Deadpool Found a Typically On-Brand Way to Ditch a Pricy Super Bowl Trailer
For film studios, the Super Bowl is the splashiest time of year to drop a blockbuster trailer. This ..
For film studios, the Super Bowl is the splashiest time of year to drop a blockbuster trailer. This Sunday’s haul included a Han Solo teaser, a Cloverfield: Paradox clip (and surprise release announcement), and a Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom visual. HBO’s Westworld got a moment to shine as well.
One movie that was missing in action, however, was Deadpool 2, the foul-mouthed superhero sequel starring Ryan Reynolds—a movie that seems tailor-made for the audience that typically tunes in for the Super Bowl. But just because 20th Century Fox didn’t shell out millions for a 45-second spot doesn’t mean Deadpool ignored the big game. The film’s official Twitter account, which is written in Deadpool’s irreverent voice, spent Sunday pretending that the studio had been “too cheap” to buy a pricy ad—and “making” Deadpool himself live tweet the entire game, as Deadline handily pointed out. After all, his catchphrase is “maximum effort,”.
“Remember that time I was wrist-deep in cocoa butter and Fox called to say they were too cheap to buy a spot in the big game then told me I had to live tweet it?” Deadpool tweeted at the start of the game. “Cause I do… #DPtheSB #SBLII.”
The tweets allowed the film to find a loophole: it could advertise itself during the Super Bowl without letting go of millions of dollars in the process, and it could do so without compromising Deadpool’s impressively gross sense of humor, either. While this campaign won’t have the same impact as actually dropping a trailer—Twitter can’t compete with an enormous, captive, hyped-up TV audience—it still may have filled the Deadpool 2-shaped hole in fans’ hearts. The film doesn’t theaters until May 18, a long ways away—so keeping anticipation high is key.
Co-star Leslie Uggams, who plays Deadpool’s roommate Blind Al, also got in on the fun.
Deadpool ended “his” live tweets with this food for thought: “Just once I'd like the winning coach to pose under the @Gatorade like he was in Flashdance, or Footloose, or whatever that Patrick Swayze movie was. Oh well, maybe next year… #DPtheSB #SB52.”
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