The Energon Pub

Denise Dorman gives us an heads up regarding some news of an eMail sent out by director Michael Bay on May 4th. Apparently, Bay was upset by the ad campaign for the film, claiming that it was a "abject failure". View the entire article and eMail for yourself by clicking here.

I dont know why Bays was so mad it would have sold about $900 mill without showing the trailers.

I agree with Bay some what as the trailers have not been playing as much as other films of smaller calibre and anticipation.

You know, I can't really say I've seen any commercials for the movie except online.

LOL.. Bay takes on Hollywood and they tremble with fear!!! I've seen maybe 2 tv spots and 2 product commercials. With the exception of the toys, I have seen nothing in terms of the ad products.. The phone from LG, the M&M's even my burger kings have no idea what ROTF is

I see these damn trailer all the time on TV. Its normally the same 2 or three all the time but they're there. I just recently seen the one with Sideswipe killing Sideways. Seen it both yesterday and today. Also the M&M and LG ones play every commercial break it seems. If you ask me theres to much advertising for the movie.

I have to agree with him. The overall advertising for the movie has been rather pathetic. The only channels you see frequent adverts on are Cartoon Network and Boomerang. It has been extremely poor product placement from the start.

I've seen more adverts for "Year One" (which was absolutely TERRIBLE) than I have for ROTF...though I think more people are anxious to see ROTF than any other movie this summer...just from an unofficial poll I've taken of parents shopping for their kids at Target, Wal-Mart, and Toys R Us.

First-Aid wrote:I have to agree with him. The overall advertising for the movie has been rather pathetic. The only channels you see frequent adverts on are Cartoon Network and Boomerang. It has been extremely poor product placement from the start.

I don't know, i see a good amount on other channels, especially FX. It feels like everytime i watch Rescue Me theres atleast 2 commercials, either the LG and a movie, or two movie, fact it was the first place i saw the 'kitchen bots' spot before it hit youtube. The Burger King, i think i've only seen on Nick At Nite(not sure though). I've also seen a few on TBS during Friends and Seinfeld.

It might have been that Paramount was relying on GM to help with the ad campain. Just guessing.

There's a Transformers movie now?

I don't get to watch much TV. The only time I know a spot is on TV is when we report it here or when my wife calls to tell me she saw one, but overall the promotion has been bad.

Look at Terminator Salvation, didn't you Botcon goers notice how that literally took over California? ROTF is going to be huge, yet no billboards, no radio spots and limited TV commercials on very few major networks anywhere in the nation.

Paramount was counting on us, the fan sites, to do the promoing for them, which to a degree worked big time but the casual fan who's just going to the movies may not know.

Two words: Who effing cares...

Addendum: I hope Bay gets blacklisted after this movie is out of theaters, even after his retraction, both with atrocious grammar. This just proves that you can make a shit-ton of money with the spelling of a 13 year old on myspace... probably with as much intelligence as well in his case.

iFail wrote:Two words: Who effing cares...

Addendum: I hope Bay gets blacklisted after this movie is out of theaters, even after his retraction, both with atrocious grammar. This just proves that you can make a shit-ton of money with the spelling of a 13 year old on myspace... probably with as much intelligence as well in his case.

Well, good advertising equals more profits, anyone with remote business sense knows that. And the idea of Michael getting blacklisted is absurd. The money his films generate and the fanbase he has is massive and thats what people want.

Being a huge Transformers fan I would have loved to see more promotion, more billboards, commercials, radio tie ins. I love seeing Transformers and anything related to them.

If you're one of those fans stuck on what ever generation of TF's you prefer and aren't willing to expand your horizons, then you're just doomed for disappointment.

Grammar flames are so uncool. I mean, if you wanted me to, I could, y'know, just for example, go through the reponders to this thread so far and make a few corrections. You know, how to spell 'campaign', how to capitalize the first-person pronoun, etc.

He's no worse, and a LOT better, than many college freshmen I see in ENG 101. He gets 'they're/their/there' right every time, doesn't confuse 'you're' and 'your'.... ('Sneaks,' for the record is an advertising term that acts like a singular).

Sure, he could use work on proper nouns, and someone needs to tell him it's 'have' not 'of' in verbal phrases, but he's not completely unintelligible. It's a dangerous road to grammar flame, not only because you'll always meet someone with better grammar than you, but also because that totally buys into this idea that people who can spell well are smart, and everyone else is a blazing moron. Those of you who made some grammar goofies, does that really mean you're a stupid human being? I don't think so. Don't be hypocrites.

As for the contents:

Here's where he's right:
* Promotion for _The Island_ sucked. He's right to feel burned by it.
* Print promotion has been almost non-existent.
* Sumner didn't mention the movie--quite possibly they have been lax promoting this and pouring ad budget and brains into the two new movies, letting this one be merely a 'sequel'.

It's a bit scary, though, when Bay refers to someone else as 'cocky'. Whoa. If HE notices YOU are cocky, that's like 'sign of the Apocalypse' bad.


HK, will you STOP making me defend Bay? Please?

Well said, HK.

I have noticed that there is a shortage of T.V. spots compared to the ad push 2 weeks prior to the release of the latest Star Trek movie. I am also surprised as to the number of folks who have come up to me recently inquiring about the release date RotF.
(Friends and family know I'm the guy to come to for anything TF related and even strangers in stores upon seeing my TF attire will sometimes stop me and ask about the movie.)

It won't surprise me at all to see a billion Potter ads on T.V. before its release but it isn't going to help any. Transformers is still going to blow away HP in world-wide sales.

At the risk of being labeled a "Bay hater" I don't think throwing temper tantrums like this does his reputation any favours. It's stuff like this as much as anything that causes people to have so much animosoity towards him. That said, thinking back on it, there was actually surprisingly little advertising for this in the UK aside from posters at bus stops. Didn't seem to stop it from getting a great opening weekend. He has nothing to worry about.

And maybe things were different in the UK, but I remember a fair amount of promotion for The Island; I think people by and large were just not that interested in the concept. It happens.

First Gen wrote:

iFail wrote:Two words: Who effing cares...

Addendum: I hope Bay gets blacklisted after this movie is out of theaters, even after his retraction, both with atrocious grammar. This just proves that you can make a shit-ton of money with the spelling of a 13 year old on myspace... probably with as much intelligence as well in his case.

Well, good advertising equals more profits, anyone with remote business sense knows that. And the idea of Michael getting blacklisted is absurd. The money his films generate and the fanbase he has is massive and thats what people want.

Being a huge Transformers fan I would have loved to see more promotion, more billboards, commercials, radio tie ins. I love seeing Transformers and anything related to them.

If you're one of those fans stuck on what ever generation of TF's you prefer and aren't willing to expand your horizons, then you're just doomed for disappointment.

I should have expanded more, I meant who cares about his little bitch fit. As for the generation preferential, I love G1 and Beast wars, not so much on RiD, and the Cybertron trilogy, and am saddened that Animated is no more.
I just don't like Michael Bay, he's a pompous prick who makes terrible movies and terrible rehashes of great older horror flicks (Texas Chainsaw and produced Friday the 13th). If the movies had a better director, I would most likely love the movies, but because of how terrible the flash bang first one was (and that I have seen the Devastator transformation and the Wheelie scene online earlier) I have no interest in this one, I have to go just to shut my nephew up and take him, but I'm not paying. Toward my comment about the spelling errors, I was just generalizing, didn't mean it in any specific case or toward anyone here at all.
Hope that clears everything up a bit.

I'd agree that there hasn't been enough advertisement. Even in terms of Ad's or Bulletin boards.....I've only seen one board somewhere off the 91, and I'm smack in the middle of Hollywood!

Best ad to date however was the meteor hole in the building for Armageddon. Jammed traffic all along the 10 freeway. Ha ha, priceless.

Being Transformers has meteors....I don't know why they wouldn't follow in suit....maybe a meteor hole with "The Fallen" peering through along downtown LA's buildings. Or constructicon bulletins along random construction sites. Marketing people I swear. I've dealt with marketing people, and absolutely lothe them. Bunch of damn yes men.

Josh