The Marketing of ‘Wicked’ Has Been an Unmitigated Disaster

A movie like Wicked doesn’t exactly need a huge marketing push. It’s based on the second-highest-grossing show in Broadway history (damn you, Lion King!), and if that wasn’t enough to convince Universal that it would be a surefire hit, they wouldn’t have spent $145 million on it and planned a part two before it even opened. Still, it’s practically the law that a high-budget movie needs a few stunts in the weeks leading up to its premiere, and holy hell, has Universal botched this one.

First, in late October, some of the very first people who got to see the finished film were the Kardashians when a private screening was staged at Kim Kardashian’s mansion. In fact, it was the first time stars Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo got to watch it together. Fans were pretty displeased with this move, because obviously. It’s not like the Kardashians are celebrated patrons of musical theater — for all the public knows, this is the first time they’ve ever seen it. And if there’s anyone people hate to see get special privileges, it’s the Kardashians.

Then, in the first week of November, parents were shocked to discover that when they typed the URL advertised on the packages of the Glinda and Elphaba dolls released by Mattel, they were taken not to the movie’s official website, WickedMovie.com, but Wicked.com, the landing page for the renowned independent porn studio. Mattel had to pull thousands of dolls from retail shelves before someone at Wicked could capitalize on the mistake by throwing up some witch-on-witch action. Mattel’s loss is eBay sellers’ gain, however. The originally packaged dolls that managed to escape are going for thousands of dollars there, if you’re somehow both interested and able.

Which brings us to another issue: the relentless product tie-ins. There’s Wicked Legos, Wicked Crocs, Wicked makeup, even Wicked luggage, for some reason. But the most ridiculous partnership has to be with Lexus, which rolled out two customized SUVs for the movie’s L.A. premiere. It’s unclear if you can actually buy the Wicked mom-mobile, but they’re clearly hoping to reel in some new customers and they’re not going to, because you know who doesn’t buy Lexuses? Theater kids. That’s how you know the Kardashians aren’t among them. They have six-figure student loans for degrees that taught them how to really project when they yell out names at the pickup counter at Starbucks. 

Incidentally, they’re selling some gross-sounding Wicked drinks.