Ready Player One Has Been Marketed All Wrong

The latest trailer for Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One dropped this week, and it's a sweeping piece full of tension, emotion, and a feeling of high-stakes adventure, all set to a rousing cover of the classic song from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, "Pure Imagination." It is, in no uncertain terms, a great trailer. Why hasn't the marketing been like this so far?Up to this point, the marketing for Ready Player One, based on Ernest Cline's debut novel, has been a scattershot mess of pop culture references with little context to tie it all together. As cool as it is to see The Iron Giant fighting alongside Overwatch's heroes and Halo's Spartans, the end result is that the film seems like bait for nostalgic YouTube Easter Egg videos, rather than any kind of intelligent discussion. The original trailer presented the film's context in a rather dry manner, covering its dry narration with first glimpses at iconic pop culture images like Back to the Future's De Lorean car, a Gundam, Chucky from Child's Play, King Kong, and more.Related: Ready Player One: Every Trailer Cameo & Easter EggWhat did Warner Bros. get so wrong initially, and is it possible for them to turn things around?This Page: Where Warner Bros. Went Wrong

The Problem With Ready Player One's Marketing

Nostalgia can only take a film so far. TV and the multiplex are packed with revivals to long-dormant franchises, from Star Wars and The X-Files to Creed and Mad Max, but they all succeeded in their way because they had a greater purpose than empty feelings of childhood: the latest batch of Star Wars movies have aimed to build on their immense legacy, and Creed's use of the Rocky character will go down in history as one of the great "distant sequels" of all time, but there's got to be more than that.

Indeed, the original Ready Player One book earned its share of criticism for leaning too hard on iconic images from other mediums, be they from film or video games, to the point where the call-backs to other works of art couldn't help but get in the way of the story at hand. There is a tight, engaging tale, rife with social commentary and a bittersweet outlook on humanity's future, but it's arguably overshadowed by, "Ooh, Ultraman, fun!"

This perception of the novel is held by many who easily dismiss it as trite and shallow, and the first trailer for the film didn't do much to dissuade doubters. While the spectacle on display is undeniable, the overall look and feel of the trailer is more akin to a video game than a movie, which raises the question: "why not just make Ready Player One a video game instead of a movie?"

Of course, the film is directed by Steven Spielberg, an undisputed master of his craft, so it's almost certainly understood that the finished film will contain more of the heart and soul present in the more recent trailer. On the flipside, however, that also puts the movie in a bad place. If audiences go in expecting a full-on nostalgia-fest, yet find that the pop culture appearances are mere cameos with no substance to their roles, those would-be fans are going to be pretty upset. They might even feel tricked.

All in all, Ready Player One is in an unenviable position of being a month out from release, lacking in identity, and having its one marketing tool nostalgia already feeling played out.

What Warner Bros. Should Have Done With Ready Player One's Marketing

Perhaps this thesis will be proven wrong when the film is released on March 29, but it seems like WB showed their hand too early. The first trailer showed off way too much of the VR fantasy world - perhaps trying to capitalize on its premiere at San Diego Comic-Con - without providing enough context for viewers to truly appreciate and be awed by its spectacle. Maybe they should have set the whole trailer in the real world and only fleetingly show glimpses of "The Oasis," as it is called.

Proof of this lies in the second trailer, which, while a significant improvement over the first, lacks the impact it could have had because of the damage done by the initial teaser. The stunning reveal of The Iron Giant doesn't tug on the heartstrings in the same way as it would have had we not already been introduced to the character in such a ho-hum manner the first time around. It also didn't help that the CGI visuals on display in the first teaser were a little bit janky compared to the more polished aesthetics of the new clip.

Spoiling the movie in order to market said movie is a general problem with trailers, but at least those pivotal moments are treated with the bombast they deserve. For example, Thor: Ragnarok treats the reveal of Hulk in the gladiator arena as an unexpected twist, but that moment was the crux of the whole marketing campaign. Months before the film came out, "He's a friend from work!" was already part of the pop culture lexicon. In Ready Player One, the Iron Giant is just another in an endless slew of Easter Eggs, each more disposable than the last. Warner Bros. should have kept secret as many of these Easter Eggs as possible, or at least saved them for this most recent trailer after people have bought into the concept.

Is It Too Late For Ready Player One?

Ready Player One hits theaters in a little over a month, and the buzz is not as strong as it should be. YouTube videos pointing out the numerous Easter Eggs on display have sucked away a lot of the hype for the film, rather than adding to it. It feels like the magic of audience discovery - something Warner Bros. clearly want the movie to be about - has already been drained from the movie-going experience before the movie is even out.

Of course, it's also entirely possible that Ready Player One is chock full of surprises and the trailers have only scratched the surface of the movie's deep and substantial themes. Only time will tell if the movie will be able to reverse its fortunes and become the box office juggernaut WB is hoping for.

Next: New Ready Player One Trailer Includes Jurassic Park Easter Egg