Avatar: You know, for kids!

Marketers often tailor trailers to play to specific audiences, but it’s been awhile since I’ve seen the line drawn so clearly and distinctly as in these two recent Avatar TV spots. One of them played during The World Series and the other one played on kids’ network Nickelodeon. See if you can tell which one is which after the jump:

These could almost be from two completely different movies.

Funny that, unlike the 2nd theatrical trailer which was careful to announce all of James Cameron’s biggest hits, the man-centric trailer omits Titanic while the kid-friendly trailer eschews the auteur theory altogether with no mention of Cameron at all.

Also, the theatrical trailer’s shotgun approach mixed action, romance and adventure whereas the trailer aimed at men clearly focuses on military action and the Nick spot focuses on adventure and 3D.

Had the first Avatar trailer been more like the first one above, I’m guessing there would’ve been much less carping from fanboys on the internet about how stupid the movie looked. Hell, I probably would’ve  been more engaged myself.

Anyway, if there’s any doubt in your mind about Fox aiming Avatar at the widest possible audience, you’re just not paying attention. Regardless of whether the movie is any good or not, it’s stating the obvious that if the strategy works this is going to be the biggest opening weekend of the year.

Filed under: Trailers
Tags: Avatar, James Cameron