10 Movie Marketing Stunts That Backfired HARD

Netflix caused themselves a heap of trouble while marketing their French coming-of-age drama Cuties, which was released last September.

Despite premiering at Sundance to largely positive reviews for its sensitive yet matter-of-fact critique of how society sexualises young girls, Netflix's tone-deaf marketing campaign completely betrayed this.

The posters, featuring the pre-teen protagonists in skimpy clothing and suggestive poses, were largely criticised for doing the very thing the film was supposed to be rallying against, causing #CancelNetflix to trend on Twitter and more than 600,000 people sign a petition agreeing to cancel their streaming subscriptions.

Director Maïmouna Doucouré even received death threats as a result and Netflix themselves were indicted by a Texas grand jury, confirming just how thoroughly people had become swept up in the admittedly problematic marketing while actually losing sight of the film's own angle.

Netflix quickly pulled the poster, and co-CEO Ted Sarandos called Doucouré to personally apologise for the trouble. Even so, it's a shame that Cuties only came to public prominence because of incongruous marketing rather than for what the film itself was trying to say.

Were it not for the marketing blunder, it would've probably been yet another critically acclaimed festival hit that went largely undiscovered on the streaming platform.