Kingsman: The Golden Circle is taking credit for Monday’s total solar eclipse in this funny promotional video. “This will go down in history as the single-most important movie promo of all time,” says Director of Market Research Guy Miller. (Please read all of these titles and names with air quotes.) The video then walks through the genesis of the idea, which they adopted after rejecting other marketing ploys like “flash mob” and “millennials.”
(Obviously, please do not share this video with that one uncle who still unironically shares Onion articles with the caption, “Unbelievable! What is happening to our country?”)
Having worked in corporate marketing, I particularly enjoyed this video because it’s so spot-on with its mockery of advertising and marketing terms. “If you look at our target audience, it makes perfect sense,” says Research Assistant Brian Weigel. “I mean, we have people that know about the sun, and we have people that know about the moon. That’s where they overlap. That’s where the magic happens, right?” The silly PowerPoint graphics are so similar to real-life, why-did-anyone-pay-you-for-this “insights” that consulting firms offer up, and the can-do slogans sound just like actual outlandish marketing campaigns, such as KFC launching a chicken sandwich into the stratosphere.
“Of course it’s possible,” says aerospace engineer Dr. Clifford Johnson. “It’s potentially catastrophic, but it’s possible.”
“Is it legal?” asks Weigel. “I mean, I couldn’t find any laws against it. I don’t think you can get sued for moving the moon.”
The total solar eclipse will be visible in a diagonal band across the continental United States on Monday, August 21. However, even if you aren’t in one of the areas where the eclipse will be visible, you can still watch it online.
Kingsman: The Golden Circle will be rather more widely available than the eclipse itself. It lands in theaters around the globe on September 22.
(Via io9; featured image via screengrab)
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