From The Hollywood Reporter · Mia Galuppo · · 1m 10s
How Ikea Hijacked a Movie Trailer
A small fantasy drama about a woven husband went viral, and then a furniture giant piled on.
In brief
A small fantasy drama about a woven husband went viral, and then a furniture giant piled on. Marketing luck is real, but it lands on films with a hook strange enough for the internet to run with. Originally reported by The Hollywood Reporter.
Every producer's daydream
An independent, artist-driven feature puts out a trailer and the internet picks it up, in the good way. It almost never happens on purpose.
“It's a dream for every producer that the theatrical trailer for their independently made, artist-driven feature goes viral”
The film behind it
Wicker is a Sundance-approved fantasy drama from Topic Studios starring Olivia Colman and Alexander Skarsgard.
A husband made of wicker
The plot: a spinster fisherwoman hires a local basketmaker to weave her a husband. Strange enough to stop a scroll.
“a spinster fisherwoman who employs a local basketmaker to weave her a husband”
BookTok found it first
In July the steamy spot hit TikTok and landed with the romantasy crowd on BookTok, racking up millions of views.
Then Ikea joined in
Ikea posted that its wicker furniture line was made of "husband material," and the buzz started over again.
“its wicker furniture line was made out of "husband material"”
When the internet works
Ryan Heller, who heads film and documentary at Topic, got a marketing wave no budget could buy. Sometimes the internet just does its job.
“Sometimes the Internet Just Does Its Job”
The short version
Marketing luck is real, but it lands on films with a hook strange enough for the internet to run with.
