Going analog

Film studio A24 recently captured attention with a unique marketing move to promote its upcoming film The Drama. 

In early December, the studio took out space in the Boston Globe to run a fake engagement announcement for the movie’s two leads, Robert Pattinson and Zendaya. The pair star in the film as an engaged couple whose wedding week is upended by a startling revelation. A24 also shared the printed announcement digitally in a post on Instagram. The Drama is set to be released in April of this year. 

So why a print ad to promote a movie? In a media landscape dominated by the digital (only 7% of US adults get their news from printed publications), print can seem a really illogical choice. 

But a printed advertisement is a strategic move. Non-digital engagements can feel refreshing in a world dominated by screens and algorithms colonizing consumers’ attention. Moreover, the choice was made in an environment where filmmakers and studios are wrestling with the impact of artificial intelligence on the industry and the humanities as a whole.

The Drama’s physical ad feels more human, more real. Instead of the entire film living on a screen, there’s an artifact floating around out there. The newspaper announcement also revealed certain details about the characters and plot (don’t worry, no spoilers), which felt like a fun and cheeky blending of the film’s fictional world into real life.

Have you seen other marketing examples out there of a deliberate shift away from digital and AI?