LOGAN Visual Marketing Win?
In the near future, a weary Logan cares for an ailing Professor X in a hide out on the Mexican border. But Logan’s attempts to hide from the world and his legacy are up-ended when a young mutant arrives, being pursued by dark forces.
Logan released March 3rd 2017 and had Wolverine fans in awe. With a box office estimated $85.3 million, the movie ranked as one of the most highest grossing MCU films to date. So that raises the question of “What made it so successful?”.
Logan is the MCU’s first attempt at going down the R rated film route. This in turn minimizes the scope of reach. The demographic of anyone younger than the age of 17 is completely taken out of possible sales for the film. This acted as a double edged sword in the sense that on one side, they had more cinematic freedom to produce and on the other the loss of potential sales. This in turn is a risk that Marvel was willing to take…
Because the film had the freedom to go a completely different route, they had to figure out how they would sell it to fans. This is where their use of marketing was implemented. The studios decided to play with the idea that the film is about an older Wolverine. Because he is older and worn, they explored how life is shattering in front of him and his struggle to live. This darker theme had to be conveyed with their visual stimulants.
The poster above gives the the audience a sense of the films tone with an older Logan walking alone with his claws unsheathed away from the sun. Right away the visuals give us a sense of how the film is going to be more about the darker themes of solidarity and escape.
The next poster is the one in which we see a child’s hand grasping the aged-worn hand of Logan(claws unsheathed). Visually the poster is very intriguing. The rough textures and darker desaturated tones really give the feeling of fatigue and loneliness. The artistic choice of colours and message conveyed the film to be out of the ordinary for the MCU. Which in turn got fans to wonder and begin to hypothesize the end result for the film and what it was trying to accomplish. This is turn, got people invested into seeing the movie… people wanted to know what happens to Logan, why is he so broken and old… why is he still fighting… Who is he fighting and what is he fighting for?
Another instance in which they utilized visuals to market the film was this exclusive super bowl cut of the trailer. It played during the super bowl breaks, one of the highest viewed times on television. The trailer used violently and rough visuals with gritty scenes of Logan angry and frustrated and people firing guns. These in contrast with the calming and peaceful national anthem of the United States made the viewer want more!
