‘Aquaman’ Saves DC with Mega Marketing

Who lives in a pineapple under – wait – who is the heir to Atlantis and butt of jokes? The superhero whose film has grossed over $1 billion! Aquaman’s reviews may have been mixed, but its marketing conquered the box office. How did this merman surmount land?

Visuals: The trailers are different from other DC movies. They’re not dark and grim, but colorful and inviting and show a fun, action-packed ride. This was met with an enthusiastic response, inspiring the marketing team to release a reaction video.

Cross Promotions: Aquaman dove into other brands too. Amazon gave Prime members the chance to buy tickets to select pre-release screenings. They netted $3 million. DC Universe, the OTT service, offered a sweepstakes of a cast-signed Aquaman trident. PADI (Professional Association of Diving Instructors) made a contest for an Aquaman-branded PS4. Oceana used the movie to encourage people to help the oceans, which included a PSA featuring Aquaman’s Patrick Wilson.

Late Night: Jason Momoa, who portrays Aquaman, hosted “Saturday Night Live” coinciding with the film’s release. He then found his way to “The Tonight Show”, where he and host Jimmy Fallon had a trident-throwing contest.

#MOMSFORMOMOA: Moms want to take their kids to Aquaman to see Momoa. This meme was just a piece of Aquaman’s online dominance. From YouTube and Instagram to Facebook and Twitter, Aquaman counted over half a billion followers across social media without any help from other DC films!

Aquaman seemed an afterthought compared to Batman, Superman or Wonder Woman, but its marketing proved otherwise. It breathed new, colorful life into a gloomy, faltering franchise.