The Rise of the "Red Band" Trailer
Explicit movie previews take movie marketing viral
2009-05-07
By Sergio Mims

Now that Hollywood has finally learned to love the internet instead of watching it from a safe distance with fear and trepidation, studio marketers have discovered that the web is a blessing in disguise and can be used to help market and promote their films in ways not even imaginable just a few years ago.

One of the most important developments are the numerous websites and blogs about films and filmmaking that have sprung up during the past few years aimed at hard-core cinefiles and just plain film lovers -- Slashfilm, Ain't It Cool News, Dave Kehr, Thomson on Hollywood, Twitchfilm, Bloody Disgusting, Cinematical, Reel Artsy, Hollywood Elsewhere and the new site devoted to global black cinema from, Shadow and Act (to which yours truly is a regular contributor), and many others -- studios have realized that they’re a perfect way to leak production information, photos, interviews, news, rumors, gossip and even footage of upcoming films.

Add to that sites such as the Apple.com movie trailers site, Trailer Addict and of course You Tube and you have a endless sources of outlets. Older folks may still rely on print and TV ads to find about new movies but in this brave new world, the internet is becoming the faster, more efficient and effective way to attract the attention of younger filmgoers.

But one of the most interesting developments from all this high tech marketing is the emergence of the  “red band” trailer.  Most trailers, no matter what type of film, are created for a broad general audience so they can play anywhere. Those trailers always come with the “green” band title card at the beginning informing the viewer that the trailer is suitable to be seen by anyone.

Red band trailers, however, are decidedly R- rated trailers which come with a red title card (hence, red band) and intentionally contains images and language that show why the film received an R rating in the first place. The trailers are often a mixed bag, with some howing scenes of strong graphic violence,  nudity or hard core offensive language not permitted in a general trailer

The concept isn’t new. It was very common during the 70’s for trailers for R-rated films to show violence and nudity regardless of what features were playing along with the trailer.  Quentin Tarantino celebrated this era in his last film, Grindhouse. It wasn’t completely unusual to see a more explicit trailer along with a milder family oriented movie. Though theater operators were asked not to do that, most of them ignored the suggestion. When parents raised their objections to impressionable children being exposed to adult material, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) came up with the idea for R- rated red band trailers that were to be shown only with R- rated movies. However, studios quickly abandoned the idea since it meant that these type of trailers would be seen by a limited number of people. The notion was quickly dismissed.

But marketers in the past two years have realized that the Internet was the perfect outlet to revive the idea. It was private (more or less), you could make a show of checking age, you could  target your trailer to a specialized audience and even better, it was perfect for those impressionable teenagers always looking out for that extra kick.

As a result the red band trailer  had made a huge comeback as a viral advertising tool. They have become the new club for cool movie geeks. Suckers have to watch the more tame trailers after paying for a movie, but the cool kids can pass around the good stuff in an e-mail or via mobile.

Young connoisseurs of gross out comedies like “I Love You Man” and “Observe and Report “can now type in a fake birthdate and see and hear some of the grosser stuff that their parents wouldn’t allow them to. It’s been so successful as a tool, in fact,  that studios have begun to create red band trailers for PG-13 rated films  such as Beowulf and including scenes of nudity that were never intended for the theatrical version of the film, tricking some people into going to see the film only to be severely disappointed.

“What, no boobies?  I thought there were boobies”

It’s now pretty much the rule  rather than the exception that every R rated comedy, horror or action film have two different trailers,  a few different ones for the general theatre audience and at least one or two red band ones for the internet viewers only.

No doubt Quentin Tarantino’s upcoming Inglorious Basterds, will get a “hard” R rating for its graphic violent content and  will have several red band trailers, one more extreme than the other.

But the idea can also backfire. Last year’s red band trailer for Punisher: War Zone  contained so much nauseating violence concentrated in just two and a half minutes that it repulsed practically anyone that saw it and perhaps was one of the reasons for the film’s spectacular tank at the box office.

As a marketing tool to get a potential audience hyped up over an upcoming film, red band trailers have been a resounding success.

The problem now is finding something to top it.

Samples of Red Band Trailers. Age Verification Required.
I Love You Man Red Band trailer
Black Dynamite Red Band trailer
Bruno Red Band trailer

Film critic, lecturer and festival consultant Sergio Mims covers all things film from the city that works, Chicago. He is a regular contributor to EbonyJet.com.