MĂŒller FRijj - âJust feel the Urjjâ (2025)
MĂŒller FRijjâs latest integrated campaign, aims to shake up the ready-to-drink milkshake category with a healthy hit of chaotic
What can a film studio do to get around the fact that film critics hate their movies? Easy four step answer:
1. Get their advertising department to create a critic of their very own.
2. Have the fabricated critic gush and rave about the studio's films.
3. Use the gushes and raves in their press releases, print ads, posters and commercials in order to boost ticket sales.
4. Try not to get caught.
Well, when it came to Columbia Pictures (parent company Sony Pictures Entertainment), three out of four ain't bad. It's nasty.
Read about it here (Newsweek) or here (Reuters/iwon). Newsweek is credited with breaking the story.
Hmmm... I wonder if the person(s) responsible got fired or promoted?
David Manning of The Ridgefield Press is one of Columbia Picturesâ most reliable reviewers, praising Heath Ledger of âA Knightâs Taleâ as âthis yearâs hottest new star!â and saluting âThe Animalâ as âanother winner!â The studio plastered Manningâs raves over at least four different movie advertisements, including âHollow Manâ and âVertical Limit.â But Manningâs own life story should be called âCharade,â because he doesnât exist. Challenged last week by NEWSWEEK about the reviewerâs authenticity, Columbia parent Sony Pictures Entertainment admitted that Manning is a fake, a product of the studioâs advertising department.
The Ridgefield Press (which was unaware of the deception) is a small Connecticut weekly, but thatâs where any verisimilitude ends. An unidentified Sony employee apparently concocted the Manning persona last July, using the name of a friend, and attributed fictional reviews to him. Supervisors using the quotes in movie ads didnât question Manningâs legitimacy. âIt was an incredibly foolish decision, and weâre horrified,â Sony spokeswoman Susan Tick said of the hoax. âWe are looking into it and will take appropriate action.â