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The strange aspect is that studios keep letting it happen and when it does, they react terribly. In July, the Comic-Con exclusive footage for Suicide Squad leaked just prior to the event. How did Warner Bros. respond? They tersely informed Deadline the following: “It will be incumbent on Comic-Con organizers to improve the security measures to catch pirates, or there will be fewer special presentations going forward.” In other words, they refused to take responsibility for an obvious mistake. Doubling down on the poor public relations, Warner Bros. then announced that they would never post the Suicide Squad footage from Comic-Con. Hey, remember that Suicide Squad Comic-Con footage you watched in 1080p glory off the Warner Bros. newsfeed? Yes, that’s the clip they swore they wouldn’t post. Frankly, Warner Bros. looked like tone deaf bunglers the likes of which we haven’t seen since Amy Pascal fell on her sword for Sony last Christmas. Their entire behavior was that of someone who used AOL for all their Internet needs. They seemed comically out of touch with the bread and butter demographic for movies over the past 50 years, people under the age of 30. Meanwhile, Fox handled the situation slightly less awkwardly, but they too rattled their sabers about Comic Con needing better security measures. Notably, one other studio experienced a similar leak over the past 15 months. Disney’s vaunted Marvel Studios worked hard to foster a measure of importance to their trailer for The Avengers: Age of Ultron. The successor to one of the most popular movies of the 21st century was to debut on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., their ABC show. In the latest corporate attempt to boost synergy among their brands, Disney sought to spike a rating for the struggling action series by giving it THE trailer of the time. Hackers beat them to the punch, unveiling the clip a day sooner than the studio intended. Did Marvel blame someone else for the incident? Well, sort of. Rather than cry over spilt milk, they cheekily posted two words on their Twitter feed. It read, “Dammit, Hydra!” And that’s how the Internet is won. Had Warner Bros. or even Fox displayed a splash of humor, people might have viewed their public relations fiascos as additional entertainment. Instead, the perception of both companies is that they’re stuffy and out of touch. This modern problem provides a cautionary tale about a business taking itself too seriously in the digital age. To date, Warner Bros. in particular has chosen to whine incessantly and blame other people. Not coincidentally, people love Marvel movies exponentially more than DC, which is sad since DC Comics is by nature more upbeat and fun by nature. They need to learn the new rules of social media. When life gives you lemons, you should make lemon memes.
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