Hollywoodreporter: Controversy Hollywood's newest marketing tool

Hollywoodreporter.com:

By Martin A. Grove

Controversial comments: Being controversial, which used to be the last thing filmmakers wanted to be known for, is fast becoming one of Hollywood's best new marketing tools.

An indication of how Moore is making the most of the controversy over his film came Thursday afternoon when publicists for the picture sent out what they called a "Fahrenheit 9/11 Pre-Pre Sunday Ad MEDIA ALERT." Media alerts are typically issued to let the press know what stars will be attending a film's premiere or participating in some other event hoping to attract media coverage. In this case, the media alert was issued to let us know there'd be an ad for the film -- described as "one of the most provocative and controversial films of the year" -- in this Sunday's New York Times.

In the end, it's not controversy that matters most at the boxoffice, it's really the media attention that controversy brings about. What that coverage in the media does is help a movie cut through the clutter that movie marketers must contend with these days. Controversy puts a film on the front page rather than on the movie page. If a movie is controversial it winds up leading the newscast rather than being buried 20 minutes later in some entertainment news capsule feature. Controversy gives a movie an opportunity to get its message across without being surrounded by a half dozen other big movies that are opening, too, or just opened.