The Graduate – Japanese ads make it look corny and average.

Japanese Poster #1 (click for fullsize)

Japanese poster #2

U.S. poster graphic

(Click for full-size images)

The first 2 images here are Japanese posters for “The Graduate” that make it look like your average dumb romance movie.  On almost every OTHER international release, though, the poster has some variation of the iconic shot of Dustin Hoffman looking at the leg (the third poster here), the same shot that was used on virtually all the US publicity materials, soundtrack cover, etc.

The American posters play up the sex, while the Japanese posters play up some kind of mushy romantic idea. Look at the one with less text. Would you ever guess that this was in any way an unusual relationship or a different kind of movie? If I saw that poster, I wouldn’t even go see the film. I’d think “BAH, some stupid movie with the Bay Bridge in it.”

***Update (4/19/08): Please link back to this blog if you use any of these images on your website.***