Question on Advertising for Confessions of a SSC

zen apprentice · 03-09-2005, 06:39 PM

The advertising campaign for Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber doesn't make sense to me, I've seen it advertised countless times on cable tv.

In the tv movie Love plays a ruthless, heartless ad executive, right? Then why is the movie apparently being advertised as "cute" and "fluffy"? The ad shows Love doing a dance move and climbing up a wall (do the writers really think love's character *literally* climbing up a wall is clever or a *deep* statement of some sort??). The ad doesn't make sense to the point of absurdity, in my opinion, I can't help but laugh at it. Was the advertising agency that produced the ad offended at the portrayal of ad executives in the tv movie or something?

I look forward to everyone's honest review of CoaSSC after it airs, because if it is bad I think all fans should provide constructive criticism so the next role Love takes is better, fandom should not prevent people from seeing reality clearly. If the movie is good I will be the first to post here with my review. On a side note, I think Love playing a psychic for the CBS pilot has a lot of potential (much more than the ABC pilot) even if the storyline for that show also appears to be exceedingly derivative.

i love love · 03-09-2005, 06:46 PM

TC made a point very early on, this movie looks to be pure camp. I can't imagine taking this movie seriously on any level. The trailers look very very silly and I seem to see a marketing strategy here.

Love's series pilot wasn't too bad, I witnessed it. I believe this psychic stuff is getting old already. I hope it gets a chance to get completed and aired. There's just so many of these shows on the air already.

03-09-2005, 07:54 PM

The marketing makes perfect sense to me and I think works for who it is supposed to. I don't think the character is sympathetic, they're trying to make it over the top campy satire with some romance and tap in to the people who actually watch Oxygen-ish type shows on a regular basis. I was actually watching "Murder by Numbers" a few weeks ago with my ex-roomie and a couple of her friends and they were running ads for this thing just about every other commercial break, and they were eating it up, and trust me they are no JLH fans. I think the simple fact is that this thing has a pretty tight, focused demo and a lot of the guys who visit here will hate it because its made primarily for women 15-34. If I had to describe it, I'd say you're looking at something that is trying to be a mix of Sex and the City, Bridget Jones and Serial Mom (a real campy John Waters film from about 10 years ago).

As for people giving their honest opinion about things, everybody has different tastes so I wouldn't presume to say that because certain segments don't like it that others are failing to be objective if they do.

zen apprentice · 03-09-2005, 08:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by TC Visitor:
The marketing makes perfect sense to me and I think works for who it is supposed to. I don't think the character is sympathetic, they're trying to make it over the top campy satire with some romance and tap in to the people who actually watch Oxygen-ish type shows on a regular basis. I was actually watching "Murder by Numbers" a few weeks ago with my ex-roomie and a couple of her friends and they were running ads for this thing just about every other commercial break, and they were eating it up, and trust me they are no JLH fans. I think the simple fact is that this thing has a pretty tight, focused demo and a lot of the guys who visit here will hate it because its made primarily for women 15-34. If I had to describe it, I'd say you're looking at something that is trying to be a mix of Sex and the City, Bridget Jones and Serial Mom (a real campy John Waters film from about 10 years ago).

A campy satire about a ruthless ad executive?? (hint: that is what doesn't make sense, demographics is an unrelated side issue). My criticism of the ad has nothing to do with my being outside of the demographic, though I watch the oxygen channel occassionaly. Everytime I've seen the ad on my local cable tv it was not aired during a show that had the young female demographics you suggest, so I don't buy your theory. Seems like they are trying to bring in new viewers to the oxygen channel. Your roommate's friends were, "eating it up" -- really? You also used the phrase, "a pretty tight, focused demo"? I am sorry TC but you don't sound like a fan, I have to ask this: are you a paid shill of some sort? Are you saying Sex in the City and Bridget Jones were campy (to the same degree as CoaSSC? [if so, that also wouldn't make sense in relation to the point your were making, and would be a false statement regardless]).

03-09-2005, 08:34 PM

I'm a paid shill? Not to be rude newb, but I've been here for 5 years, I'm not a paid shill. I gave my opinion on the question. I said it was an attempt at a mix of the romantic components of Bridget Jones, the shallowness of many of the characters on Sex & The City and the campy nature of Serial Mom, thus the "combination" I was talking about. If you don't agree with my opinion fine, but uh, I don't take to kindly to your paid shill comment.

i love love · 03-09-2005, 10:51 PM

Is this the same Zen who goes by the name Zenmaster elsewhere?

Quote:

Originally posted by zen apprentice:
A campy satire about a ruthless ad executive?? (hint: that is what doesn't make sense, demographics is an unrelated side issue).

Let's not forget we're talking about the boob tube here. Doesn't make sense?? Please it's just TV man. The trailers speak loud and clear here. I wouldn't suggest digging for lots of logic for this project.

zen apprentice · 03-09-2005, 11:17 PM

yeah Zen is I. The "other" Love message board site seems to have shut down so here I am. I've been a lurker on this message board since like last summer -- I didn't post here previously because I noticed that many of the threads were repeated in both places by Trotter, Mo and others. I also go to imdb.com's board sometimes.

Anyway, it's true generally tv doesn't make sense but when I am actively laughing at the absurdity of a commercial for a tv movie something might be wrong. Critical thinking is a good thing and should be encouraged.

To TC: sorry, it seemed to me like you were responding to my comments the way a publicist etc might.

i love love · 03-10-2005, 04:36 AM

I thought so. I couldn't help noticing your debating/argumentative style. If you've been lurking and reading you should have taken notice of TC's educated style, since he's a mod here and contributes quite frequently. The SS board is under some kind of new management or arrangement and has now restricted almost everything, including most candid photos and almost anything concerning Love off-camera. They've shot themselves in the foot with their new rules and it shows. You disappeared quite a while ago, immediately following the last presidential election as I recall.

Critical thinking is fine. Go out and rent Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Satire at it's extreme. I bring this movie up as an example, camp and satire can certainly be taken anywhere to any heights. Like I mentioned it's just TV. Very little TV is quality and I sincerely doubt this TV movie is going to win many accolades. In my honest opinion I think it's just supposed to be a silly ride, that's what the trailers suggest to me anyway. Oxygen escapism. We'll all see in a couple of days.

By the way SS is not shut down at all. Mo's an original, he's not repeated, he's voraciously "borrowed from" for lack of a better description.

[ March 10, 2005, 03:42 AM: Message edited by: i love love ]

03-10-2005, 12:39 PM

Pheeeeew, it is awfully hot in this thread ;) I want to speak up as a noob and simply say i don't read into the marketing either way, i think the film is not something that will win the emmy of the year and should just be appreciated for what it is which by all accounts will be a very enjoyable saturday evening of JLH. My father has a saying for these kinda films "so okay, a stupid movie but you don't need to think." not that this movie will be stupid but the one thing i do gather from the ad is it will not rack your brain. anyway, looking forward to the premiere and TC way to moderate these boards for 5 years ;)

zen apprentice · 03-10-2005, 01:23 PM

SS is dead as far as I can see, jlk's entry redirects to jlhonline now but apparently nothing is setup there. I was actually banned from posting on SS after I defended a post that Trotter made which was subsequently edited down by an admin, this was a few weeks after the election. I overreacted and went off on their censorship and poor message board admin skills (that is probably what did it). They came up with the new posting policy *after* that (so technically I did not violate policy since it did not exist prior), I emailed them a few times but there was apparently no recourse to get unbanned from posting. I emailed Trotter a couple times but he had straightend up his act by then and apparently didn't want to get himself banned so he didn't stick his neck out for me or thought they'd unban me from posting after a short while.

03-11-2005, 01:43 PM

wow that is foul, gettin shut down by The Man! well i hope you come to find a home here. btw i just found more info on SC and maybe plays into marketing schemes so wanted to share
Tonight, Extra is airing a segment of Social Climber at 7 PM (NBC, ch 4 for me in nyc for you too?)and if you happen to be flipping through The TV Guide Channel Oxygen will also have a segment airing all day on Saturday, March 12th
so i dunno they are doing things to try and get the word out. hope everyone watches ;)

03-09-2005, 06:39 PM	#1 (permalink)
zen apprentice Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 66 My Profile	The advertising campaign for Confessions of a Sociopathic Social Climber doesn't make sense to me, I've seen it advertised countless times on cable tv. In the tv movie Love plays a ruthless, heartless ad executive, right? Then why is the movie apparently being advertised as "cute" and "fluffy"? The ad shows Love doing a dance move and climbing up a wall (do the writers really think love's character literally climbing up a wall is clever or a deep statement of some sort??). The ad doesn't make sense to the point of absurdity, in my opinion, I can't help but laugh at it. Was the advertising agency that produced the ad offended at the portrayal of ad executives in the tv movie or something? I look forward to everyone's honest review of CoaSSC after it airs, because if it is bad I think all fans should provide constructive criticism so the next role Love takes is better, fandom should not prevent people from seeing reality clearly. If the movie is good I will be the first to post here with my review. On a side note, I think Love playing a psychic for the CBS pilot has a lot of potential (much more than the ABC pilot) even if the storyline for that show also appears to be exceedingly derivative.

03-09-2005, 06:46 PM	#2 (permalink)
i love love . Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: a black hole in a back pocket universe Posts: 5,263 My Profile	TC made a point very early on, this movie looks to be pure camp. I can't imagine taking this movie seriously on any level. The trailers look very very silly and I seem to see a marketing strategy here. Love's series pilot wasn't too bad, I witnessed it. I believe this psychic stuff is getting old already. I hope it gets a chance to get completed and aired. There's just so many of these shows on the air already.

03-09-2005, 07:54 PM	#3 (permalink)
TC Visitor Guest Posts: n/a	The marketing makes perfect sense to me and I think works for who it is supposed to. I don't think the character is sympathetic, they're trying to make it over the top campy satire with some romance and tap in to the people who actually watch Oxygen-ish type shows on a regular basis. I was actually watching "Murder by Numbers" a few weeks ago with my ex-roomie and a couple of her friends and they were running ads for this thing just about every other commercial break, and they were eating it up, and trust me they are no JLH fans. I think the simple fact is that this thing has a pretty tight, focused demo and a lot of the guys who visit here will hate it because its made primarily for women 15-34. If I had to describe it, I'd say you're looking at something that is trying to be a mix of Sex and the City, Bridget Jones and Serial Mom (a real campy John Waters film from about 10 years ago). As for people giving their honest opinion about things, everybody has different tastes so I wouldn't presume to say that because certain segments don't like it that others are failing to be objective if they do.

03-09-2005, 08:34 PM	#5 (permalink)
TC Visitor Guest Posts: n/a	I'm a paid shill? Not to be rude newb, but I've been here for 5 years, I'm not a paid shill. I gave my opinion on the question. I said it was an attempt at a mix of the romantic components of Bridget Jones, the shallowness of many of the characters on Sex & The City and the campy nature of Serial Mom, thus the "combination" I was talking about. If you don't agree with my opinion fine, but uh, I don't take to kindly to your paid shill comment.

03-09-2005, 11:17 PM	#7 (permalink)
zen apprentice Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 66 My Profile	yeah Zen is I. The "other" Love message board site seems to have shut down so here I am. I've been a lurker on this message board since like last summer -- I didn't post here previously because I noticed that many of the threads were repeated in both places by Trotter, Mo and others. I also go to imdb.com's board sometimes. Anyway, it's true generally tv doesn't make sense but when I am actively laughing at the absurdity of a commercial for a tv movie something might be wrong. Critical thinking is a good thing and should be encouraged. To TC: sorry, it seemed to me like you were responding to my comments the way a publicist etc might.

03-10-2005, 04:36 AM	#8 (permalink)
i love love . Join Date: Dec 2000 Location: a black hole in a back pocket universe Posts: 5,263 My Profile	I thought so. I couldn't help noticing your debating/argumentative style. If you've been lurking and reading you should have taken notice of TC's educated style, since he's a mod here and contributes quite frequently. The SS board is under some kind of new management or arrangement and has now restricted almost everything, including most candid photos and almost anything concerning Love off-camera. They've shot themselves in the foot with their new rules and it shows. You disappeared quite a while ago, immediately following the last presidential election as I recall. Critical thinking is fine. Go out and rent Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, Or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb. Satire at it's extreme. I bring this movie up as an example, camp and satire can certainly be taken anywhere to any heights. Like I mentioned it's just TV. Very little TV is quality and I sincerely doubt this TV movie is going to win many accolades. In my honest opinion I think it's just supposed to be a silly ride, that's what the trailers suggest to me anyway. Oxygen escapism. We'll all see in a couple of days. By the way SS is not shut down at all. Mo's an original, he's not repeated, he's voraciously "borrowed from" for lack of a better description. [ March 10, 2005, 03:42 AM: Message edited by: i love love ]

03-10-2005, 12:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
neutralmilk Guest Posts: n/a	Pheeeeew, it is awfully hot in this thread ;) I want to speak up as a noob and simply say i don't read into the marketing either way, i think the film is not something that will win the emmy of the year and should just be appreciated for what it is which by all accounts will be a very enjoyable saturday evening of JLH. My father has a saying for these kinda films "so okay, a stupid movie but you don't need to think." not that this movie will be stupid but the one thing i do gather from the ad is it will not rack your brain. anyway, looking forward to the premiere and TC way to moderate these boards for 5 years ;)

03-10-2005, 01:23 PM	#10 (permalink)
zen apprentice Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 66 My Profile	SS is dead as far as I can see, jlk's entry redirects to jlhonline now but apparently nothing is setup there. I was actually banned from posting on SS after I defended a post that Trotter made which was subsequently edited down by an admin, this was a few weeks after the election. I overreacted and went off on their censorship and poor message board admin skills (that is probably what did it). They came up with the new posting policy after that (so technically I did not violate policy since it did not exist prior), I emailed them a few times but there was apparently no recourse to get unbanned from posting. I emailed Trotter a couple times but he had straightend up his act by then and apparently didn't want to get himself banned so he didn't stick his neck out for me or thought they'd unban me from posting after a short while.

03-11-2005, 01:43 PM	#11 (permalink)
neutralmilk Guest Posts: n/a	wow that is foul, gettin shut down by The Man! well i hope you come to find a home here. btw i just found more info on SC and maybe plays into marketing schemes so wanted to share Tonight, Extra is airing a segment of Social Climber at 7 PM (NBC, ch 4 for me in nyc for you too?)and if you happen to be flipping through The TV Guide Channel Oxygen will also have a segment airing all day on Saturday, March 12th so i dunno they are doing things to try and get the word out. hope everyone watches ;)

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