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Editorial Cartoons
Sending Out An SEO S.O.S.
It is completely rational that an entertainment conglomerate would want to replicate the success of one of its titles. So when Warner Bros. released a spin-off of "The Joker," which raked in more than US$1 billion, executives were left scratching their heads
when "Harley Quinn" flopped in the opening week earlier this year. It earned a mere US$33 million at the box office—the worst performance by a DC Comics-inspired film in 10 years—just a third of
what The Joker pulled in.
Warner Bros. decided this was a marketing fail. The trailer was confusing, as was the unwieldy and exhaustingly long title:
"Birds of Prey (And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn)."
What seemed like a glaring oversight in hindsight was fixed. The title was shortened and the hugely-popular protagonist was
inserted at the beginning, making it much more SEO friendly.
Apparently, movie-goers weren't having much luck trying to find tickets to see their beloved heroine when they searched for
her by name.
Sales did recover, and Warner did avoid a disaster of blockbuster proportions. This cartoon reminds us of the corporate influence in Hollywood and how the folks in the towers calling the shots aren't always right.
