North American poster on left (coloreds allowed, back of the bus please)
International poster on right. (no coloreds allowed, "someone get Vince a lei, that should be ethnic(y) enough")
Does this only go to further encourage that infamous industry belief that movies with black people in them don’t sell overseas?
International poster on right. (no coloreds allowed, "someone get Vince a lei, that should be ethnic(y) enough")
Does this only go to further encourage that infamous industry belief that movies with black people in them don’t sell overseas?
The 2 posters [above] are for a film titled Couples Retreat, a comedy centered around four couples who settle into a tropical-island resort for a vacation, and, naturally, hilarity and hijinx ensue.
The first poster was created for the North American market, and clearly shows all 4 couples (as mentioned in the above synopsis), including the lone black couple played by Faizon Love and Kali Hawk. From their positioning in the poster (distant rear), it’s obvious to us how prominently they are featured in the film itself – likely not very much… certainly not as much as the other 3 couples, positioned in front of them.
Now, look at the poster at the [right], which was created for the international market – which means countries in Europe and Asia mostly. Who’s so obviously missing – even though it’s a film about 4 couples? It’s not as if they were so prominently displayed in the North American poster anyway. Why intentionally photoshop them out of the image entirely. I can’t think of any reason to remove them from the international poster, can you? Other than a fear that they might actually deter international audiences from seeing the film; or, the characters are so inconsequential to the story that their presence on the poster isn’t necessary. Then why put them on the American poster if that were the case? As I started this post asking, does this only go to further encourage that infamous industry belief that movies with black people in them don’t sell overseas?
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4 comments:
Um, it was handled by the same agency servicing the Polish website for Microsoft...?
Can you imagine the Photoshop® artist's dilemma when presented with a Tyler Perry movie poster?
a few more thoughts and observations:
why did they add the lei and palm trees for the international market?
both posters are photoshop® renderings. it appears all the actors were shot separately and later patched together. the poses from poster to poster are different.
there could be a slick maneuver involved with the american audience version. that is, the studio might be trying to woo black audiences by fooling them into thinking hawk and love are prominent characters. hey, there is probably a black version out there with hawk and love standing front and center.
HJ, My thoughts exactly, they want the black dollars in the states. But feel the addition of African people may be a minus internationally.
I couldn't find a poster with the complete black couple. I don't think this is just an international thing. The black couple is most likely there for comic relief.
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