Looking at plugs


Plugs are an important part of selling a film to an audience. They usually consist of interviews in a variety of media. Please look at this first plug from The Guardian website and make notes on it. It is a short interview between the film journalist Xan Brooks and Wright, Pegg and Frost.


  • Who is likely to watch this short interview?
  • What further information do you get about the film here?
  • Is this information likely to interest the main or secondary audience for this film?

The Guardian readers – in the main, ABC1, university educated professionals.

A great deal of information about the rationale behind the film which gives a very personal perspective from the director.

The viewpoint about going back to where you grew up will certainly appeal to 35-44 year old males who – given the time frame for the film – are likely to be the secondary audience.

The second plug is from The Jonathan Ross Show on ITV1 (23/11/13). It consists of an interview with Simon Pegg, the main star of the film. The primary function of this interview was to promote the UK DVD/Blu-ray release of the film on 30/11/13.

Please make notes on this.

  • What issues arise from this interview about the perception of the film’s success at the box office?
  • Who are the main audience for this interview?
  • What type of persona does Pegg portray here?
  • How might this reach the intended audience for the non-theatrical release?
  • Is this a different audience from the one that may have seen the film at the cinema?
  • What are your opinions on this interview? Do you think plugs work? Give reasons for your final decision.

The main perception is that the film did not do as well at the box office, with various reasons for this – the release date, the hot weather.

The main audience would be a mainstream, middle-aged (35-55 year olds) ITV audience. Although Ross’s viewing figures have fallen – this is still sizable – between 2 and 3 million tuning in. This still provides a big reach for the distribution company.

Pegg’s persona is of the everyman. Slightly nerd-like, non-drinker. Also now a father. He comes across less like a big Hollywood star and more like a close friend.

This interview’s primary function is to sell the DVD/Blu-ray/VOD release. This might be to make up the shortfall in terms of the box office deficit. The audience presented by The Jonathan Ross Show may well have missed the film in the summer (holidays, weather, competing films) and might pick this up non-theatrically.

It might be a different audience from those who watched it at the cinema. Older and less likely to attend the cinema.

This plugging of the non-theatrical release is directly for this audience.