You have no idea of the hazards of being a film marketer!
First studio brass and the stars blame you when their films flop. Now, there’s escalating media chatter suggesting that the removal of a black couple from the poster for the international version of “Couples Retreat” might be a racist move. You be the judge, but altering international posters is fairly routine (see images..the right hand poster is the UK version with fewer couples).
The U.S. poster (left) pictures a black couple in background that are removed in the overseas poster (right) for “Couples Retreat.”
In successive days, news stories have noted two black actors were taken out of the one-sheet poster UK version of the Universal release. Yesterday, news media simply called attention to the alteration and today a story uses the world “racist” in the headline.
We live in an era where media decisions are analyzed, but this doesn’t seem egregious. The U.S. version of the poster is fairly cluttered, so simplifying it improves its impact. The two black actors excised — Faizon Love and Kali Hawk — are not well known in the UK so they are an obvious choice to remove from this promotional element. Film marketers put out what they think will sell the audiences and ads are usually tested with sample audiences.
The UK has an increasingly multi-ethnic society so it doesn’t make sense to remove people of color simply to whitewash a movie. Finally, decisions are driven by what sells to consumers in each territory. This is why U.S. films about baseball often don’t get overseas theatrical release. If they do, it’s always with radically revised ad campaigns that emphasize the stars or some other element and downplay the U.S.-centric sport.
For “Couples Retreat,” the black actors erased in some posters are not well known; where seen in the U.S. poster the couple is least prominent of all pairs.
The poster can be characterized as an “ensemble” approach and alterations are normal, including domestically, when going from theatrical to DVD to video-on-demand.
UPDATE: In November, 2020, co-star Faizon Love sues Universal Pictures alleging racial discrimination and breach of contract from being dropped in some overseas movie posters for “Couples Retreat” and seeks financial compensation.
Related content:
- ‘Couples Retreat’ poster sparks controversy in U.K.
- Universal’s new Black Eye: African American Actors Disappear from ‘Couples Retreat’ Poster
- ‘People’ magazine: ‘Couples Retreat’ Star Sues Universal Pictures Alleging Whitewashing Movie Poster
- Press Release: Top Universal Studios Execs Testimony Demanded in Lawsuit Over Racist Treatment of Black Star Faizon Love
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