Cacs Cacing: Universal Whitewashed Straight Outta Compton Trailers on Facebook

[playahaitian]

Universal Whitewashed Straight Outta Compton Trailers on Facebook, Just in Case White People Didn’t Know Ice Cube and Dr. Dre Are Rappers

In the age of #OscarsSoWhite, the news that Universal whitewashed trailers of Straight Outta Compton on Facebook should come as no surprise, and yet, here we are. At a SXSW panel on Wednesday, Universal's EVP of digital marketing, Doug Neil, let industry-watchers in on a dirty little secret about why he thinks Compton was such a record-breaking success: They race-baited the film's trailers on Facebook. As Business Insider reports, non-black and non-Hispanic Facebook users saw trailers that featured not a word about N.W.A., but were instead re-cut to look like a biopic about how Ice Cube and Dr. Dre became present-day moguls. Minorities — particularly black people in Compton — got the accurate trailer.

Neil says the thinking was that the “general population” might not know who N.W.A. were, or that Dr. Dre and Ice Cube were rappers because, haha, white people don't know hip-hop. "They connected to Ice Cube as an actor and Dr. Dre as the face of Beats," Neil explained. It's an excuse that would only be plausible if we weren't talking about one of the biggest rap groups in history, who are being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (one of the whitest institutions in music) next month — or the hugely successful solo careers of both Dre and Cube. But sure, keep telling yourself there are people on this planet who only know Dr. Dre and Ice Cube for headphones and 21 Jump Street sequels. Whatever stereotype brings in the Benjamins.


http://www.businessinsider.com/why-...ce=slate&utm_medium=referral&utm_term=partner

 

[playahaitian]

The specificity of Facebook’s advertising machine lets companies sidestep many potential pitfalls that could prevent them from launching a successful ad campaign.

For Universal Pictures, one of the problems Facebook helped them sidestep was the fact that white Americans didn’t really know what iconic rap group N.W.A. was, or that Ice Cube and Dr. Dre made music.

In a panel at South by Southwest, Universal’s EVP of digital marketing, Doug Neil, and Facebook’s entertainment head, Jim Underwood, talked about the customized racial marketing for “Straight Outta Compton,” the 2015 film that chronicles the rise of gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A.

The success of the film was a surprise, Neil said. “I shouldn’t say a surprise,” he corrected. “A breakout hit.” Neil said Universal knew the film would be popular with African American audiences, but that it ended up getting a wide crossover appeal, grossing over $160 million at the US box office.

Neil credited part of this to a specialized Facebook marketing effort led by Universal’s “multicultural team” in conjunction with its Facebook team. They created tailored trailers for different segments of the population.

Why? The “general population” (non-African American, non-Hispanic) wasn’t familiar with N.W.A., or with the musical catalog of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, according to Neil. They connected to Ice Cube as an actor and Dr. Dre as the face of Beats, he said. The trailer marketed to them on Facebook had no mention of N.W.A., but sold the movie as a story of the rise of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre.

The trailer marketed to African Americans was completely different. Universal assumed this segment of the population had a baseline familiarity with N.W.A. “They put Compton on the map,” Neil said. This trailer opens with the word N.W.A. and continues to lean on it heavily throughout.

As to the trailer produced for the Hispanic market, it was a shorter spot that included flashing quotes in Spanish.

Neil characterized this marketing effort as a complete success.

 

[largebillsonlyplease]

no problem with this. they did it because they know white people are bigots. they wanted to make money and you can't get white people to support black people unless they fit a certain criteria. im not mad at them one bit.
they played the race card and won big because of it.

they didn't go "well there are too many black people in this movie we need to hide them" and show that trailer to everybody. they said "these cacs are bigots too much black they won't go see it so lets edit it for them and show everyone else who isn't a bigot the actual trailer we're more than happy to show"

 

[D Kline]

If they didn't support the movie it wouldn't have made money. Rappers don't put on major stadium shows in the hood.

 

[playahaitian]

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