With 2018’s remake of How the Grinch Stole Christmas, Universal Pictures purchased fairly minimalistic ads in major U.S. cities, such as the one pictured here. Interestingly, the title of the film is kept very small, in the lower left-hand corner. The ad relies on people’s familiarity with the Grinch as a classic character in order to sell the film.
Additionally, while much ad design relies on visual contrast to catch people’s attention, these ads place the green character on a green background. It is effective in its own right, as the near-solid block of bright lime green would certainly stand out from its surroundings, and perhaps take a bit more time to comprehend.
All of the ads were accompanied by simple white text, a light insult presented as a quote from the Grinch himself. These were parodied heavily online, and while I question the effectiveness of the copy of these ads, I think their unique approach to using a recognizable character and little else to sell the film is worth noting. As Hollywood continues to produce remakes with other classic characters, perhaps we will see this strategy used more frequently in the future.
I think this is really good advertising. As you stated, they used the character of the Grinch because he is well known. However, it is more effective because his "insults" or the copy of the advertisements varied based on where the ad was. This made each ad relatable and most likely got more people interested.
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