Advertisers turn the Oscars into a super bowl-like platform

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March 5, 2018 6:28 AM

If you only watched the commercials and not the awards part of the Oscars telecast, you might have thought for a moment you were watching the Super Bowl.

Several advertisers offered cinematic spots that went beyond the usual fare, while others used it for unveilings.

The Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, which is set to open in 2019, showed its first commercial (a faux spot for the Overlook Hotel of “The Shining” fame). Netflix teased the final season of “House of Cards,” and ABC used the occasion to release the trailer for its “Roseanne” revival.

Walmart created a 60-second film directed by Dee Rees, director of “Mudbound,” to promote its new box delivery service.

A minute-long spot from Twitter featured women reading a poem by Denice Frohman.

“We stand with women around the world to make their voices heard and their presence known,” Twitter wrote. “To bring them front and center, today and every day.”

While it offered an empowering message, some Twitter users found it distasteful in the context of rampant harassment on the platform.

“How about you spend the money you used on this ad to hire moderators to kick accounts that terrorize women off your platform?” one user wrote.

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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