IT’S TIME TO TRUST

In 2001 Christopher Nolan wasn’t a household name

He had only made Momento at this point

A good film but not a huge box office hit

Later that year he had a meeting at Warner Bros. and pitched them Inception

He asked for a lot of money to make a complicated film

They passed

He then made two Batman films

Together they grossed over $1.3 billion

So he pitched Inception to Warner Bros. again

This time he wanted even more money to make an even more complicated film

They said yes 


But it was seen as a massive risk

It had an all-star cast

And a massive budget

So needed to appeal to ‘popcorn cinema’ fans


The sort of fans who love big blockbuster action movies


But it had a plot that asked audiences to work really hard to keep up

A heist that happens inside a dream inside a dream inside a dream

Not your standard popcorn flick

In its first week it took over $60 million in North America 


And went on to gross $837 million globally

Franchises aside it’s the third highest grossing film of all time

Christopher Nolan trusted his audience to be smart

And himself to be a good storyteller

And his movie was a massive success because of it

Inception proved to the studios that to be mass you don’t have dumb things down

Trust the audience

The best advertising has always done this

Trusted audiences to keep up, to fill in the gaps, to get it

Like the Democrats asking ‘would you buy a car from this this man?’ 


Instead of just saying ‘Nixon is untrustworthy’

But more and more advertising doesn’t trust its audience

It dumbs it down and yells it loudly

It’s no wonder most people don’t like advertising

When advertising treats them like idiots

It’s time to trust the audience