6 superb examples of copywriting in TV and film trailers.
Posted by James, 18 December 2020 (5-6 minute read)
Most of us will have a little more time on our hands over the next couple of weeks. And this means we’ll probably be watching more TV and film than usual.
With this in mind, into the new year I’ll be posting two reviews on JW’s Thoughts of a Copywriter. One for a TV show and one for a film I’ve particularly enjoyed in 2020.
But before that, I thought I’d talk about some of the brilliant copywriting you find in film and TV trailers.
Firstly, it’s important to remember that film and TV trailers are advertising. They’re no different to any other ad you see, expected to conform to similar advertising guidelines.
This makes the words in a trailer – either voiceover or text on screen – the taglines, slogans and body copy equivalents of more traditional advertising.
So here are 6 superb examples of copywriting in trailers.
1. Brooklyn Nine-Nine (Season 6) - NBC (2019)
I love this TV trailer. One of the best in years.
It was created to advertise Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s move to NBC. After 5 seasons on FOX, the network unexpectedly cancelled the show in 2018; a move that led to public outcry, including from high profile fans like Lin-Manuel Miranda and Mark Hamill.
The trailer for Season 6 is an absolute triumph. The bulk of the action takes place in the head of Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg), the show’s lead character. He imagines himself in a Die Hard-esque rescue mission, surrounded by his colleagues in the ‘Nine-Nine’, action visuals and dramatic music.
The copywriting is absolutely top drawer: from ‘Time to wrangle me a chopper’ as Jake launches off a New York skyscraper to the tongue-in-cheek tagline ‘Brooklyn Nine-Nine makes the leap to NBC’.
It’s a masterclass in keeping those already passionate about the show intrigued, while piquing the interests of a new audience.
2. El Camino (A Breaking Bad Movie) – Netflix (2019)
El Camino acts as a coda to the hugely successful AMC series Breaking Bad. Filmed virtually in secret, Netflix dropped the trailer just under three weeks before release on 11 October 2019.
It’s a superb example of copywriting in trailers, despite employing virtually no copy at all. The only words we hear (or see) are ‘You ready?’, to which Jesse Pinkman (El Camino’s lead character) replies, ‘Yeah’.
But as Mary Wear has rightly claimed, sometimes ‘the best copywriting isn’t always in the lines. It’s also between them’.
For fans of Breaking Bad, the delightful visuals of Albuquerque, New Mexico and the return of familiar faces (Badger and Skinny Pete to name a couple) is temptation enough. Too many words would clutter these images. Images that already speak for themselves.
The music is beautifully chosen too, with the lyrics of Reuben and the Dark’s ‘Black Water’ providing the perfect backdrop.
3. Deadwood (The Beatitudes) – HBO (2006)
A glorious trailer this one, created to promote the third (and final, as it turned out…) season of HBO’s sublime Deadwood.
The copy is lifted from The Beatitudes, eight blessings recounted by Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount (from the Gospel of Matthew, the first book of the New Testament).
It cycles through a series of the show’s characters, giving each a blessing. And for those who know Deadwood well, these are carefully selected to align with the specific characters who say them. Ian McShane’s Al Swearegen, for example, states ‘Blessed are the pure in heart, For they shall see God’ – a subtle, beautiful line that arrows straight to the very soul of his character.
A work of art.
4. The Social Network – Sony Pictures (2010)
The trail for The Social Network is perhaps one of the best examples of copywriting in trailers you’ll ever see.
The trailer starts with a series of familiar images from Facebook. We see the words ‘Like’, ‘Comment’, ‘Relationship Status’ and ‘Add as Friend’ – all synonymous with the social network juggernaut.
And these visuals are backed by a choral version of Radiohead’s ‘Creep’, the lyrics acting as additional copy. I’m sure many of us can see the meaning in ‘I want to have control’ when it comes to dramatising the beginnings of Facebook!
But it’s the tagline – ‘You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies’ – that truly teases the audience. An exquisite line of copy that says so much by saying so little.
A fabulous trailer that certainly did it’s job at the time. I went to see the film in the cinema for one!
5. Doctor Who (50th Anniversary Special) – BBC (2013)
Another cracking example of copywriting in trailers comes from the BBC’s promo for the 50th Anniversary special of Doctor Who.
The voiceover is provided by Matt Smith, the actor who played the incumbent Time Lord at the time of the special episode. It starts with the provocative ‘I’ve been running all my lives…’ and ends with the ingenious #SavetheDay. A playful reworking of ‘Save the Date’, this was designed to generate maximum traction on social media and get as many people watching as possible.
The copy is very effective. It’s epic tone matches the pulsating soundtrack and the images of Doctors gone by.
6. Alien – 20th Century Fox (1979)
Time for a real classic. But still to this day, a fabulous example of sparse, brilliant copywriting in a trailer.
Ridley Scott’s iconic Alien trailer introduces us to one of the most famous taglines in film history – ‘In space no one can hear you scream’. A line telling you just enough to interest you. Just enough to intrigue you.
I love the sparse use of dialogue in the Alien trailer, matching its claustrophobic visuals and extreme close-ups. It uses the same techniques as great trailers of today. And uses them brilliantly.
Can you think of any other good examples of copywriting in trailers? Tell me what you think in the comments below, on Twitter @JWCopywriting, or over on my Facebook page.
And if you need great advertising copy, then JW Copywriting Services is here to help! Take a look at what I offer today. You can then contact me using the form here – I aim to reply within 24 hours.
Time for a little break until January! Have a great Christmas and I wish you all a Happy New Year! When I return, it’s a review of the best TV show I watched in 2020, The Americans.
Until then,
JW