I wrote this as a blog sample in early May 2018 for a company I applied for who's schtick is building brands' stories. It was a fun exercise finding something culturally relevant and how its formula is one that has roots in ancient storytelling techniques/principles. Confession: I've never seen either Deadpool movies, but I admire what the ad campaigns have accomplished and that was enough to make me want to dig.
New in theaters over the weekend was “Deadpool 2,” whose predecessor gained tremendous, unexpected success. Sequels are tough. You can count on one hand how many you’d bestow the word “successful" on. What makes the second go-around work? Most would agree that a good sequel expands the universe of its original; it stays true to its original; it deepens its characters; it follows through. But it also finds a way to surprise us. What began as good story continues down its path towards greatness. WHY PEOPLE LOVE DEADPOOL, AND WHAT WE CAN LEARN FROM IT Deadpool, also known as Wade Wilson, is a regular guy with struggles of his own, but he’s also extraordinary in that he overcomes and uses it for good as heroes do. While he’s a bit unorthodox as heroes go, that’s what makes him most appealing. We all falter, but it’s what we do in the face of adversity that defines us. In the same vein, humans are intrinsically drawn to the good guy winning, and the reason why the Hero’s Journey structure of storytelling is at the core of any great tale. Comic book writer Fabian Nicieza and artist/writer Rob Liefeld told Deadpool’s story first in print; 20th Century Fox, jumping on the success of the superhero train decided to make it into a movie; and Ryan Reynolds brought him to life. WORK WITH WHAT YOU HAVE, AND MAKE IT ENTHRALLING Reynolds’ often profane, fourth wall-breaking sense of humor gave Fox’s marketing team something unique to work with. Combining Reynold’s side-splitting personality and Deadpool’s story gave way to the brilliant campaign, and launched a relatively low-budget film through the roof. The industry raved about the first movie’s advertising that included a an emoji billboard, rom-com spoofing, an hour-long “Pool Log” holiday video, a real Tinder profile and a testicle cancer PSA (Spoiler alert: Terminal cancer is what kicked off Deadpool’s story). Ad Age spoke with Marc Weinstock, president of domestic marketing at 20th Century Fox, shortly after the first film’s success, where he regarded the initial campaign as a “recipe for the future,” calling it a case study in marketing for years to come. EVOLVING YOUR HERO After the unforeseen success of “Deadpool,” 20th Century Fox was tasked with figuring out how to do it all over again. The latest campaign leaned into what worked the first time, but it also found a way to extend its reach even further. By cutting down on the crass without compromising their hero’s personality, and turning up the feminine appeal, marketers produced material that appealed to their target demographic. We saw everything from a coloring contest to a holiday cover spot on Good Housekeeping magazine to a musical collaboration with Celine Dion. Producer and star Reynolds stressed the importance of finding a way to evolve his hero’s story — “Deadpool" was a love story; “Deadpool 2" is about family. “And it might sound strange to say, but we took a lot of the story tenets from Pixar as inspiration for creating the ‘Deadpool 2’ storyline and its inevitable conclusion. We really wanted to have that same kind of feel that there is magic in the world and there is hope in the world,” he told the Associated Press. DEFINE YOUR STORY “The thing about ‘Deadpool’ I think that makes him so widely loved by fans everywhere is he’s like a real person,” Marvel main man Stan Lee told Comicbook.com. “He’s not like some fictional hero. He talks the way regular people talk, he thinks the same way. He’s as disrespectful as most people are. You never know what he’ll say or do next.” Your story:
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