If you grew up in the early 2000s, you probably saw a trailer for Kangaroo Jack. The trailer gives the impression that the movie is a screwball road trip comedy about two friends and their wacky, talking Kangaroo sidekick. Except it’s not that. It’s an extremely unfunny movie about two idiots escaping the mob. There’s a random kangaroo in it for like 5 minutes and he only talks during a hallucination scene that lasts less than a minute. Turns out, the producers knew that they had a stinker on their hands so they cut the movie to be PG and focus the marketing on the one positive aspect that test audiences responded to, the talking kangaroo, tricking a bunch of families into buying tickets.

What other movies had similar, deceitfully malicious marketing campaigns?

      • corsicanguppy
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        1 month ago

        They were “Look at the story we could tell and the wondrous adventure we’re embarking on together”

        And then pod-racing, and puppets, and a jibber-jabber secret sith, and toys.

      • vxx@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        The movie was pod racing and Jar Jar binks. I can’t recall the trailer.

        Edit: Well, the trailer is Pod racing and Jar Jar binks.

      • Num10ck@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        i remember the posters had giant shadows of darth vader, but the movie had none of him.

        • UKFilmNerd@feddit.ukM
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          1 month ago

          The poster was implying that the young boy would grow up to be Darth Vader, if that’s what you mean?