What Happens When People Market a Movie Wrongly: Part 2

Last year, I posted up something about Bandslam.

So I finally got my hands on the movie and made myself watch it, just to see if the information was correct.

And boy, was it ever.

Not only did they project the image of this movie wrongly, they also managed to churn it into a High School Musical copycat. As if that was gonna sell.

They appealed to the HSM/Disney fans who (I bet) were probably largely disappointed when they got out of the cinema because they were expecting a HSM/Camp Rock-ish movie.

But no, they got a quirky, unique, Juno-like film about a boy who obsessively writes letter to David Bowie (and never getting an answer).

And the target audience that they SHOULD be appealing to, were probably already largely turned off by the poster.

These people sold the movie a la Vanessa Hudgens and Aly Michalka - Big mistake. Hudgens and Michalka were only side characters. The person in the limelight was Gaelan Connell, the guy who plays Will Burton.

And they made the supporting actresses seem like the main characters.

And hello, Vanessa Hudgens played a goth girl. WHY IS SHE SMILING SO HAPPILY IN THE POSTER IF SHE'S GOTH??

I'll admit, despite finding all that info about the film, I was skeptical (can't be too careful these days).

So I half expected some character to suddenly burst into a song a la a musical.

But no one did, unless the band was playing (it's a movie about a battle of the bands competition so go figure).

Plus, due to my perception of Vanessa Hudgens and Aly Michalka as "Disney people", I doubted that they could pull off an indie film (that is not to say that they are horrible actresses).

To my surprise they managed to pull it off. Well, Aly pulled it off better than Vanessa. Vanessa looked like she was trying too hard in the beginning. To me lah.

What Bandslam really is, is an Indie film in Disney-fied clothing. It's actually very Juno.

The plot was.... predictable, yet not all that predictable at all. Which was something I liked.

You could see where the story was going, but there were a few twists.

And the music was surprisingly good.

Dear Rob Freidman, just because you have two very famous actresses, doesn't mean you can always use their star power to bring audiences in. There is always a better way to market this.

You're bringing in the wrong people, which can kill a good product.

I think it's a waste that a pretty good movie got butchered just 'cos of the lousy marketing. It's a shame, really.