RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
#1RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 4:19pm
Their Time, Our Time, Ragtime!
One of the coolest commercials I have ever seen...
The animation at the end is like...woah sweet!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIpH0B69qTc
bwaybri2
Featured Actor Joined: 6/11/08
blaxx
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/28/05
#2re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 4:30pm
Ronald Reagan? Hillary Clinton? What a strange commercial.
I enjoy the part after the presidents, but those speeches make it seem like the show is about elections to me.
Maybe I'm alone.
Listen, I don't take my clothes off for anyone, even if it is "artistic". - JANICE
WishingOnlyWounds2
Broadway Legend Joined: 9/25/08
#3re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 4:31pmI was honestly quite underwhelmed by that, great idea but poorly executed. The animation is great but the way the narration was delivered made me laugh.
2008: Feb. 18- Rent, Feb. 19- Curtains, April 18- Xanadu, April 22- Wicked, April 26- Legally Blonde, May 31- Wicked, June 13- The Little Mermaid, June 28- Wicked and Young Frankenstein, July 2- The Little Mermaid, July 6- A Chorus Line and Legally Blonde, August 16- Xanadu, September 13- Legally Blonde and 13, September 28- Xanadu and Spring Awakening, Oct. 12-GYPSY and [title of show], Oct. 19- Hairspray & Legally Blonde, Nov. 9- Wicked and 13, Dec. 14-13, Dec. 26- Billy Elliot, 2009: Jan 1- Shrek, Jan 2- 13 and Wicked, Jan 4- 13, Feb 17- In The Heights, Feb 19- Billy Elliot, Feb 22- Sweeney Todd (tour), March 28- Mary Poppins, April 4- Mamma Mia!, April 15- Jersey Boys (on tour), April 25- next to normal & 9 to 5
May 1- Billy Elliot, May 3- Spelling Bee (tour), May 8- Chicago, May 21- Wicked, June 6- Everyday Rapture, June 23- The Wiz, June 25- Hair July 15- Shrek, August 9- Wicked, September 7- Rock of Ages, October 11- Next To Normal, October 23- The Marvelous Wonderettes, November 7- Ragtime November 29- Dreamgirls, December 25- Billy Elliot, December 30- Finian's Rainbow, 2010: January 9- Bye Bye Birdie, January 16- Memphis February 17- The Phantom of The Opera, February 18- God of Carnage, March 7- Billy Elliot, March 31- American Idiot
#4re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 4:35pmPersonally I loved the speeches...I think the new marketing philosophy is linking the turn of the century to 2009...showing that Ragtime couldn't be more relevant than RIGHT NOW!
#5re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 4:37pmI feel the same way. Great idea, poorly executed. I also hate it when Broadway shows advertise the show, but never SHOW the show.
"Sing the words, Patti!!!!" Stephen Sondheim to Patti LuPone.
#6re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 4:42pmI really like their advertising strategy (and the website is totally fabulous), but I think this commercial would have been a little more successful if they had connected the speeches a little more to the material. It appeals to my abstract side, though, and I think it's a good marketing strategy to get people to say, "Wait, what is this?" and hopefully find out more about it.
Trish2
Broadway Legend Joined: 8/20/06
#7re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 5:16pmIf this "commercial" is any indication of the advertising strategy for this show, then they're in trouble. Unappealing, and off the mark.
#8re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 5:32pm
Great show, lousy ad.
Obviously they want to link the show with President Obama - Hilary and Reagan are just there to make this more subtle. This would have made a lot more sense to me if we had some scenes from the show itself while the speeches played.
"I have got to have some professional music!" - Big Edie
#9re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 5:33pm
"Obviously they want to link the show with President Obama - Hilary and Reagan are just there to make this more subtle"
Totally agree. It's a misconceived commercial.
#10re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 5:50pm
That doesn't quite gel does it.
One of the most interesting things to me about the musical RAGTIME is how a rather cynical novel has been turned (increasingly) into this very patriotic musical. That really ain't what the original story was about.
Broadway Legend Joined: 12/31/69
bwaylvsong
Broadway Legend Joined: 7/28/05
#12re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 6:54pm
"I also hate it when Broadway shows advertise the show, but never SHOW the show."
AGREED!!!
Seriously, they just do a montage of the show's more powerful songs (Ragtime, Wheels of a Dream, Back to Before). The commercial doesn't make me want to see the show asap. It should!
millie_dillmount
Broadway Legend Joined: 4/22/04
#13re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 7:04pmWell, I'm sure they'll make a new commercial sometime in the future. They just started previews on Broadway. This works for now.
"We like to snark around here. Sometimes we actually talk about theater...but we try not to let that get in our way." - dramamama611
#14re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 7:06pm
They're way too hung up on the Presidents thing.
I'm sure they're hoping (and have probably invited) that President Obama and his wife will attend the show the next time they're in NY.
WiCkEDrOcKS
Broadway Legend Joined: 6/13/04
#15re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 8:04pmThe idea is good, the animation at the end is good, and the cast sounds fantastic. But this execution is awful. The clips aren't even edited so that the channel name in the corner of some of the frames still shows. It comes off as odd to me.
AndAllThatJazz22
Broadway Legend Joined: 11/8/08
#16re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 8:13pmWhat were these guys smoking and where can I get some? If it weren't for me knowing this musical very well, I would finish that commercial with no basic understanding of what Ragtime is about. I understand the concept they were going with but it was done so poorly. Everything about this show's advertising has been awful. The logo, the marquee, this commercial. I, personally, don't like it at all.
"There's nothing good on. The media hates Christmas. The media loves vampires, though. Maybe they will show a Twilight Christmas."
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.
-Danmeg's 10 year old son.
lovesclassics
Broadway Star Joined: 10/7/05
#17re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 8:18pm
People who've never seen the show will have no idea what it's about based on this commercial. They'll think it's some kind of political statement.
And given the ongoing recession and Obama's declining ratings, can't see how this ad will draw people in. The country's angry. Better not to associate with that.
This message is so forced. It's pressing how "important" the show is. For me that's a turn off. Instead they should be showcasing the magnificent music and its simple inspirational power. It's the humanity of the relationships, not the "big themes," that make Ragtime so moving for me. The milestones are only as important as the ways in which they touch our lives personally. The ad needs to convey real emotion. This one doesn't.
#18re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 8:27pm
They'd be better off using the clip of Aretha herself singing "Make Them Hear You" last night at the Rock N Roll Hall of Fame ceremony.
P
#19re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/1/09 at 8:52pmI was expecting/hoping for great clips from the show.
#20re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/2/09 at 2:07amI like my commercials with less Ronald Reagan, thanks.
When I see the phrase "the ____ estate", I imagine a vast mansion in the country full of monocled men and high-collared women receiving letters about productions across the country and doing spit-takes at whatever they contain.
-Kad
musicalman2
Featured Actor Joined: 5/7/08
#21re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/2/09 at 3:12amI'm sorry, but I don't get this. I think the commercial is TERRIBLE. REALLY AWFUL. Does not tell me a thing about the show really, and makes me think the show is about politics. I am a huge fan of the show, and the production, but this marketing makes me nervous for the future of the show -- at least from a marketing perspective. Honestly, it feels like lazy marketing - someone could not bother to find the really correct images that would weave the show into the actual history. If they are trying to play up the African American triumph narrative, then why don't they give Obama more time. Very off the mark.
#22re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/2/09 at 3:40am
...according to Doctorow (who ought to know) the story is about how America went about becoming America. That is from the idea of a more perfect union, to actually offering a place where all men are created equal, etc...nothing cynical about that.
I agree the add using old clips (many with the CSPAN logo on them) looks like it was cobbled together rather lazily from YOUTUBE.
#23re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/2/09 at 9:26am
"I agree the add using old clips (many with the CSPAN logo on them) looks like it was cobbled together rather lazily from YOUTUBE."
I don't think the use of clip with a logo on it makes it look professional either... Anyway, I'm hoping for a real TV Ad to come up, although for some shows like WSS it's taken months to do a good commercial.
MusicSnob1
Broadway Star Joined: 10/19/09
#24re: RAGTIME COMERCIAL!
Posted: 11/2/09 at 10:14am
First of all - it's Commercial
Secondly - this is a terrible ad
Thirdly - This promo, even with the animation (which isn't THAT special as I'm sure we've all seen much better), looks like a "fan made" YouTube video. Sorry.
I deem this as a complete Fail. Back to the drawing board. Don't make a real marketing guru come in and fix this, friends. Take a hold of the reigns and make it work!
When I think about you, I touch myself.
Videos