'Terminator' Really Wants Your Attention

Terminator: Genisys opens next week and so far advance word hasn’t exactly been promising. From the bizarre photo shoot featuring the main cast pointing weapons and shouting, to the spoiler-heavy trailers, each morsel of marketing seems a little… stretched. In the last week, Paramount’s techniques for grabbing the public’s attention have begun to venture farther afield, in the hopes of luring more prospective viewers.

For instance, fast food emporium Red Robin has brokered a deal with the studio that’s more than just a special Genisys burger. On their website a fully-interactive page, with a massive image of said culinary item, lists all of the different promotions connecting Red Robin to the movie. There’s about five. The best is a set of four downloadable wallpapers, one of which eschews the movie iconography and is basically a close-up of a greasy burger. Okay, so it’s not out of the realm of ordinary for a movie to buddy-up for merchandising, but factor in the rest of the film’s advertising strategy and it begins to feel a bit heavy-handed.

The Genisys burger definitely doesn’t beat Arnold’s recent stunt at Madame Tussaud’s, however. Granted, it was for charity. But the ready-to-hand camera crew there to film all of Arnold’s “wacky” antics — proving he’s not quite the improvisational wunderkind he might think he is — and post them online? Screams of desperation. 

And this is with just over a week to go until the movie opens worldwide. Prior to that there’s been an abundance of teaser trailers (approx. 38 TV spots and counting) and more spoiler-y artwork. What really takes the biscuit is the studio uses one actor’s (Emilia Clarke) character in another high-profile property (Game Of Thrones) to promote their own movie. And anyway, Drogon would win.