‘The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1’ Marketing Is Catching Fire

With the recent release of the first The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 teaser, it goes without saying that the Hunger Games fever is catching fire once again (Apologies for the necessary pun). To get our impressions on President Snow’s address, check out our post from earlier this week. But in tandem of the teaser drop, Lionsgate also released a batch of Hunger Games “propaganda” photos, imprinting a very creepy tone to the movie to be released this coming November.

The posters are aiming to look like a product of The Capitol, with the oppressive government under President Snow (Donald Sutherland) doing all they can to glamorize the world they dominate, with its salute to the “hero citizens of Panem” (via CNN). These photos look like they can be ripped straight out of Vogue magazine, with totalitarian overtones to complete the package.

Each Hunger Games poster has a district representative dressed in clothing that highlights a district and their unique industry that contributes to The Capitol’s wealth. To the right of the haunting photos is the inscribed dedication “The Capitol salutes its citizens in the [BLANK] District,” with each BLANK replaced with the industry that district represents. Underneath this dedication is another difficult-to-read message, Time finds:

“Your diligent work makes us proud. Love your labor. Take pride in your task. Our future is in your hands.”

In fact, the inscription is so hard to read, it’s hard to find a poster online with the quality high enough to make it out. Not an accident on the Hunger Games marketing’s part. The poster is rounded out by The Capitol’s slogan: “Panem today. Panem tomorrow. Panem forever,” which Katniss states in the second film, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, while on her victory tour.

This is a brilliant campaign from the Hunger Games marketing department, and it illustrates the creativity and mindset going into this film. Rather than give your standard teaser, as most films do (along with the previous two installments), this one opted to create a fake trailer, and in lieu of a standard set of character one-sheets, they go with completely unfamiliar faces, who play no part in the actual Hunger Games story.

The marketing takes full advantage of the world of The Hunger Games, and as stated above, creates a straight-up creepy atmosphere. Up until this point, The Hunger Games films have done a great job of shaking off the negative stigma that comes from the young adult novel genre, and there’s a good chance that with these poster and the teaser, that they may make even more fans.

Thoughts on the posters and marketing in general? Is this destined to be the most successful Hunger Games film yet? Sound off below!