7/30/2014
Paramount under fire for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles poster set for 9/11 release
- Epic marketing blunder or intentional stirring of the turtle's lair?That's the question igniting the Twittersphere after Paramount Australia tweeted - and then hastily deleted - a movie poster promoting the September 11 Australian release of the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie.The reason for the furor online? The poster for the movie set in New York City features the shelled heroes Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Donatello and Raphael jumping out of a burning sky scraper with the release date of September 11 emblazoned below.It drew immediate backlash from Twitter users calling the move tasteless and insensitive as the 13th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks draws near.
- The poster, which appears to be the main international promotional poster, first appeared online last week although notably minus the offending September 11 release date.
- Some users were quick to point out that the September 11 release date was specific to Australia, while others argued that the reaction was overblown.
- "While I kind of agree - I also wasn't personally affected by [the Sept. 11 attacks] in the sense that I live far away from the WTC and Pentagon and I didn't know anyone personally who died in the crashes or the WTC - so it's hard for me to say I wouldn't be offended if one of my family members had died here. Yea, it happened 'forever ago,' but the people who were most affected will probably carry it with them the rest of their lives. Why even take the risk offending someone, it's not like jumping from burning buildings is some kind of TMNT staple. Just have them in a sewer and play it safe instead of trying to squeeze every bit of Michael Bay-ness out of a poster. Like nearly everything else I've seen of this movie - it's just a stupid unnecessary decision," one user commented on kotaku.com.
- The poster, which was originally tweeted out from Paramount Pictures Australia's official Twitter account, has since been removed.Paramount has yet to comment on the incident, and it is unclear whether they will continue to use the image in further promotional material.The lack of response has prompted more cynical commentators to wonder whether attaching that particular image to the September 11 release poster was a deliberate attempt to spark controversy and get people talking about the movie that drops on August 8 in the United States.
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