Book commercials have been released online or on TV to promote several of the Maximum Ride books.
Background[]
Before becoming a professional author, James Patterson worked in advertising at the agency J. Walter Thompson. He “is among the first writers credited with promoting books through television spots.”[1] To promote his 1993 thriller Along Came a Spider, he “wrote, produced and paid for a commercial”, convincing his publisher Little, Brown and Co. to support this advertising method.[2]
James Patterson worked with the branding and advertising agency The Concept Farm, which created commercials, radio ads, and websites to promote his work.[3] The New York-based group was founded by Griffin Stenger and Gregg Wasiak, who had previously worked for Patterson at J. Walter Thompson and had been mentored by him. Patterson praised their ability to produce "a movie-thriller-class TV spot for a book-thriller."[4] By 2014, the Concept Farm had created more than 50 TV spots which "dramatized the promise of the 'movie-like' roller coaster ride of a Patterson read."[5]
It has not been confirmed whether the Maximum Ride commercials were among the Patterson TV spots created by the The Concept Farm. However, The Concept Farm did create and maintain the maximumride.com website and message boards, as well as a live version of Fang's blog, all of which operated for years.[6][7][8]
The Angel Experiment (2005 Trailer)[]
A brief trailer was produced for The Angel Experiment. It featured visuals of birds and of aerial city views.[9][10]
Transcript:
| “ |
Max: If you had wings, you would see what I see. You’d know what it is to fly. And you would be hunted for it. Angel: Max! Announcer: James Patterson, author of When The Wind Blows, continues the thrills with Maximum Ride, his most exciting book yet. Angel: Max! Announcer: James Patterson’s Maximum Ride. Imagine you can fly. |
” |
Night Flight (Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports)[]
This commercial for the third book is also known as "Night Flight" and was released in 2006. It features Max evading a group of Flyboys, rendered in CGI. There were different cuts of the spot, including an exclusive web version for maximumride.com.
Max has curly blonde hair in this commercial. The actress was credited on the website maximumride.com under the name Amy Rose.
This trailer ended with the epigraph: "Hollywood here we come! With over 5 Million clicks they can't stop us! -James Patterson." This was a reference to a campaign at the time, stating that if the website received 5 million clicks then a movie would be made. A film adaptation was released in 2016.
The exclusive web version had narration.
Transcript:
| “ |
Max: I - I knew it would come to this. I'm all alone. No one to call, no one to help me. But I am not helpless. And they don't know I'm coming for 'em. Announcer: James Patterson, America's number one storyteller, brings you Maximum Ride: Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports. The fastest-growing adventure series in America is... James Patterson's Maximum Ride. Max: Let's fly.
|
” |
FANG[]
The commercial for FANG features Max and Fang sharing a flight. Max has dark, straight hair.
Transcript:
| “ |
Announcer:It began in a lab. Six kids were created with wings and were destined to save the world.
|
” |
Another cut with narration:
Transcript:
| “ |
Fang: My name is Fang. Hers is Max. I love her. Will our love survive? Will we survive? Announcer: James Patterson's Fang. A Maximum Ride novel.
|
” |
ANGEL[]
A brief commercial for ANGEL, uploaded to James Patterson's YouTube page in February 2011, consisted mostly of clips from the previous two trailers.
Transcript:
| “ |
Announcer: The number one best selling epic adventure Maximum Ride is almost over, and only little Angel knows how it will all end. Read James Patterson's Angel. The end is near for Maximum Ride.
|
” |
Nevermore[]
The trailer for Nevermore depicts Max with dark reddish hair and silver wings streaked with red.
Transcript:
| “ |
Announcer: Watch closely now, because this is the last you'll see of Maximum Ride. Read James Patterson's Nevermore. The end of Maximum Ride.
|
” |
Hawk[]
References[]
- ↑ Heller, Karen. "James Patterson mostly doesn’t write his books. And his new readers mostly don’t read — yet." The Washington Post. June 6, 2016.
- ↑ Mahler, Jonathan. “James Patterson Inc.” The New York Times Magazine. Jan. 20, 2010.
- ↑ Fabrikant, Geraldine. Along Came a Lot of Money to Invest. Oct. 29, 2005.
- ↑ https://www.adweek.com/brand-marketing/page-turners-58775/
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20140515150815/http://www.conceptfarm.com/work/james-patterson/
- ↑ AdAge. "Enjoying the Ride." September 01, 2005.
- ↑ Shorty Awards. Concept Farm’s Caitlin Bergmann joins the Real-Time Academy! October 29, 2014.
- ↑ https://caitlinbergmann.com/post/63534910011/james-patterson-concept-farm-press-creativity
- ↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20051124234918/http://www.jamespatterson.com/books_maximumRide.html
- ↑ https://cryingalonewithfrankenstein.tumblr.com/post/642311089743413248/tv-ad-for-the-angel-experiment-2005-audio-if