On news of second Godzilla remake, I'm reminded of colossal outdoor campaign heralding the first.

The King has smashed the building!

The Cannes of geeky popular culture is Comic-Con, held last weekend in San Diego, California. Or maybe it’s the SXSW of geeky pop culture. Whatever. It’s a big deal and, though some say CC has plateaued, I believe it will only grow in size and stature, especially as pop culture continues to embrace super heroes, the undead and other pulpy content.

Speaking of big, it was unveiled at this year’s Comic-Con that another remake of Godzilla (the geek-King of Monsters) is in the works. For those interested (like yours truly), I’ve linked a blog detailing these tantalizing plans. Alas, the teaser trailer shown at the convention is not available. Somewhat unbelievably, it was not leaked. Come on nerds, WTF?

Rather than discuss the Godzilla oeuvre (though I’d love to), I want to go back a ways to when the first non-Japanese remake of Godzilla came out. In 1998, one could not step outside without falling into Godzilla’s massive footprint. Such was the power and potency of the ad campaign created for director Roland Emmerich’s infamous remake.

Who would argue?

By all accounts the movie was an epic fail but not the advertising. It was killer. The tag line: “Size Does Matter.” And it was everywhere. As good as that line was, many of the creative executions were even better. Spectacular billboards and painted walls dominated our landscapes, ingeniously featuring only parts of the great beast. This technique both heightened the intrigue on just what the new Godzilla would look like as well as heightened the height of Him. Godzilla was going to be BIG.

I loved this campaign for it’s unrepentant hype. The monster would be big. And so would the movie. Staying on point with a singular theme is what outdoor advertising does best. And this campaign delivered. (I wish I could find more of it online to show you.) Anyway, the movie’s opening gate was tremendous, only to fall precipitously after universally crushing reviews. Soon parody ads came out claiming “plot does matter” and it was over. Godzilla died.

But the ads were brilliant. There’s little chance a new ad campaign, if one is even developed, will be half as good. On the other hand, maybe they’ll get the film right.

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