Case study of The Purge's marketing campaign.

2. The Purge (2013)
• Horror/Sci-Fi/Thriller
• Budget: $3 million (around £2 million) - low production cost
• Made $34 million in its opening weekend in America and $1.5 million
in the UK.
• Made $89.3 million worldwide
• IMDB Synopsis - “In the future, a wealthy family is held hostage for
harbouring the target of a murderous syndicate during the Purge, a
12 hour period in which any and all crime is legalised”
• Released on the 31st May 2013 in the UK and 7th June 2013 in the
USA.

3. First Trailer & Poster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0LLaybEuzA
• Trailer was released on April 3rd 2013
• Synopsis was revealed in December 2012 so
audiences were already aware of the plot
• Very narrative driven
• Follows the cliche horror trailer where it starts out
very positive and then becomes very dark and
‘scary
• A poster was released the same day of the trailer
• The trailer and poster both featured iconography
- the masks that the killers were wearing

4. Target Audience
• The film was rated a 15 by the BBFC which suggests that the target
audience is people in their late teens (15-19).
• The target audience would probably be American more than any
other culture as American historical songs are played in the
background. The film also includes a plan which is set by the US
government.
• The target audience are keen social media users which is explains
why the marketing campaign was very social media heavy
• The first trailer says that the film is from the producer of other
Blumhouse productions ‘Paranormal Activity’ & ‘Sinister’ which were
box office successes. This means that audiences will associate the
trailer with these films.

5. Building the Campaign
• The first trailer mentioned other films that were from
the same production companies which means that
audiences will associate ‘The Purge’ with those films
• The mentions of ‘Paranormal Activity’ and ‘Sinister’
will create genre expectations as those films were
received well by audiences and were classed as
scary.
• The marketing campaign was very social media
based and was nominated and won ‘Shorty’ awards

6. The Use of Social Media
• A social strategy was devised that would play upon the concept, themes, and unique situations
presented in the film.
• Social media creative and content challenged users to put themselves in the world of The Purge, asking
them to share reactions on how they would #SurviveTheNight
• The marketing campaign made the film extremely relatable and relevant to moviegoers
• The efforts executed across Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and Instagram all took advantage of the interest
that users had in the film, and built upon fan excitement leading up to and through the weekend of
release.
• Social media content was created that consistently provoked the question of what it would be like to live
in the world of the Purge, encouraging fans to care and share
• this included the creation of propaganda material ("The Purge: Keep our nation strong"), public service
announcements ("During the annual purge, emergency services will be suspended"), question cards
("Can you trust your friends on purge night?"), and countdowns to The Purge itself (the premiere of the
film)
• The campaign was taken a step further creatively through the use of a robust Tumblr page that
capitalised upon the creation of multiple GIFs from key moments of The Purge to tease the film.

7. More on Marketing
The film used techniques that other successful films used. For example, many have commented
that posters for The Purge were very similar to posters for District 9 which was another
successful film. The Purges posters had a similar effect to District 9 and had audiences thinking
‘what would I do if this really happened?’. The posters also look pretty realistic so it may lead to
people researching the film so they can know what is really happening on June 7th.
The official ‘reminder’ poster
was released in late April
2013. I think one of the
biggest reasons for how
effective this film was was
due to how realistic the
advertising made it seem.
The whole marketing
campaign effectively created
intrigue.

8. The New Founders of
America Website
The New Founders of America viral website, is perceived to be
a government run site during the universe in The Purge, set in
the year 2022. It is supported by wonderfully catchy articles,
like “Senate to Vote on Bill Extending Purge to 18 Hours” and
“Purge is the Solution, Scientists Say“. Each article has a fun
array of comments.
According to the campaign, the “government” creates the 28th
Amendment of the United States to:
SECTION 1: The Annual Purge shall begin each year on June 7 at
sunset, officially starting at 7PM, and ending at sunrise, June 8, at
7AM.
SECTION 2: During the time of The Purge, any and all crime, up
to and including murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours.
Police, fire and hospital aid will be unavailable until The Purge
concludes.
SECTION 3: The following weapons cannot be used during The Purge: weapons of mass destruction,
fragment-producing explosives higher than a hazard class HC/D 1.4 and viral contagion projectiles.
SECTION 4: Government officials of ranking 5 and higher have been granted immunity from The Purge and
shall not be harmed.
SECTION 5: Non-compliance with any of the aforementioned rules will result in death by hanging.
The release date was the same as when The Purge was meant to fall on which meant that as the film
approached, the Purge would also be approaching.

9. After the Release
• Since the release of the film, a sequel has been
released and a third instalment is scheduled to be
released in 2016.
• ‘The Purge: Fear the Night’ events were also held
which was an immersive horror experience
• Scare zones themed to The Purge were also held at
Universal Studios’ halloween horror nights

10. • Released July 2014
• First trailer released in late March 2014
• The Purge: Breakout - “you pay to be pretend-kidnapped by someone who is taking full
advantage of the current “One Night Only – Nothing is Illegal!” plan that the (fictional)
Purge offers. You and five friends (if you have five friends willing to pay to do this,
otherwise it’ll be five strangers) must solve puzzles and decipher clues to escape from a
hellhole constructed from four semi trailers. All the while, you’ll be harangued by chained-
up women in gory makeup, and stalked by a big beefy man who looks more interested in
tending to his many BBQ restaurant chains than he does in butchering innocent civilians.
If you can solve the puzzles in time, you win! If you can’t, you’ll be “purged,” and fake-
killed in the most interactive way imaginable, whatever that might be. If you’re lucky,
maybe the killer will offer you a plate of brisket as you leave”
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kzuOBbQ2Y-o
• Made $110 million worldwide against a budget of $9 million