For Your Consideration: Marketing &
Advertising During Awards Time
see also Motion Pictures;
Advertising
Copyright 2009 Frank W. Baker
NOTE: special thanks to
School Library Journal for
recommending this site.
Remaining 2012 Awards Season Calendar
February 12 BAFTA Awards
Ceremony
(BBC America)
February 25 Independent Spirit Awards Ceremony
(IFC)
February 26 Academy Awards Ceremony (ABC TV)
"The Academy Awards historically is one of the top television events of the
year — often second only to the Super Bowl — and has become advertisers'
favorite vehicle to reach women. The show is typically the second most-expensive
network TV buy, too, after the Super Bowl." (Source)
Each year, the major movie studios, and to a lesser extent their affiliated
television studios and the television networks,
spend large sums of money on "For Your Consideration" ads extolling the alleged
virtues of their films or programs released
over the previous year. While it is unclear where or when the practice
originated, it appears to have been popularized by
Miramax, which rose from relative obscurity during the 1990s to become one of
the most prestigious studios, at least of
that decade.
Not surprisingly, then, the quantity of such ads has increased dramatically, as
major firms vie to win the top awards, hoping
that the associated publicity will result in more viewers and greater revenues.
Indeed, most of the films expected to be
"Oscar-worthy" are released in the last few months of the year, occasionally
opening in limited release just before the end
of the year and opening wide in January. This generally ensures that these films
are still in movie theatres as awards-related
publicity peaks....
As might be expected, these ads have recently begun appearing online at websites
popular with voting members of the
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences. Movie buffs are now archiving and
tagging these online Oscar ads so they'll be
available for future study and commentary. Source
Emmy/Oscar News Sources:
| Emmy Magazine | Broadcasting&Cable | Hollywood Reporter | Variety |
Examples of "For
Your Consideration" Ads for the 2012 Academy Awards
Examples
of "For Your Consideration" Ads for the 2011 Emmys
Ads: designed for analysis
and deconstruction
Movie posters are a prime example of
visual communication. Movie posters, as well as the promos, have to be visually
appealing
otherwise they aren't going to sell any tickets. Posters have to use an image to
get the gist of an entire two hour movie. (Source)
Useful links:
Decoding the 2012 For Your Consideration ads
See
this website
for a full list of "FOR YOUR CONSIDERATION" ads
Hurt Locker Ad
Checklist of analyzing print
ads
Deconstructing
print ads
Movie marketing blog
Checklist for reading any ad
Analyzing ads (& commercials)
Marketing Movies (book/website)
Advertising 101 (critique sheet)
ANALYZING MEDIA: Movie Posters
Ad-wise,
the Oscars in this digital age
ABC Made $72 Million on 26 Minutes of Oscar Ads
Questions for students to consider:
- what does the phrase "for your consideration" mean?
- who is the audience for these ads and what are they asked to do?
- in what ways are these ads "persuasive"?
- what information is quintessential in ads promoting films?
- what
codes/conventions/techniques does each contain?
- what effect, if any, do film critic
quotes play?
- what is the same; what is
different about each ad?
- why are some ads featured on the cover of a magazine?
- who designs the ads; who pays for them?
- consider the layout of the ad: what attracts attention most?
- how is mood and/or genre communicated?
- how might expression, body language or other non-verbal language
communicate what is happening?
related lesson plans:
Analyzing Oscar:
Deconstructing the
Academy Awards | Teachable Moment
Deconstructing Movie Ads
return to the Media Literacy Clearinghouse home page