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Why Movie Trailers Now Begin With Five-Second Ads For Themselves (theverge.com)

Chris Plante, reporting for The Verge: Jason Bourne takes off his jacket, punches a man unconscious, looks forlornly off camera, and then a title card appears. The ad -- five seconds of action -- is a teaser for the full Jason Bourne trailer (video), which immediately follows the teaser. In fact, the micro-teaser and trailer are actually part of the same video, the former being an intro for the latter. The trend is the latest example of metahype, a marketing technique in which brands promote their advertisements as if they're cultural events unto themselves. [...] Last year, the studio advertised the teaser for Ant-Man with a ten-second cut of the footage reduced to an imperceptive scale. [...] But where previous metahype promoted key dates in a marketing campaign -- like official trailer releases and fan celebrations -- the burgeoning trend of teasers within trailers exist purely to retain the viewer's attention in that exact moment. The teaser within the trailer speaks to a moment in which we have so many distractions and choices that marketers must sell us on giving a trailer three minutes of our time. This practice isn't limited to movie trailers, though. Next time you're on Facebook, pay attention to how the popular videos in your newsfeed are edited. Is the most interesting image the first thing you see? And does that trick get you to stop scrolling and watch?

59 of 97 comments (clear)

  1. Attention spans that can only be measure in nano- by NotDrWho · · Score: 3, Funny

    sec.....SQUIRREL!!

    --
    SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  2. Whores by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

    People are whores and will take whatever comic book bullshit movies throw at them.

    --
    Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
  3. I noticed that, and I kept on going... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ...Next time you're on Facebook, pay attention to how the popular videos in your newsfeed are edited. Is the most interesting image the first thing you see? And does that trick get you to stop scrolling and watch?...

    Contrary to what the content creator fantasized would happen, the advertisement in front of the advertisement didn't fool me. I looked at it as little more than clutter that got in the way of me viewing what I wanted to view, so I just moved on without viewing what I had wanted to view.

    .
    It never ceases to amaze me how the content creation types think that annoying their indented audience increases viewership.

    1. Re:I noticed that, and I kept on going... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I guess it depends on the target of the ad. I don't go to the movies often so when I go on my once-or-twice stop a year I find out more about what's new in that 15 minutes than I do from all other sources combined. I don't imagine I'm their target but how many people sit on IMDb looking for every new release?

    2. Re:I noticed that, and I kept on going... by Gr8Apes · · Score: 2

      ...Next time you're on Facebook...

      Contrary to what the content creator fantasized would happen, the advertisement in front of the advertisement didn't fool me.

      You're on Facebook....

      --
      The cesspool just got a check and balance.
    3. Re:I noticed that, and I kept on going... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      " that annoying their indented audience "

      I think indentation is quite useful, myself.

    4. Re:I noticed that, and I kept on going... by peragrin · · Score: 1

      Nope the first few seconds which generate the screen shot people start with are just the "album" art covers. Yes like "album" covers the are advertisements, a few will be noteworthy even if the content sucks.

      In the end it doesn't matter. Some will cough up money and most will Ignore it due to excessive advertising.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    5. Re:I noticed that, and I kept on going... by QuietLagoon · · Score: 1

      Nope the first few seconds which generate the screen shot people start with are just the "album" art covers....

      That's probably the rationale the content creator tried to use to justify the fantasy, but I don't buy it, I am not forced to stare at an album cover before I can listen to an album. I can just pick up the album, skip over the cover and listen to the music.

      .
      imo, the equivalent to the album cover would be the picture I click on in order to select the video (trailer) for viewing.

    6. Re:I noticed that, and I kept on going... by sexconker · · Score: 1

      Bourne Ultimatum is the one between Bourne Mediocrity and Bourne Redundancy, right?

    7. Re:I noticed that, and I kept on going... by Gussington · · Score: 1

      It never ceases to amaze me how the content creation types think that annoying their indented audience increases viewership.

      They think that because it works. Just because it doesn't work on you or me, doesn't me it isn't working.
      I worked on a project for a streaming audio solution for a popular youth retail chain. They had metrics of the type and volume of music that promotes more sales. And they had stats on days when a particular store's music system failed, and sales dropped off along with it.
      Personally when I hear the loud music, I turn around and walk out, but their target market isn't me.

    8. Re:I noticed that, and I kept on going... by dbIII · · Score: 1

      It's getting to where we could replace Bourne with a shell script :)

  4. It's an attention grabber by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Like the "Oh no, my butt trumpet is about to blow!" at the start of the poo-pourri ad.

    1. Re:It's an attention grabber by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      Prefer to "About to carry out some strategic air strikes"

      --
      Time to offend someone
  5. Re:Attention spans that can only be measure in nan by fiannaFailMan · · Score: 1

    TL:DR

    --
    Drill baby drill - on Mars
  6. they also use learning psychology. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Interesting

    There's a well known technique when teaching people something: you first tell them what you are going to teach them, then you go through the teaching process, then you tell them what they have just learned. This helps people retain the information better than just the middle bit alone. It's used in all kinds of classroom teaching and other legit applications.

    Pre-movie ads now do this. I don't remember the exact words because I try to tune them out, but it goes kinda like:

      "In the next segment, you will see how Toyota cars can make your life better, how Pepsi can quench your thirst, and how Microsoft products can enrich your online life."

    followed by 15 minutes of Toyota, Pepsi, and Microsoft commercials

    followed by, "You have seen how your life is improved with Microsoft tablets, how Toyota is working to give you better mobility in your world, etc"

    It's designed specifically to embed this shit even further into your mind. I find this almost intolerably irritating, and avoid theaters now because of it. All advertising is manipulation on some level, but this has taken it to an unacceptable level, IMHO.

  7. The reason is simple by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

    5 seconds is all you have before YouTube allows its user to give you and your ad the finger and finally see what he actually wanted to see.

    And you don't think that they make 2 different versions of the trailer? That costs MONEY!

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    1. Re: The reason is simple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

      Didn't know it was 5 seconds.... Good thing I run AdBlock+

    2. Re: The reason is simple by Opportunist · · Score: 2

      Some can't be skipped, actually.

      Honestly, I don't mind the 5 second ads. People make content, I watch it, enjoy it, they should get something for their troubles. It's only pennies that they get anyway, and I also feel that YouTube should get their share of the money. Yes, yes, evil big corporation and it's so big and powerful and greedy and rich and whateverelse, but in the end, it's providing a service to me.

      And that's 100 times more than I could possibly say about the MAFIAA.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    3. Re:The reason is simple by Mascot · · Score: 1

      Yeah, this, although my take on it would be slightly different.

      Five seconds is what they have to let me know what the ad is for, so I'll know if it's something I'd consider watching all the way through. If I can't tell what the ad is for (game, movie, shampoo, whatever) before I can click it away, it's gone. I've noticed some text, or at least a logo, tends to show up more often now than it used to. I can only guess the reason's related.

    4. Re:The reason is simple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      And you don't think that they make 2 different versions of the trailer? That costs MONEY!

      I think they usually make many cuts of the same trailer and then focus group the hell out of them until no soul is left.

    5. Re:The reason is simple by sexconker · · Score: 1

      For the past couple of months Youtube ads have been unavoidable on my phone. It's not to the point where I'll update the hosts file to find out why, but that's probably because it's easier to just skip watching Youtube shit on my phone.

      On my PC, the ads are blocked with my current block lists but Youtube will now sit and wait for an ad to load and play for about 10 seconds before just giving me the video. So I get to stare at a black square for 10 seconds before the video loads whenever they decide it's time for another ad (seems to be about 1/4 of the time). I just switch to a different tab until I hear the audio kick in, or I skip the video.

      Even content I do care to watch I play at 1.5x speed by default just to save time.

    6. Re:The reason is simple by Opportunist · · Score: 1

      Well, I dare say that this is probably going to be the future of commercials. Get prepared for 3-5 second rapid fire blipverts.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  8. Remember Blipverts? by Cornwallis · · Score: 3

    Does anyone else remember how blipverts seemed outrageous? We've far surpassed them...

  9. Front Loading to avoid skiping by gurps_npc · · Score: 1

    They know that often advertisements are skipped. By front loading, they are hoping to attract your attention so that you don't click the "skip ahead 30 second" button - either the figurative one in your head, or the real one in your hand.

    --
    excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
    1. Re:Front Loading to avoid skiping by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

      often advertisements are skipped

      If google knows so much about me, then why do they keep showing me tampon commercials before my requested video of Norwegian tractor pulls?

  10. Re:Attention spans that can only be measure in nan by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

    tmw

  11. Re:Running out of ideas by thinkwaitfast · · Score: 1

    where you raise the pitch of your voice at the end of every sentence

    Oddly enough, my Russian teacher told me that this is normal in the Russian language and that it is backwards from English. Dropping the pitch implies a question.

  12. Jason Bourne - "Official Trailer!!!11!" by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 1

    The only weird thing I noticed about the Bourne one is that it actually includes the text "Official Trailer" in the video.

    --
    systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    1. Re:Jason Bourne - "Official Trailer!!!11!" by Piata · · Score: 1

      That's because Youtube is now flooded with fan made trailers for things that are either in production or fans wish were in production. There's also people that use popular media as a front to push their own random videos/channels/products/agendas. Youtube is a giant dumpster now and you need some way of separating yourself from the "new json bournn trailler!!111" clones trying to leech attention for their own gains.

    2. Re:Jason Bourne - "Official Trailer!!!11!" by wonkey_monkey · · Score: 3, Funny

      Oh, well, good. There's no way anyone could fake the words "official trailer" in a video.

      --
      systemd is Roko's Basilisk.
    3. Re:Jason Bourne - "Official Trailer!!!11!" by sexconker · · Score: 2

      There's a JSON/BASH joke in there somewhere.

  13. They've got it all figured out by tom229 · · Score: 2

    Now if they could only make the scripts make sense.

    --
    If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
    1. Re:They've got it all figured out by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

      That should make the movies cheaper to produce too; I figure at least 20% of the $100 million budget for most new films is earmarked for drugs...

      --
      I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  14. Screw up by irrational_design · · Score: 2

    I thought the Bourne trailer producers just screwed up and included the same footage twice. It never occurred to me that they may have done it on purpose!

  15. I've managed to listen to it until the end! by JcMorin · · Score: 1

    I've managed to listen to it until the end!

  16. Re:Running out of ideas by Ken+D · · Score: 2

    It's called up talking? and it's quite annoying? you know? Like you are pretty insecure? and not sure of yourself?
    it's almost as bad as ending every sentence on a giggle?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

  17. Re:Running out of ideas by mrchaotica · · Score: 1

    They ought to just take the Brady Bunch, word for word, and simply apply Millenial-speak where you raise the pitch of your voice at the end of every sentence, as if you're asking a question.

    Didn't Jan Brady already do that in the original? (Or maybe it was some other kind of bitchy whining...)

    --

    "[Regarding the 'cloud,'] ownership was what made America different than Russia." -- Woz

  18. Skip this ad in 5... by Punto · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Not another bullshit "this generation has no attention span" article, that's not it and you know it. The 5 second intro is there because some ads (primarily on youtube) are skippable after 5 seconds. If it was 6 seconds, it would be 6 seconds long. This generation doesn't have a "shorter attention span", they just don't like your boring ad, because nobody ever in history liked your ad. The only thing that's different for this generation is that they have the technology to avoid your ad, because it's crap.

    --

    --
    Stay tuned for some shock and awe coming right up after this messages!

    1. Re:Skip this ad in 5... by Moof123 · · Score: 2

      These companies have really trained me well in skipping and ignoring ads. Nowadays any ad I can't get rid of is like fingernails on a chalkboard. I don't have cable, and paid the extra to get the ad free/reduced Hulu. Usually by time we start watching a DVD/Bluray my finger is a bit sore from bashing the controller to get past all the crap.

      Funny thing is that I actually enjoy movies more. I go to the theater about as often as I ever did (every couple months), but unlike a few years ago I get to go to a fair number of movies I have never seen the trailer for. I got really sick of having the best scenes ruined, but that has become pretty rare recently. I managed to see the latest Star Wars without spoilers (and with a burger and beer). I usually hit up Rotten Tomatoes for a short list of non-crap movies to choose from and call it good.

      Basically the ads reached the tipping point of obnoxiousness that I spend effort and money to block them out as best I can. I spend extra effort to shield my kid, since I still recall how much advertising manipulated me as a kid. 5 second pre-ads are the last desperate flailings of a desperate marketing department.

  19. What I hated by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 1

    Last couple of times when I used the app for the local theatre chain whenever I went to view a trailer they would toss in a trailer for another movie first. It's annoying enough to have to sit through the commercials and previews at the theatre but now they are doing it in their app for previews. It's like they are trying to make stay away.

  20. Re:Ads for ads by PPH · · Score: 1

    Yo dawg!

    --
    Have gnu, will travel.
  21. Re:Attention spans that can only be measure in nan by quantaman · · Score: 1

    Sorry, only got halfway through comment title.

    --
    I stole this Sig
  22. Absolutely Beauitiful by AlanBDee · · Score: 1

    To me this is the advertisement companies getting a clue. It's a 5-second clip that tells me exactly what I need to know, there's another Borne movie. For them to get their message out it has to be very clear at the beginning and end. If we, as the consumer, want to watch the whole thing then we can. If I'm not interested then I will skip it. It's closer to the way things should be.

  23. Holy Slow Reaction Time BatMan! by nkhorman · · Score: 1

    This isn't new.... have you watched TV lately....
    Haven't you been annoyed by... err, I mean seen the advertisements for the show that you're already watching ?
    I mean really, ABC and SyFy have been doing this for well over at least a year. (I think. prolly longer.)

    They show you a 5-10 second blip of whats coming up, either just after the commercial break, or just on the way to one.

    Apparently we're just so busy doing other sh*t... err, I mean need to be reminded that we MUST watch to keep the Nielson ratings up, so that the producer can afford to make the next mind numbing MUST see, CAN'T miss episode. You know... the one we've been waiting for ? Right ?

    Maybe if the content was worth watching, we wouldn't need to be ... brow beat.. err, I mean assaulted with all the adds for the prescription medication, err... hottest new vehicle, err.. injury lawyer promising us money for our "pain and suffering"

    Oh.. BTW, thanks to the FDA/FCC (I blame you both equally) for giving us the privilege of being hypnotized by big pharma into believing that we need to tell our doctor that we must have this or that brand of this or that medication to solve our hypochondria-tic nature.

    Wait... do guys here that... baa aaa aaaa - who forgot to lock the sheep in their pens ?

  24. How Deep Is Your Love Yourself by tepples · · Score: 1

    Unlike music, it seems there is a limit to the number of unique storylines available to movie and TV producers.

    Music too has been running out of ideas. Have you heard Justin Bieber's "Love Yourself", which sounds like "How Deep Is Your Love" by the Bee Gees?

  25. Re:Running out of ideas by Bender+Unit+22 · · Score: 1

    I don't know. I don't watch much TV or movies anymore. I can't find anything that interests me anymore. Perhaps a few documentaries. I used to like to watch TV. Not even Netflix works for me any more(well their recent geo blocking helped killing it too).

    These days all I see is Youtube videos with people who has something interesting to say/show/explain.

  26. Re: Attention spans that can only be measure in na by karnal · · Score: 1

    You kids with your loud music, and your Dan Fogelberg, your zima, hula hoops, and Pac-Man video games

    --
    Karnal
  27. Marketing speak... by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    Does it have any detectable connection to the real world? You understand the only real skill advertising producers need is the skill to convince businesses to pay them to make advertising; whether or not it makes the actual consumers more likely to buy is irrelevant.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  28. Re:ads for Ads, pre-trailers and such by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    You just need to understand how theaters work: there is guaranteed to be 20 minutes of previews before every movie, meaning that if the theater says the movie begins at 6pm, you should walk into the theater and find a seat slightly before 6:20; you will never miss any of the actual movie. When they start inserting advertisements in the middle of the movie like television does, then I'll get upset.

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  29. Re:I use AdBlock by Locke2005 · · Score: 1

    There's an app for that... it's called Fandango. Movie listed supported by the hope that somebody will actually buy tickets through them. My daughter's friend bought an e-ticket, she just needed to show it at the door on her cell phone... guess what, there's no cell phone reception at the ticket taker station in the theater!

    --
    I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
  30. Use copyright against misrepresentation by tepples · · Score: 2

    It can be faked, but doing so is actionable misrepresentation. For example, a work's publisher can make a policy of tolerating small-scale fan-made non-commercial derivatives so long as they are not marked as official, but any misleading upload incurs a copyright strike.

  31. No respect by nowsharing · · Score: 1

    Next time you're on Facebook, pay attention to how the popular videos in your newsfeed are edited. Is the most interesting image the first thing you see? And does that trick get you to stop scrolling and watch?

    Translation: We believe that our readers are fucking morons.

  32. Re:Running out of ideas by BlackHawk-666 · · Score: 1

    It seems you've never written a four chord song...

    Axis of Awesome - Four Chord Song
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    --
    All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
  33. Re:Attention spans that can only be measure in nan by srmalloy · · Score: 1

    If the trailers actually were an interesting lead-in to the movie, and weren't just a collection of action sequences that are almost, but not quite, the Cliff's Notes précis of the whole movie, we wouldn't lose interest so fast that they need to shill the trailer at the start of the trailer.

  34. How come I see no ads on Youtube? Enlighten me? by KWTm · · Score: 1

    I don't see the ads. I'm not sure why. Can anyone shed any light on this?

    I watch with Firefox on Kubuntu 14.04.

    Now, a lot of videos I grab via youtube-dl, which would explain no ads, but the ones I watch directly don't have ads, either. Generally these are shorter videos (under 10 min), but occasionally I'll watch 1-hour videos (e.g. BBC nature documentaries) and there won't be ads.

    There are ads when my wife does it on her Mac. I was really startled to see them and thought that it was just for that video, but apparently the ads are everywhere.

    I don't think it's just the type of video, as I watch everything from DIY advice to vlogs to stuff from BBC to Lego stop-motion animations.

    Anyone else have no ads?

    --
    404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
    [GPG key in journal]
    1. Re:How come I see no ads on Youtube? Enlighten me? by 110010001000 · · Score: 1

      I haven't seen an ad since 1998. I don't know why people don't run adblockers. If you aren't, you are opening yourself up to malware. It is common sense to run adblockers.

  35. Thanks for the clip! by xarragon · · Score: 1

    I thought you were refering to the crappy online video service blip.tv, used by Channel Awesome and Angry Video Game Nerd back in the day. I just assumed they had done some short, rapid-fire video embedding that caused an outrage. I had no idea that there was a Max Headroom series, let alone one with so much good 80's sci-fi-cheesiness!

    Captcha: 'embeds'

  36. Re: Attention spans that can only be measure in na by TheRealHocusLocus · · Score: 1

    You kids with your loud music, and your Dan Fogelberg, your zima, hula hoops, and Pac-Man video games

    Hey! I was one of those kids. Zima watered down with tequila though. I'll raise you Dan Fogelberg Longer and Nether Lands on vinyl though a high fidelity amplifier and with full head headphones to hear it.

    --
    <blink>down the rabbit hole</blink>
  37. Oh, Adblock+ can block Youtube ads? Thank goodness by KWTm · · Score: 1

    Oh, I didn't realize Adblock+ could block Youtube ads. I thought Youtube would just serve up a video file that had the ad tacked to the front, but of course I should have realized from the conversation about skipping after 5 seconds that that was not the case. Google would of course send me a customized ad after identifying me from the millisecond timing in my keystrokes typing in the search field, and tailoring the ad to the colour of the sprinkles I use in my ice cream. Hmm, that makes me even more grateful to Adblock+.

    --
    404555974007725459910684486621289147856453481154 in hex is "You sank my Battleship?"
    [GPG key in journal]