The Emoji Movie Ad Parodying The Handmaid’s Tale Is as Bizarre as It Is Offensive

They deleted Handmaid’s Emoji pic.twitter.com/dQJEAJXu6V

— Jill Pantozzi ♿ (@JillPantozzi) July 24, 2017

The Emoji Movie, for the most part, has mostly stayed in everyone’s periphery before its upcoming release. However, a couple of days ago, an ad from the Twitter page featuring a parody of Hulu’s highly-acclaimed Margaret Atwood adaptation The Handmaid’s Tale caught some eyes and resulted in criticism that led the account to delete the tweet. Of course, this is the internet, so you can see a screenshot above of an emoji gleefully donning a handmaid’s red uniform with the text “The Emoji’s Tale” and a caption reading “Blessed be the emoji. #EmojiMovie :D” with a link to purchase tickets.

The ad was questionable for lots of reasons, mainly that it seems like the creators wanted to capitalize off the popularity of the Hulu series without pausing to think whether it was a good idea to combine a kid’s movie with a dystopian and terrifying series about state-sanctioned sexual violence and the loss of female autonomy. It’s almost as if they saw the “[film] as told by emojis” format around the internet and decided to pick a random popular show with quotable lines.

Also, just who exactly is this ad trying to target? Fans of The Handmaid’s Tale who also have kids? Someone who thinks it’s hilarious to put a dead-eyed emoji with a serial killer smile in the place of a woman forced by the state to give birth? I just—I’m confused.

PR Person #1: Should we emphasize the fact that we have industry royalty, Shakespearean actor Patrick Stewart on the film, to demonstrate the fact that this film includes real talent who, with a complete absence of pretension and not taking themselves too seriously, are all excited about this film?

PR Person #2: No, put the creepy female emoji on The Handmaid’s Tale, I hear that’s a show people like right now.

PR Person #1: That’s actually a really dark show based on different instances of state violence in history, illustrating a patriarchal totalitarian regime that resonates a lot with our present time. It occasionally stumbles with race, but it’s a really powerfu-

PR Person #2: Too late I already made it, blessed be the eggplant emoji, amiright?

In some ways, this complete marketing flub mirrors the strangeness of The Emoji Movie, which feels still doesn’t feel like a real film to me. As with all bad marketing moves, it seems like this could have been fully avoidable with a more diverse team. Or like, one person who watched The Handmaid’s Tale and didn’t find it fuel for shallow, emoji-filled humor absent of any real commentary.

(via Polygon)

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