I love me some Michael Jackson. And when he died this summer, I can honestly say that I was upset. He was a pop culture icon, and suddenly he was gone. This came as quite a shock to me and apparently, it did for the rest of the world too. Since his death, Michael’s name can be found on nearly every magazine cover, television channel, or internet website. For the producers of the new movie This is It, that is exactly what they need.
This Is It is a documentary of sorts about Jackson’s final concert series extravaganza. From the clips I’ve seen of this film, it seems like it’s going to be portraying Jackson in an almost God-like light. Some people think this is a good way to portray him, others think the contrary. For myself, it doesn’t really matter because I’m fixated on the marketing campaign for this film.
As a young man who is a self proclaimed pop culture aficionado, I noticed something peculiar in the marketing for this movie. Of all the television I watch, the websites I surf, and the billboards I see in a single day, a poster, trailer, or web-ad for This Is It is almost rare. But if you were to go to Fandango.com right now and look on their top-grossing pre-sale tickets, This Is It would top the list. This is to be somewhat expected with the release of the film just a few days away, but three weeks ago when this film still topped the list, that was an interesting observation. This film, which doesn’t have all that much marketing behind it, topped the pre-sale list more than a month ago. With such limited marketing, this wouldn’t be expected.
But I started thinking. With Jackson’s death still a hot topic for tabloids and mass media, marketing for his film doesn’t have to be grandiose. When every magazine has Jackson’s name on the cover, when every pop culture website has something related to Jackson, and when every news broadcast brings up Jackson’s death or the antics of his family, this is all free publicity. Even without these mediums directly saying Jackson’s film’s name, they are still imprinting that he has passed into our minds. This, in turn, makes us think, “Michael Jackson is dead. The news said so. I’ve heard he has a film coming out. I will go see it.” This is the perfect marketing campaign. They don’t have to pay for any of this. It all comes from our media and how obsessed with celebrities we as a society are.
