Let’s say you are bored; what do you do? Do you take an Uber, bus, or car to drive down to a movie theatre to watch a movie, or do you just scroll through TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter and watch 30-second videos that make you laugh?
Every two market days, a Nollywood actor or producer comes online to complain to us that they cannot dance to promote a movie. Jemima Osunde, Shaffy Bello, Omotola Ekeinde, Mo Abudu, and Kunle Afolayan have all come out to say they cannot and should not be asked to dance silly dances on TikTok to promote their movies. It all feels like a not-so-subtle shade to Funke Akindele, Toyin Abraham, and Bimbo Ademoye—you know, those who dance and create TikToks.
Both sides have valid arguments; a director’s job is to direct, and an actor’s job is to act, but the truth? That’s not all they have to do. They have to promote the movie. No matter how cinematic it is, you have to shout at the top of your lungs in the market square and ask people to go and see the movie. 
If it was 2005, we would understand why you want to make a trailer, put up a billboard, do some press (written and television), and go home to your family, but not in this day and age.
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Marketing to Dummies
In this day and age, you are fighting for people’s attention, and newsflash: it is shorter now more than ever.
Studies show a significant decline in human attention spans, dropping from 12 seconds in 2000 to 8.25 seconds today.
Additionally, studies indicate that people retain 80% of what they see compared to only 20% of what they read. Video ads reach the 8-second attention span.
The reality? Even international film companies are using short, captivating, and funny videos to grab the attention of the audience. Some use interesting clips from press interviews, TikTok transitions, or fashion moments like the ‘Barbie‘ movie and ‘Challengers‘. See the insane way Timothée Chalamet marketed his movie, ‘Marty Supreme’, giving his celebrity friends merch from the film and flying a tiny aerial device on the Los Angeles skyline.
You have to get people talking about the movie somewhere, even if it’s not by dancing on TikTok. Even Netflix has noticed that people are constantly moving away from the movie to scroll through their phones, so they try to speed up dialogue or repeat the plot multiple times.
The truth is, if people love how a movie was promoted and love the director of the movie, they will go and see the movie, which typically takes a lot from them. Funke Akindele said (and I am paraphrasing) if dancing on TikTok doesn’t work, you must think of more creative ways to market your movies in a generation that loves humour over depth; with content overload, they need extra convincing.
Well, in the old days, the strength of the movie used to be enough; this is no longer the case.
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