $367 million grossed worldwide, its success can be attributed to the box office hit “Dune: Part One,” with its performance netting the studios $434.8 million. The success of part one and the anticipation/positive reception of part two are the reason “Dune: Part Two” is taking the world by sandstorm, not because of any poorly marketed collector’s edition popcorn bucket.
While the internet buzz this type of advertising gains may be tempting to companies, there is no substantial effect on sales that warrants the use of middle school-esque humor in advertising. Companies may feel they are being funny or trendy, but audiences only want quality products. These results show that immature humor in marketing should be left behind and companies should grow up.
Feature image courtesy of Lauren Wong