Using Old-School Games to Market Multimillion-Dollar Movies

Like mainstream movies themselves, big-studio movie marketing campaigns typically follow a standard formula. You usually get posters, trailers, promotions, contests, and social—with unique smaller efforts like guerrilla marketing or innovative websites occasionally sprinkled in for good measure. One surprising ingredient studios have been mixing in the marketing formula lately: online games with a throwback vibe.

Not one but two recent big studio films have used this technique: Aquaman and Bumblebee. In most other ways the marketing for these movies is pretty formulaic. But dig a little deeper on their respective websites and you’ll find side-scrolling games where you play the role of the title character using your keyboard.

The Bumblebee game (which you can find by clicking on the Nintendo on the Bumblebee 360 Experience website) in particular is a fun 8-bit throwback where you can run, leap and transform in an effort to collect tapes, blue cubes, and gas cans while trying to avoid tanks and harmful foes. The game effectively employs a winning formula that fueled many great Nintendo games past. It’s a nice thematic fit with the 1980s setting of the Bumblebee movie.

Have these throwback games set the web on fire while fueling the marketing for these films? No. But they are a fun little Easter eggs that transform your typical movie marketing into something a little more creative and distinct.