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(funk music)

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- Netflix gets a backlash
over a misleading movie poster

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and Nike celebrates Kobe
Bryant's birthday in style.

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I'm Jeff Beer and this is Fast Company's

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Brand Hit and Miss of the Week.

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This week's miss goes to Netflix.

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Late last week, the streamer
made a rare marketing misstep

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when it began promoting

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a new French language
film called "Cuties".

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The film, directed by Maïmouna Doucouré,

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is a coming of age story

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about an 11 year old Senegalese
Muslim girl in Paris,

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who rebels against her
traditional family values

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to join her new friends' dance crew.

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Netflix, however, created a movie poster

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that showed the dance
troupe in provocative poses,

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which immediately drew a
backlash for, wait for it,

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sexualization of children.

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As a result,

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it was pulled into the
QAnon conspiracy whirlwind

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that helped feed multiple
online petitions,

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with hundreds of thousands of signatures

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calling for the removal of the film.

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Doucouré has also faced

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unrelenting harassment online herself,

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all before most people
have even seen the film.

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Actor Tessa Thompson was one of many

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who came to the defense of the film,

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making the distinction between
the movie and the marketing.

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The list of mismarketed
movies is a long one.

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Just ask "Jennifer's Body" or
"John Carter", among others.

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But a miscue like this
takes on more significance

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when it involves the issue

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of sexualizing young women and girls.

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Netflix apologized almost immediately,

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saying "we're deeply sorry
for the inappropriate artwork

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"that we used for Mignonnes/Cuties.

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"It was not okay,

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"nor was it representative
of this French film,

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"which won an award at Sundance.

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"We've now updated the
pictures and description."

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The mistake here is basically

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the movie marketing equivalent

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to a rampant problem in a lot
of attention-starved media,

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which is basically using
clickbait headlines

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that often misrepresent the actual story.

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Given the company's impressive

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marketing track record overall,

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it's pretty shocking that Netflix was able

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to get it so wrong here.

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The hit this week goes to Nike.

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August 23rd would have been
Kobe Bryant's 42nd birthday.

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To mark the occasion and
commemorate the NBA legend

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who died in a helicopter
crash back in January

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along with his teenage daughter Gianna

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and seven other passengers,

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Nike released a new ad called "Better".

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The spot is by agency Wieden and Kennedy

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with a Kendrick Lamar voiceover.

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It asks the audience to be
inspired by Kobe's commitment

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to excellence and apply it
to everything in our lives,

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from sports to social change to parenting.

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So far, it's been watched
over 28 million times

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on YouTube alone.

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In some ways, this is a
quintessential Nike ad.

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Lamar, to no one's surprise,
brings his narrator A game.

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The film seamlessly mixes archive video

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and audio clips of Kobe,

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along with other pros like Megan Rapinoe

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and Sky Brown intermingling
everyday athletes and fans,

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swimming, skateboarding, sprinting,

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and almost everything in between.

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The ad also kicks off a week of content

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Nike's calling Mamba Week,

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featuring pro athletes like
Anthony Davis, Devin Booker,

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Naomi Osaka, Sydney Leroux, and more

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talking about how they've been inspired

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by Bryant's approach to sports and life.

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Look, obviously it's all marketing,

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but it's also a stylish,
respectful, and poignant way

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to commemorate a man many
fans still consider a hero.

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That's it for this week.

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Thanks for watching.

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(birds chirping quietly)