The Great Trite Hype

So...what do you all think about hype? Movies, music, etc. Does it affect your perception of the hyped product? If so, how and why?

These days, you have to be very alert to where the hype is coming from.  You have to know which studio, which news media outlet is part of which media conglomerate, and if they tend to have a certain bias whether it's political or towards certain people.  It's SO hard to sift through that I tend to try to go by one thing alone.  If my friends recommend it, I'll try it out.

hype is evil and stupid. and these days, most of what gets hyped is crap. I think hype affects my perceptions of actual products because most of the time, I think that such an extreme marketing strategy is designed to cover for an inferior product.

word of mouth, though, is a different story - when individuals get really enthusiastic about something, that's natural, and of course they'll strongly recommend that their friends see/hear/buy whatever it is they're all about. but they otherwise gain nothing from that, the way big huge megacorporations do.

Hehe, speaking of word of mouth, remember the reality film "The Real Cancun" that was out a few weeks ago?  Got plastered in the reviews, and only took in $2 million in its opening weekend.  What was the spin from the movie studio?

"Yes, we know it didn't get reviewed as well as we had hoped, but we believe it will get good word of mouth."

Word of mouth?  What word of mouth, no one went to see it in the first place!

hype is evil and stupid

I totally agree. It gets to the point that if something is hyped a little too much I will make a point of not seeing it, just as a form of protest.

And since when have films become "movie events"? as in "Blah is the biggest movie event this summer!!!" I am immediately suspicious of anything called a movie event.

I couldn't agree with that more. Hype destroys. Anytime something is released with enough hype so that I know everything about it beforehand, I am beyond suspicous. It makes me feel like I'm sick of whatever product they're selling before I even experience it. It's kind of depressing, really.

Hype wrecks stuff. Remember the Blair Witch Project? I watched that movie almost two full months before it was released, (had a friend with connections) in a dark basement at 2 AM. I was scared out of my wits. had to stop it half way through and go upstairs into the kitchen with my friend for hot chocolate with the lights on.

But when it was released in theatres? Yeah it was scary, but no one was really freaked out, because of the hype. they were expecting the most terrifying experience oftheir lives, and nothing could live up to that. hype raises expectations to a level that nothing can fill, so it's always going to be a let down.

 

ok....hype kept me from watching BUFFY initially. everyone was saying 'watch it!!! it's great!!!!'

which led me, of course, to utter my famed catchphrase 'buffy schmuffy' forEVer, coz i didn't wanna just watch something because 'all the kewl kidz are doing it' or because everyone was talking it up.

luckily i took 2 people's advice and finally caved and got into it......and now i'll -SOOOOOOOOOOO- miss it when it goes off the air next tuesday. and that also developed into my getting into ANGEL and watching that, too...so a jossfan� was born.

i find, for myself, the same is true of a lot of things; i can't get into things just because everyone -else- likes them.

i guess i am just quirky that way.