Movie Marketing Madness – happythankyoumoreplease

What do you want out of life? Many people in our lives – including ourselves – might talk a lot about what we want and complain about how we don’t have it, whatever it is. Sometimes all we’re looking for is some little modicum of happiness that we can latch on to. Often our desires go deeper than that but they usually start with just something that brings a smile to our face, whether it’s a job that fills us with satisfaction or someone who loves us for who we are when we come home at the end of the day.

How many of us have the nerve to actually ask for what it is that would make us happy?

The new movie happythankyoumoreplease looks to answer just that question. Written, directed by and starring Josh Radnor, the movie looks at the angst that seems to be all the rage with late 20-somethings in the first couple of decades of the 21st century. Radnor plays Sam, an aspiring writer who struggles with the fact that his comfortable and balanced upbringing doesn’t exactly provide grist for his artistic mill. He meets Mississippi, a waitress who has her own issues but who seems to like him. Around them swirl two other couples: Sam’s friend Annie and the guy she’s just beginning to date and who unlike most of her boyfriends actually treats her with respect, and Mary-Catherine and Charlie, who have been together a while now but whose relationship is being strained by a potential move from New York to California. Sam also winds up caring for Rasheen, a young boy who he begins to spend time with after the boy is accidentally left on the subway and whom refuses to go back to social services.

So the movie is, like with many such stories about this generation, about finding yourself and growing up into the adult you never thought you’d be. Mostly, though, it seems to be about defining happiness and deciding what that’s going to be for each and every individual person.

The Posters

The first poster debuted back around the time of its 2010 Sundance screening, I believe, and was pretty basic. The title for the movie is spelled out on a shelf of what appears to be blocks of modeling clay of different colors, which manages to give the design an artistic and certainly colorful bent. This was pre-acquisition though if memory serves and while it’s not bad it was certainly destined to be replaced after the movie was picked up for distribution.

The second poster, which debuted just a few months prior to release threw all the characters together with some funky lettering for the title treatment and a few other seemingly hand-drawn elements and have at it.

The design’s main element is Radnor standing with the little boy he befriends in the movie in front of a terribly artistic rendering of the New York City skyline, so artistic in fact that some of the buildings are pencils, markers, paint brushes and so on. Above that are a handful of stills from the movie that show the rest of the ensemble cast. Finally at the top is the movie’s title in bright, bold letters and in a style that looks like something someone doodled on the front of a spiral notebook while they weren’t paying attention in Social Studies.

It might sound like I’m making fun of the poster but I’m not. OK, a little bit, but I really do like the design here and think it conveys an interesting spirit to the audience. As I said, it’s bright and bold and pops off the page in its efforts to attract people.

The Trailers

The trailer shows the spinning world of angst and frustrations these three couples: Radnor and Mara, Akerman and Hale and Kazan and Schreiber, are living in. Radnor and Mara have a meet-cute and then decide to proceed, though not without reservations, a relationship. Akerman and Hale are on a first date that is alternatively heartfelt and touching and awkward. Kazan and Schreiber are already well into their relationship, to the point that they’re extremely comfortable with each other.

The trailer is light and funny and sells the movie pretty darn well by showcasing the fact that it’s the chemistry between all the leads that is what will drive the movie along. There are somber moments and there are funny moments but it’s the interplay between the actors that seems to root the movie in something substantial. While the trailer shows there’s little new thematic ground being covered (how many times have we seen a bunch of people in their late 20s/early 30s searching for love and their identity) this promises an engaging take on that idea.

Online

The movie’s official website opens with a variation on the poster key wart and a video player that has the trailer, which is definitely worth re-watching.

In “Story” you’ll find a decently written synopsis of the movie’s plot, though it does seem to be rather adjective heavy.

“Clips” has eight extended scenes from the movie, many of which are longer versions of ones we got brief looks at in the trailer and most of which are focused on the Sam/Mississippi relationship.

Career histories for the major players are found in the “Cast” section and you can play longer versions of some of the music that’s featured in the trailer in “Music.” Finally there’s a section for “Showtimes.”

The Facebook page for the film has links to all the new clips that were released as well as photos and information on where and when Radnor and the rest of the cast were making promotional appearances.

Advertising and Cross-Promotions

Nothing in the way of advertising, though listed on the front of the home page is a promotion with retail site Michael Stars, which was giving away a $500 shopping spree to those who entreated their sweepstakes. There were also a variety of fashions available there that were “inspired by” the movie.

Media and Publicity

The movie’s been bouncing around for a while, first debuting and getting some positive buzz from the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. There Akerman and the rest of the cast did the usual rounds of interviews. Later on in 2010 it would appear at the Gen Art Film Fest and the Virginia Film Festival, where it was named the Audience Favorite.

Other than that there hasn’t been a whole lot of press activity, at least not outside the world of independent film journalism. The movie was lumped in with others about 20-something discontent (Filmmaker Magazine, 1/23/11) and Radnor has been interviewed (Filmmaker, 2/28/11) occasionally and others have been beating the drums as much as they can.

Overall

The key to a good movie – or any sort of other artistic expression – is that it’s able to present itself as being appealing even to those who can’t personally identify with what the creator is trying to express. So while I don’t share much of the angst (I have plenty of my own issues, thank you very much) the campaign presents the movie as being very attractive, largely because of the charm and ease with which the actors appear to approach the material. More than that the filmmaker, Radnor, seems to be actually trying to express something as opposed to many others who are trying to document the lives of a comfortable but somehow disaffected generation of young people. There’s a nice consistency to the campaign and, of course, a heavy reliance on the word-of-mouth that’s been generated from festival screenings that will hopefully add up to some measure of success for the movie.

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