Thushara Peiris’s maiden movie “Prabhakaran”, is scheduled to be released on the 24th April and shows every sign of becoming a major commercial hit. This article is not a review on the movie’s political correctness, but rather, its PR aspect. As marketers, there are a few things to learn, considering the manner in which it surfaced in the media.
I remember once, on our return to office after a client meeting, there
was an unusual traffic jam on Galle road starting from Bambalapitiya junction. The traffic did not move an inch for almost an hour – to add to our frustration, our former office was just 300 meters from the color lights. At a distance, we could see lots of people in the middle of the road. Soon, as the traffic began to clear, we were more horrified to see a devastated army jeep and blood on the street. Everybody in the car panicked for a while – but then it all seemed too organized, especially when we saw a film crew dismantling their equipment. Besides, there was no mention about it on the radio. Whatever it is, I can vouch that a lot people were pissed off about this unscrupulous shooting during the late afternoon, on a week day, for both the traffic and panic it caused. Surely they could have scheduled this on a weekend or public holiday – but then, on one hand, this is cheap publicity and apparently no publicity is bad publicity.
Upon the completion of the movie, the director took the final cut to Chennai, to create the Tamil version of ‘Prabhakaran’. It’s an interesting choice, considering Chennai’s political sentiments towards Sri Lanka and her long drawn ethnic conflict. It was bound to create issues and I am sure the film director was well aware of it. But he took his chances – he probably knew he had much to gain if it were to become controversial. And it did. According to his statement on www.prabhakaranfilm.com he was beaten up, made to sign documents under duress, attacked by a mob and was sent back to Colombo under the protection of Indian intelligence officials – the master copy of the film was stolen in the process. Wow! What a story!
On his arrival in Sri Lanka, he was admitted to a private hospital where he started a fast unto death until he recovered the master copy that was stolen. He appeared from his hospital bed and appealed to both the Indian & Sri Lankan governments to protect the copy and hand it over to him. Several interest groups are still protesting on behalf of the director and it continues to attract front page media coverage on all major publications. So far the media has carried the story for the producers, saving their promo budget. Full marks to Thushara Peiris for his excellent PR skills.
Now, the insight for marketers... Most marketing people are shit scared of the media and will avoid controversies at any cost. There are many brands that have benefited from bad, and even, the worst type of publicity. Red Bull had a very slow start in the late 80’s until its ban in Germany, attributing to its “Taurine” content. After the ban, every teenager was dying to get his/her hands on Red Bull, coz it made a strong statement about them – sales almost doubled following the ban! In one of my early posts, I said that PR is not for the weak hearted – well surely, it is not!
I 'm sure the movie “Prabhakaran” will pull thousands of people – both who love it and hate it, to theatres, including the ones who really don't give a shit about the local film industry, filling up the vast majority of empty seats in local theatres – surely Thushara should be a happy man!
I remember once, on our return to office after a client meeting, there
was an unusual traffic jam on Galle road starting from Bambalapitiya junction. The traffic did not move an inch for almost an hour – to add to our frustration, our former office was just 300 meters from the color lights. At a distance, we could see lots of people in the middle of the road. Soon, as the traffic began to clear, we were more horrified to see a devastated army jeep and blood on the street. Everybody in the car panicked for a while – but then it all seemed too organized, especially when we saw a film crew dismantling their equipment. Besides, there was no mention about it on the radio. Whatever it is, I can vouch that a lot people were pissed off about this unscrupulous shooting during the late afternoon, on a week day, for both the traffic and panic it caused. Surely they could have scheduled this on a weekend or public holiday – but then, on one hand, this is cheap publicity and apparently no publicity is bad publicity.
Upon the completion of the movie, the director took the final cut to Chennai, to create the Tamil version of ‘Prabhakaran’. It’s an interesting choice, considering Chennai’s political sentiments towards Sri Lanka and her long drawn ethnic conflict. It was bound to create issues and I am sure the film director was well aware of it. But he took his chances – he probably knew he had much to gain if it were to become controversial. And it did. According to his statement on www.prabhakaranfilm.com he was beaten up, made to sign documents under duress, attacked by a mob and was sent back to Colombo under the protection of Indian intelligence officials – the master copy of the film was stolen in the process. Wow! What a story!On his arrival in Sri Lanka, he was admitted to a private hospital where he started a fast unto death until he recovered the master copy that was stolen. He appeared from his hospital bed and appealed to both the Indian & Sri Lankan governments to protect the copy and hand it over to him. Several interest groups are still protesting on behalf of the director and it continues to attract front page media coverage on all major publications. So far the media has carried the story for the producers, saving their promo budget. Full marks to Thushara Peiris for his excellent PR skills.
Now, the insight for marketers... Most marketing people are shit scared of the media and will avoid controversies at any cost. There are many brands that have benefited from bad, and even, the worst type of publicity. Red Bull had a very slow start in the late 80’s until its ban in Germany, attributing to its “Taurine” content. After the ban, every teenager was dying to get his/her hands on Red Bull, coz it made a strong statement about them – sales almost doubled following the ban! In one of my early posts, I said that PR is not for the weak hearted – well surely, it is not!I 'm sure the movie “Prabhakaran” will pull thousands of people – both who love it and hate it, to theatres, including the ones who really don't give a shit about the local film industry, filling up the vast majority of empty seats in local theatres – surely Thushara should be a happy man!
Pictures; Google Images
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