DC Comics‘ major reboot doesn’t just include a whole bunch of new and ending titles, but also offering digital downloads of comics the day they are released in print. Obviously this is a huge opportunity for the company to increase availability to consumers beyond independently-owned comic book stores and attract a bigger, mainstream audience. And now, to better market their titles, they are going to try advertising DC Comics with a nationwide campaign of commercials. On the tee-vee. Oh, boy.
Commercials are a necessary evil. They are the things that tell us about things we previously didn’t know about, and let us know what’s good or bad about them. And DC Comics surely has every right to tell people who might be interested in their comics about their comics. But they are really running the risk of making an embarrassing commercial, and there’s nothing worse than an embarrassing commercial. Have you ever seen a bad commercial, and then you tell someone about it, and they say, “But you’re talking about it, aren’t you?” And then you say, “But they were stupid enough to make a stupid commercial, and now I’m not buying their stupid product.” Well, that hypothetical “you” could be turned off by DC’s new commercials and not become a new DC Comics fan.
Unless those commercials are awesome. Is it possible that DC could employ some of their brilliant writers to team up with some modern-day Don Drapers and script these commercials? Sure! And is it possible that they could turn out to be amazing? Great Hera, let’s hope so.
And let’s hope they skip  the phrase “these ain’t your daddy’s comics, fanboy.”
Published: Jun 10, 2011 02:07 pm