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WHY BRANDS ARE FAKING OUT CONSUMERS WITH CAMPAIGNS DISGUISED AS MOVIE TRAILERS.

- Katie Richards

In the weeks leading up to the Super Bowl, movie buffs were surprised to find IMDb pages popping up online and unexpected trailers dropping for what appeared to be a reboot of Crocodile Dundee. The trailers for Dundee looked expertly shot, with a dazzling cast of Danny McBride and Chris Hemsworth to match. Viewers soon learned the marketing for Dundee was a sham. There was no movie, but instead fans were watching a campaign from Droga5 for Tourism Australia.

A few weeks earlier, Taco Bell dropped an equally deceptive trailer, starring Josh Duhamel, to announce the addition of fries to Taco Bell’s menu. Other brands have tapped into the growing trend of disguising fake movie trailers as ad campaigns—from a fictitious film trailer by fashion brand Robert Graham, to the NFL’s cinematic trailer, “Hope,” ahead of the 2017 season. It’s keeping consumers on their toes and tapping into humor in a new way that viewers seem to welcome.