Michael Bay’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles seems to be on a lot of people’s minds right now. The debates around the appearance of the turtles, the origin story of the heroes in a half shell and the over-the-top Shredder costume have found mixed reviews around the internet. Paramount Australia released a promotional poster for the film via social media and seems to have made everything worse.
You see, the turtles are on their way to the big screen in Australia on September 11, 2014. The studio figured a movie as action packed as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles appears to be deserved a poster that showcased and inspired thoughts of action. The beloved turtle hero team was displayed in the poster leaping from an exploding building.
That’s right. Someone at Paramount Australia thought the best idea for a poster for their new action film was to depict the stars jumping from an exploding building…on September 11.
The poster has caused a mixed reaction around the world. Comments have been posted on various websites saying that Americans are being too sensitive to the imagery. Americans have taken to social media to express their outrage at the obvious oversight.
The studio deleted the post almost as quickly as it went up. The Twitter account for Paramount Australia has been very quiet throughout the remainder of the day. The studio has released an apology for the mistake:
We are deeply sorry to have used that artwork for the marketing materials promoting the September 11 opening in Australia
We intended no offence and have taken immediate action to discontinue its use.
Exploding buildings, people (or turtles) jumping from said buildings and a bold “September 11” date near the bottom are clearly not the message the film was hoping to send.
Many are still hoping that the movie is worth seeing, despite the marketing firm’s poor planning.
pretty bad marketing fail.
Terrorists did not attack Australia on 9/11. Why is this so offensive for a marketing campaign in another country? And it is not like the Turtles were flying a plane into those buildings or something. Sometimes people try too hard to be offended. September 11, 2001, was a terrible event, I remember everything about it and the hours of endless media coverage driving people to depression and suicide. It was also 13 years ago. Sometimes, especially to other countries, a date is just a date when it comes to marketing. I just don’t know about people sometimes.
I find the whole thing ridiculously funny, and yes people are being overly-sensitive.. Just like when Sony pulled the Spiderman 2 posters with the twin towers on them… Just over-reacting.. Now if the turtles were jumping from the actual towers and it said Sept. 11, then yes that would be in poor taste.