Archive for October 9th, 2003

Jersey Girl Marketing: Kevin’s Reply

October 9th @ 8:55 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Kevin Smith

  • As he’s been great at lately, Kevin’s squashed yet another crazy rumor in short order. Here’s Kevin’s response to the earlier story regarding Jersey Girl’s “new” marketing campaign supposedly centered around him:
Speaking as a guy who’s about as close to this movie and the marketing plans as it gets, I can tell you that there’s no truth to that story. Market the movie on me? So fucking ridiculous.
Trust me: I’ve seen the marketing concepts on this movie from as early on as when we were still shooting up to just yesterday. EVERY poster is centered around Affleck. Some show Affleck and Jen, some show Affleck and the kid (which would make the most sense), some show Affleck and Liv Tyler. None show me. And as with every flick I’ve made, this is not billed as “A Film By Kevin Smith” – the hallmark of any marketing campaign built on the director.
“The Fourth Film by Quentin Tarantino”? THAT’S a director-driven marketing campaign. A standard “Written and Directed by Kevin Smith”? That’s hardly what I’d call selling a flick on the director’s back.
Smells like some editor at Us Magazine was desperate for a Ben and Jen story. That this bogus tidbit fit the bill shows a surprising amount of creativity on their part, but further solidifies their reputation in the print community as little more than a glossy version of the Enquirer.

View Askew NewsBites™

October 9th @ 8:55 pm | No Comments » | Scooped by Adrian Gough, Matt Booker, Alonso Duralde

  • Kevin has recently taped an interview for VH-1 which will air on November 1st. It’s a fantastic interview which features the topic of “Superheroes” as well as some discussion on various films. Once we learn the special’s title and airtime, we’ll let you know.
  • Check out a clip from Scary Movie 3 featuring askew vet (and upcoming Jersey Girl co-star) George Carlin. And don’t forget, Askew prodigy Brian Lynch helped pen the script!
  • UK fans love Kevin! Dogma was shown on BBC Channel4 on Monday night, and 2.4 million people in the 10-10.30 timeslot tuned in, according to The Guardian.
  • And yes, finally for today, Affleck will likely hate us for this one, but his L’Oreal shampoo commercial, which he filmed for air across the pond, has made it stateside, thanks to the wonders of the internet and IFilm. If nothing else, ya gotta at least love the English pronunciation of “vitamins”. Enjoy, and we’ll catch ya next time.

Jersey Girl Marketing: All “About Kevin”?

October 9th @ 7:50 am | No Comments » | Scooped by Maryann, Pat

  • The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez will no longer be at the forefront of Jersey Girl’s promotional campaign. Instead, the film will be marketed as the new film from Kevin Smith. Here’s their report:
‘BENNIFER DISAPPEARS!’ OK, now that I have your attention. … Word has it, Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez’s PHOTOS will not be shown on the posters of their upcoming film “Jersey Girl.” After the disastrous results of promoting the duo’s romance, in an attempt to boost the dismal “Gigli,” the producers of “Jersey Girl” have decided the promotional materials for the Kevin Smith-directed flick should NOT include the faces of either Affleck or J. Lo. “After ‘Gigli,’ [Miramax] doesn’t want to take any chances with another laughingstock flop,” a source tells US Weekly magazine. The advertising reportedly will boost “Jersey Girl” as another Kevin Smith film. Period.

And here’s what the IMDB had to say:

Report: Ben and Jen Left Out of ‘Jersey Girl’ Ads
Images of Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez have been scrapped from posters of their upcoming movie Jersey Girl – to give it a better chance of box office success. Producers of the film have reportedly advised their advertising and marketing teams not to include either of the stars’ faces on any of Jersey Girl’s promotional material after seeing the dismal performance of the on-off couple’s summer flop Gigli. A source tells American magazine Us Weekly, “After Gigli, (Miramax) doesn’t want to take any chances with another laughing stock flop. They’re going to promote this as a (director) Kevin Smith movie. It’s going to be about Kevin.”

The story makes sense if the studio is taking the Gigli angle, however, whenever a blurb contains the phrase “Word has it” or “a SOURCE tells…”, be wary. Take this one as rumor for now.