The Matrix Surprises with a Tech-Heavy Interactive Marketing Campaign

Marketing in the digital era can be a double-edged sword. While smart social media tie-ins are a relatively cheap way to gain a lot of traction, it’s also easy to get lost in the crowd. It’s almost inevitable that film marketing will have to evolve for the new century if their IPs want to stay relevant and draw crowds who have a ton of entertainment options competing for their attention. This week we’ve seen some innovative and daring marketing for the fourth installment of the Matrix franchise hit the screen-  Brandon Blake, an entertainment lawyer with decades of experience in the industry, explores one of the most interesting trailer launches we’ve seen in years.

Brand Blake- Managing Partner at Blake & Wang P.A.

With The Matrix’s strong takes on tech, social engineering, and society as a whole, perhaps it’s not all that surprising to see something novel emerge from its marketing stable. Fans are being offered a sneak peek at film footage through the site WhatIsTheMatrix.com- but it comes with a twist. 

You’ll be asked to choose between the franchise’s iconic red and blue pills- the red to free your mind, the blue to leave you in your comfortable, simulated reality. What you see will hinge on your choice, tailoring both the teaser footage and the trailer around your choice to be ‘freed’ or remain in the Matrix.

This same notion of duality and choice can be seen in their ultra-simple, yet remarkably striking, movie posters. Oddly, there’s a small tip of the hat to theatrical releases hidden in the poster, too, with viewing in theaters subtly billed as the ‘red pill’ option, and the HBO Max release as the blue pill choice.

There’s been a lot of general public speculation about how the franchise could refresh and renew its original premise for a 2021 audience. After all, we’ve moved on a bit from the era of ultra-smart hackers and world-wowing tech, with VR now commonplace for many consumers.  It certainly seems that the new offering in the franchise is ready to come out swinging, with a smart and appropriately surreal nod to the franchise’s core premise neatly integrated into our modern-day tech platforms. It’s an advertising campaign that we’ll be watching closely- and which, should it be successful, could change how streamers and studios approach their own advertising efforts going forward.