2. Purpose of the campaign:
The purpose of Joker’s campaign was to garner interest in the film, whilst also
raising awareness to gain the largest possible audience for the film.
The campaign was strategically planned, using cross-media platforms to promote
the film.
All promotional material was shared across multiple platforms to reach as many
people as possible.
The marketing techniques used were traditional (posters, videos, trailers). These
techniques are familiar to most audiences so using these methods will generate
more viewers than using other, more abstract methods (such as ARG’s).
3. Joker: (Behind The Scenes Marketing)
On September 16 2018, Todd Phillip’s uploaded a picture on Instagram simply
captioned ‘Arthur’. This was the first time the public had seen Joaquin Phoenix in
character as Arthur Fleck.
Six days later on the 22nd Phillip’s released the first video captioned ‘Camera Test
(w/ sound). Joker’.
On the 25th September 2018, Phillip’s posted a seemingly onset image simply
captioned ‘Work’.
On November 5th an Image of Phoenix’s Joker was posted by Phillip’s captioned
‘On set. Five minute break’.
On 22nd Phillip’s posted an image of Joaquin's interpretation of ‘Joker’ captioned
‘Editing’.
4. Joker: (BTS Marketing)
For the first few months, the public is only fed tidbits
of information about Joker, which makes it all the
more enticing. The director's captions are extremely
short, only using one or two words sometimes. His
part in the marketing campaign speaks volumes
about his span of creative control.
5. Genre:
Joker is recognised as a Psychological Thriller,
Drama, Action, Crime and Adventure film.
6. Cast, Director (Previous Success)
Director Todd Phillips has had previous success as a director most notably
directing ‘The Hangover Trilogy (2009, 2011, and 2013)’.
Joaquin Phoenix (Arthur Fleck) also had previous fame from such films as ‘Signs
(2004)’and most notably his portrayal of Commodus in the 2000 historical epic
‘Gladiator’.
Robert De Niro of Mean Streets (1973) and Taxi Driver (1976) is a legend in the
film industry with his film Taxi Driver heavily influencing ‘Joker’.
7. Marketing: Website!
After the first few months of
teasers from director Todd
Phillips, Warner Bros. created
a standalone studio-
sponsored ’Joker’ website.
This website was created just
before the first poster was
released.
The website created was
www.jokermovie.net
8. Marketing: First Poster!
April 2, 2019: The first ever poster of Joker is released on the director’s Instagram
account. Simply captioned “Teaser trailer tomorrow.”
April 3, 2019: The first Joker poster is then re-posted on Joker Movie’s Instagram.
April 3, 2019: The first Joker poster is then again re-posted on Warner Bros. Instagram.
With the first Joker poster, we don’t even get a good look at his face! We only get a
glimpse of the clown makeup and few words including "put on a happy face." The
director’s behind-the-scenes posts and the first real piece of marketing content, the
poster, sets the tone for how they’re going to sell this movie: they’re not going to
oversell this movie. It’s a far cry from the first poster of Jared Leto as the Joker
in Suicide Squad.
9. Marketing: Trade Shows & Conventions!
On April 2, 2019, The director
debuted the very first footage
of Joker at CinemaCon - the largest
cinema trade show in the world.
10. Marketing: Teaser Trailer:
On April 3, 2019, the teaser trailer for ‘Joker’ was posted on the Warner Bros. YouTube Channel
for the whole world to see.
The trailer was also posted on the director Todd Phillips’ personal Instagram account on the
same day.
Also, on the same day, the trailer was posted on the movies own Instagram account.
The first trailer follows the first poster in the sense that it doesn’t reveal too much. So right up
until this point the majority of the marketing is just of Joker and no other characters in the
movie. There’s an impressive amount of restraint shown in the marketing. The lack of over-
selling is refreshing.
The first trailer for Todd Phillips' Joker, a movie that exists somewhere off to the side of the DC
Extended Universe, and starring Joaquin Phoenix (not Jared Leto) as the Clown Prince of Crime.
It's not a superhero movie, it's our first genuine supervillain movie, and it's unlike anything we
normally associate with comic book blockbusters.
Instead, Joker appears to take most of its inspiration from Martin Scorsese rather than DC
Comics. We went hunting for Batman Easter eggs but came up short. But other cinematic ones?
Well, Joker has them all.
11. Marketing: Magazine Article & Covers!
On July 6, 2019 the world’s biggest movie magazine, Empire Magazine, announces July 11th Issue which has the
first ever Joker interviews with Joaquin Phoenix, Phillips and more, plus brand new exclusive images .
July 11, 2019: Empire Magazine posts a video on their Instagram account urging people to pick up the world-
exclusive Joker report.
Also on July 11, 2019 Director announces [on his Instagram] Empire Magazine issue with Joker on Cover.
Aug 20, 2019: The smarter movie magazine, Total Film Magazine, announces [on Instagram] its subscriber-only
cover with Joker.
Aug 22, 2019: Total Film Magazine shares exclusive images from Joker on their Instagram account.
Aug 24, 2019: Total Film Mag announces [on Instagram] issue is on shelves with the non-subscriber Joker cover.
Aug 24, 2019: Director announces [on his Instagram] Total Film Magazine issue with Joker on Cover + inside
article.
Joker could have easily been on a lot more covers, and had a lot more articles! But, it’s only on a few select
ones. The marketing campaign is especially selective.
12. Marketing: Secret Code for Trailer Reveal!
On Aug 25, 2019 the director released six brief teasers on his Instagram that
contained flashes of writing, revealing the second trailer would be released on
August 28.
On Aug 28, 2019 a secret code reveal of final trailer date (next day) on Joker
Movie's Instagram.
The secret code is consistent with the rest of the marketing campaign: mysterious
and secretive. The movie is one big secret, and everyone wants in on the secret.
13. Marketing: Final Trailer!
On August 28, 2019, the final Joker trailer was released on Warner Bros. YouTube
Channel .
At the moment of writing, the final trailer has 77+ million views on YouTube. This
movie could have done several trailers and showed way too much in the hope of
raking in more money... but, they only did two trailers. Two simple trailers.
Final Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAGVQLHvwOY
14. Trailer Analysis:
Obviously this movie is an origin story for the Joker. All we know is that it's about Arthur Fleck "a man
utterly disregarded by society" who finally reaches his breaking point. This seems to follow the "one bad
day" idea, first put forth in Alan Moore and Brian Bolland's The Killing Joke(and later played with in an
episode of Batman: The Animated Series), that all it takes is "one bad day" for someone to completely
lose their way. In any case, don't expect Arthur Fleck to fall into a vat of chemicals in this movie. His
transformation appears to be primarily a mental one. At least for now. That being said...There's something
about the water hitting Arthur's mother's face and revealing a smile that seems like it foreshadows the
Joker's fate of taking a chemical bath that then reveals a permanent smile. There are other hints of the
Joker's more traditional origin, such as this shot of him playing with a more "permanent" and deformed
smile, or the brief glimpse of green hair dye dripping from his scalp, which, like the makeup running here,
seems to tease the chemical permanence of his other origin stories. Phoenix has nailed the Joker's rail-
thin frame, and throughout the trailer contorts his body into some disturbingly unnatural poses. Travis
Bickle did pushups every day but it looks like it's going to take all the king's men to put it back together
again for Joker. The trailer plays with Arthur's "clown evolution" throughout, and even though this still
isn't the most traditional Joker facepaint look, everything about Phoenix's body language here and in the
dancing on the stairs, is a convincing embodiment of the character.
15. Marketing: Film Festivals & Press
Conferences!
Aug 31, 2019: Joker premieres at the Venice International Film Festival, and gets an eight minute
standing ovation.
The premiere of “Joker” at the Venice Film Festival drew an eight-minute standing ovation for
actor Joaquin Phoenix, director Todd Phillips and the gripping but harrowing origin story they’ve
mapped out for Batman’s arch-villain.
Buzz in Venice had been growing steadily around the Warner Bros. movie, from the time of its
unveiling as part of the line-up to the climax of the two press screenings and red-carpet premiere.
Both press screenings were packed, with the second one also drawing loud applause at the end
and cheers when Phoenix’s name appeared in the closing credits.
On September 7/8, 2019, Joker won the ”Golden Lion Award” at the Venice Film Festival.
On September 9, Joker premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF). Also, on the
same day, there was a Joker Q&A at the TIFF.
16. Marketing: Negative Reviews!
On Sept 10, 2019, Warner Bros. marketing team
decides to make lemonade out of lemons by
cutting out the kindest portion of a negative review
by Indiewire's critic David Ehrlich and actually using
it to promote Joker. Ehrlich said Joker was "toxic"
among other negative things, but the marketing
team only used the positive comment, “An
Immaculately Crafted Piece Of Mass Entertainment.”
This type of marketing is actually perfect for a
movie like Joker because the main character's
whole shtick is anarchy. It just matches him
perfectly! The joke’s on them! Warner Bros. is kind
of flexing and saying “Hey look we can use your
negative review and still get people to watch our
movie.”
17. Marketing: Positive Reviews!
On Sept 12, 2019 and Sept 15, 2019, Joker Movie's Instagram shares positive
review.
They actually went to town with their video marketing!! They posted a lot of short
review clips on their Instagram which are ultra shareable to produce great results.
”Warner Bros was able - in their marketing strategy and with a film good enough
to generate strong word of mouth - to appeal both to the genre/comic-book fans
that made Venom a success in this slot [in 2018] as well as fans of more adult
drama.”
18. Marketing: Promotional Tour &
Interviews!
On September 19th 2019, Joaquin Phoenix (Arthur Fleck) and director Todd Phillips
do a DC interview with Fox 5.
The next day, Phoenix has an interview with Extra TV.
On the 25th of September, Joaquin participates in an interview with People TV, and
walks out after a question about violence.
Joaquin Phoenix walked out of an interview with The Telegraph's film critic Robbie
Collin. Collin asked the actor whether he thought his character in "Joker" might
inspire the kind of person the movie is about, which he described as "an unstable,
self-pitying loner with a mass-shooter mindset.”
19. Marketing: Press Release!
On September 24th 2019, Warner Bros. finally weighed in
on the mounting controversy surrounding Joker. There is that common issue of:
does art imitate life, or does life
imitate art? In Warner Bros.
statement they seem to be leaning
toward art imitating life. Below is a
similar statement from the
director:
"I often see movies as mirrors of
society, not necessarily as
moulders of society." - Joker
Director, Todd Phillips.
20. Marketing: Billboards & Countdown to
release!
During late September/early October people started to spot Joker Billboards.
On the 27th of September, the Joker Movie Instagram account posted a countdown
labelled: ONE WEEK.
Then on October 1st, the same account posted: 3 DAYS.
The next day it posted: 2 DAYS.
On the 3rd of October the account posted: TOMORROW!
The countdown is a classic way of getting people hyped for the movie. Timing is
paramount when it comes to marketing films—they must build up as much hype in the
time leading up to and around the release as possible.
21. Marketing: Memes!
The controversial Joker
movie was released on
4 October, starring
Joaquin Phoenix as the
infamous DC villain.
The movie has been
criticized for being
"violent" with some
reporting that people
have even walked out
of the cinema.
However, others have
loved Todd Phillips'
take on how Arthur
Fleck became the
Joker.
Of course, with any popular movies, the memes started rolling in and the
internet is losing it over one particular scene. Basically, in one scene the Joker is
seen riding in the car. The same happens in the 2008 movie The Dark Knight,
where the Joker was played by Heath Ledger. Someone pointed out the
obvious similarities on Twitter, writing: "for those who didn’t catch the
reference."
22. Multi-Platform Marketing:
Joker was advertised using multiple
platforms such as Twitter, Instagram and
YouTube. They were all connected by
using the same logo for the advertising
of the product. On YouTube, multiple
trailers were released up until release to
garner hype and interest for the film. On
Instagram and Twitter, various teasers,
posters and behind the scenes were
shown for the film to also ramp up
interest in it.
23. Multi-Platform Marketing:
Throughout all of the marketing and
advertising, Joker kept the same colour and
font for it’s logo to keep things consistent
for the audience so there would be no
confusion. All trailers released, kept the same
theme and message for the movie about it’s
main character.
24. Timeline:
On September 16 2018, Todd
Phillip’s uploaded a picture on
Instagram simply captioned
‘Arthur’. This was the first time the
public had seen Joaquin Phoenix
in character as Arthur Fleck.
25. Timeline:
April 2, 2019: The first ever
poster of Joker is released on
the director’s Instagram
account. Simply
captioned “Teaser trailer
tomorrow.”
26. Timeline:
On April 3, 2019, the teaser trailer
for ‘Joker’ was posted on the Warner
Bros. YouTube Channel for the
whole world to see.
31. Conclusion:
To conclude:
Warner Bros.’ campaign works hard to sell the movie as a throwback to the kind of gritty urban anti-hero films of the 70s, the kind made by William
Friedkin, Martin Scorsese and others. The trailers, posters and more all come together to present a movie rooted in urban and societal decay. In the
absence of any chance at redemption, then, the protagonist chooses nihilistic chaos and violence.
What’s missing from the marketing is any sense that the nihilistic chaos and violence embraced by Arthur Fleck as he descends into madness as
Joker is a commentary on anything in particular. Instead it appears to hold that chaos and violence up as a reasonable reaction to feeling like the
world is holding you back. That’s a worldview eerily similar to what’s ascribed to many of the white men in the wake of mass shootings at schools,
mosques, churches, homes and elsewhere.
That Phillips and Phoenix didn’t have a reasonable, constructive response to concerns along those lines is in and of itself a response. The decision to
bar members of the press who would ask questions from the premiere reinforces that conclusion.
The controversy around the movie’s story is rooted in a separate question that’s been asked by comics fans and others for years: Does Joker even
need an origin story? While Tim Burton’s 1989 movie and the “Gotham” TV series have given him a clear one, the comics have been more vague.
Even Frank Miller’s “Year One” storyline didn’t make his origin explicit and Scott Snyder’s 2013/14 “Zero Year” arc danced around the villain’s
beginnings. The incarnation in 2008’s The Dark Knight, as memorably played by Heath Ledger, purposefully muddied the waters as the character
gave several contradictory variations on how he got those scars.
In short, the origins of the Joker have always been in doubt, and the uncertainty only adds to the character’s unpredictability. Giving him a backstory
is not just unnecessary but can take away from the impact he has. Making Joker human and relatable diminishes him.
That gets to the crux of the problem: If there’s no real reason to tell this story, then why did it have to be *this* version of the story? The studio’s
campaign offers no real answer.
