The Smiler - Marketing

[MatthewR1990]

That advert is so damn freaky. There is an essence of soft and calming. With the freaky back drop of basics satanic possession. Bravo Alton towers. Bravo.

So anyone notice the light tunnel you appeared to go through. I hope they do this in the indoor section below ground. That would be epic!

For anyone that hasn't seen it here It is (from
AT's YouTube)

[Storm]

That advert is so damn freaky. There is an essence of soft and calming. With the freaky back drop of basics satanic possession. Bravo Alton towers. Bravo.

So anyone notice the light tunnel you appeared to go through. I hope they do this in the indoor section below ground. That would be epic!

For anyone that hasn't seen it here It is (from
AT's YouTube)

lol it was shown over an hour ago and when we upload ours AT upload theres lol i been waiting to link theres so i did my own and now theres is on too lol

[Matteh]

I think this will be one of a few adverts rather than a lone ad. I like it though, the almost cartoonish feel fits with the theme of everything seeming joyful but actually looking quite sinister.

[lewis97]

Notice how AT's upload says '30 second version' which means that there must be other versions, perhaps longer, but probably shorter blipverts...

EDIT: Maybe different versions will demonstrate a different marmalisation element, as this advert showed only The Giggler.

[Forza_Dan24]

Love the advert! :moj

Yes there are no elements from the back story but that would be a waste of valuable time because the majority of the general public will have no idea what they're talking about. In my opinion the advert's purpose is to attract people who have not already heard about the ride, therefore not followers of AT and only very occasional visitors. I believe this is perfect because it shows a new roller coaster in an exciting yet mysterious and slightly sinister light which will make people inquisitive and think "ooh we should go and see what that's all about!" They will probably find out about the MoJ when they get there, after all there will be plenty of time to explain in that queue!

We'll done AT

[PhNx Survivor]

Don't know about you guys, but that advert made me laugh... So creepy xD The bit that made me laugh the most was the beginning when the guy sits next to the already marmalised advocate, and he turns his head and he's like, 'How You Doin'?' xD One of the best AT adverts in a long time.

[fabiasimon]

The smiler advert link for those who have yet to see it.....

[dazza4783]

Don't know about you guys, but that advert made me laugh... So creepy xD The bit that made me laugh the most was the beginning when the guy sits next to the already marmalised advocate, and he turns his head and he's like, 'How You Doin'?' xD One of the best AT adverts in a long time.

Yeh, it sort of reminded me of the Oblivion advert at the beginning. The marmalised guy saying "JOIN US" reminded me of the crazy guy saying "DON'T LOOK DOWN" on the oblivion ad. Also looks like we will be getting some nice lighting effects on the indoor section.

[JayJay90]

I think it's pretty good. I love, once again, how it relates back to oblivion where there's already some freaky dude on it and turns his head to the other slightly normal person. The lights in that tunnel look amazing however at the moment there only seems to be LED lights down there and there's like 3 days til opening.

[altontowerskid]

I think the advert is only OK and should appeal to the majority of the public.

It really is nothing like I was expecting though, it doesn't match very well to the existing marketing we've seen. The Smiler has so much more potential than that advert, it could have been like a mock-marmalisation onscreen or a "Correction Notice" for the public to join in with some daunting shots of the ride...

Whoever was in charge of the previous resort advert, with the cartoon-y looking vans etc; obviously has a lot of power in the marketing department and likes to see their ideas implemented. IMO, they need to be removed from their position. 

[MatthewR1990]

Here's a question, where are the god damn smiler contact lenses! Lmao

[Instant Mix]

It doesn't feel remotely as sinister as it should be. It's a good advert, no doubt, but it'd fit something more like spinball whizzer or rita. It's very plain, and not necessarily giving across the whole idea of the MoJ & The smiler. There should've been that evil as hell laughing-version of ITHOTMK instead of this plain version we've got. Again, it's a great advert, but I just feel they've missed out on telling the GP a bit more of the backstory. Maybe there's a post-watershed version that's a little bit more... horrifying.

Something as evil as Thirteen's advert would be more fitting.

Anyone else reminded of Charlie & The chocolate factory rather than this corrupt and evil ministry?

[ilyAlton]

Not sure if anyone noticed, but the guys face is shown on the marmaliser screen.

[RCD27]

To me that seems like the 'Alton Towers advert' not the actual Smiler ad (If people understand). It's advertising the resort with the new addition. We will then see an advert purely based around the ride.

[Adam]

No, that is The Smiler Advert. This years "Resort Advert" has already been seen and broadcast.

Its possible that different versions of that advert will be shown. A 15 second version will be inevitable.

[DaveBear]

I agree i think we can expect maybe more adverts that could show different Marmaliser Effects who knows.


It really is hard to picture what the Ride will be as you have to remember despite some people on here who stand hard by this ride being nothing more than 14 loop coaster, which they could be right but every one has right to speculate even if wrong.

And by that i think we need to look that the Ride is Wardley Last Ride and he is very excited about the ride, a lot of effort and money had been invested into this ride and the Theme and every little detail, and i dont think they would spill every bean and reveal every thing about the ride prior to opening day.

By that if we look at the real POV we have so far seen they seem to show the Marmaliser as purely just props stuck to the legs of the Marmaliser and it shows the indoor section to be in a state of what looks like plain and unfinished.

Compared to the Advert, this shows more to the indoor section and may hint at more to the ride than meets the eye.

But then maybe its all hype and marketing and actually the Advert is more misleading than accurate but i would put money on the indoor section being more closer to the Advert than what we saw in the POV that the Media had ridden on.

But at the end of the day its only a matter of days before we find out what the Smiler is all about and at the very least we got a very thrilling 14 Inversion Ride in a short crammed place  and that will add to the Thrill and then the Theme is just a bonus, and so would any extra surprises.

For people in the UK to had experienced some of the most intense thrilling rides we would have had to travel abroad and not every one has the ability to be able to do that, so we can now get to sample a thrilling ride that really ups the game as far as Roller Coasters in the UK.

[TreyD95]

I personally love the advert!  Anyone else notice how the clouds in the sky appear to be "spiral-shaped" at the beginning with the crow? It's the attention to little details like that I love - brilliant job Alton Towers!  Look forward to riding later this year!

[PeteB]

Ok, the advert will do the job but to be honest I think it's the worst one they've ever done. I was expecting something really bizarre and different.

It's totally generic and bland. Oh and badly lip sync'd too.

Also, EVERY major ride advert in the past has had a custom version of ITHOTMK but again this one uses the generic version heard on all of their ads since 2011. Watch the Nemesis, Oblivion, Air and Th13teen adverts to heard this.

[Kirsty25]

I like it but that's probably more because we finally have an advert, bits of the special effects are cool but overall it's a bit underwhelming because it's taken so long to get it out there...

[PeteB]

I dunno. I was just thinking to myself about Th13teen and how they massively over sold the ride which left everyone disappointed.  Now we have an amazing ride and it feels like they're massively under selling it.