Roblox's Dumbest Advertisements is a 2021 comedy film produced by Aspect Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures and, internationally 20th Century Studios. The film was directed by Jackson Armstrong, produced by Brycen Payne, Dustin Huffman, Heath Smith and Ace Church and written by Rene Hess, Willy Joyce and Blake Petty. The film stars the cast of George Andrews, Caleb Walsh, Ewan Barrett, Jay Roberts, Harvey Green, Larry Bean, Albert Rivers, Rafael Schmidt, Yandel Barlow and Casen Kirk; additional casting features Morgan Newman, Rudy Mcdonald and Jesse Webb with Franky Nunez, Brook Guerra and Bennie Hawkins in supporting roles. The plot revolves around a series of "dumbest ads in the world" subplots; the main story takes place in a house where Jessica Schroeder, a high school student, tries to use her computer for personal business. However, she is interrupted by dozens of increasingly offensive advertisements, which worsen her situation and increase her anger.
Before Aspect Productions was founded, Jackson was confronted with a number of "ads" that he deemed the "dumbest and oddest.", which served as the inspiration for the concept of Dumbest Advertisements. Jackson started developing the idea for the "dumbest advertising in the world" in January of 2018 and had it ready for production by the following year. The majority of the studio's executives and producers criticized the movie at first, saying it was "off-putting," "uninspired," and "wasn't viewed as a decent film." In addition, the concept was "considered as too simplistic," which led the producers to decide against giving the movie the go-ahead. But in 2019, after much debate and many rewrites to turn the plot into a comedy, the film was finally given the go-ahead. Early in 2019 was said to be the time for casting, and Jackson was chosen to helm the picture. Filming started in January 2020, with an initial "five-month filming" schedule, but the COVID-19 pandemic forced a cancellation, with the final manufacturing phase being finished by year's end. Drew Pruitt and Blake Bass wrote the majority of the film's music, which was recorded primarily at home in December 2020, with the last ten minutes being recorded at a studio.
Roblox's Dumbest Advertisements was originally set for a release date for June 21, 2020, however, like the majority of the movies (set of that year), including Dumbest Advertisements were postponed until the next year due to the nationwide closure of cinemas; the film was eventually released in the United States and Canada on March 20, 2021. The film received mixed-to-positive reviews from critics, with praise for the writing, humor and directing, but received some criticism for trying to concentrate mostly on metahumor and "out-of-place" moments. Due to the decline in theater openings and the emergence of COVID-19 and other viruses, the film grossed over $191 million worldwide against its $90 million budget, becoming a box-office flop.
Plot
Jessica Schroeder, a young high school student, utilized her computer to work on a personal project and changed her focus from universities to life in general. She went to YouTube and clicked on one of the most popular videos under the "what to do with my life" search. But Jessica is greeted, predictably enough, with an advertisement featuring Barbie. The main character in the commercial is a man who is trying to bake bread but accidentally burns it, so he has to start again. He also chooses to talk about and promote the Barbie toy. Jessica thought the film would begin when the advertisement ended, but to her surprise, there was another advertisement. This advertisement discusses planes and how harmful they are to the global community. The man also talks about President Trump and why his planes are "not awful." Jessica thought the comedy in the advertisement was "unfunny" and repeatedly tried to press the "start button," but it kept failing, which infuriated her. Weary of waiting for the advertisement to end, she took a glance at her phone. After the commercial ends, another one that focuses more on girl toys plays. But, the female yelled loudly into the microphone, screaming, "So, get them!" inadvertently causing Jessica to drop and break her phone.
Cast
- Ewan Barrett as Jessica Schroeder, a high school student.
- George Andrews as John, a another high school student, who is best friend with Ewan
- Caleb Walsh as Man #1, known as Alex (Barbie commercial)
- Jay Roberts as Man #2 (Airplane commercial)
- Harvey Green as Female #1, known as Sophie. Jr (Toy commercial)
- Larry Bean as Man #3 (Supermarket commercial)
- Albert Rivers as Man #4 (Supermarket commercial)
- Rafael Schmidt as Child (Supermarket commercial)
- Yandel Barlow as Female #2 (Toy's R Us commercial)
- Casen Kirk as Female #3 (Toy's R Us commercial)
- Morgan Newman
- Rudy Mcdonald
- Jesse Webb
- Franky Nunez
- Brook Guerra
- Bennie Hawkins
Production
Development and writing
An event that happened at Jackson Armstrong's residence before to the company he would work with, Aspect Productions, in 2012 gave rise to the concept for Dumbest Advertisements. Jackson claimed that when searching for "something," he inadvertently came across a lot of "ads" for different kinds of marketing campaigns. These included advertisements for things that the advertisers had created and uploaded into the internet, such as toys, vehicles, and supermarkets. But Jackson said that the "ads" were made in an odd and uncomfortable way, particularly the toy advertisement, which he described as "just a standard crazy automobile commercial for something extraordinary" in a statement. In January 2018, Jackson began working on a secret project for the company he was working with, which was originally rumored to be simply Commercials and based on "something odd, yet interesting at the moment." The next month, Aspect Productions identified the picture as "in development," and only two weeks later, Jackson personally confirmed its development. During the concept's production, which took place between November and late-December of the previous year, most of the studio's executives and producers believed that the "ideas based on simply commercials was uninspired and unoriginal" and did not believe the film would do well once completed and marketed for release.
Aside from being a "basic film," the premise behind it was deemed "too lazy." Moreover, a movie based solely on advertisements had "no true storyline" and would not seem appropriate as a live-action picture, with the belief that viewers would become disinterested within the first ten minutes. Due to the widespread criticism, the producers chose to halt the film's development rather than give it the green light at this time. As a result, Jackson had to revise the script, making it a full-fledged comedy and transforming most of the characters into "funny, but realistic people beings" that fit in with the setting. In February 2019, it was confirmed that the film would be titled Roblox's Dumbest Advertisements, and Jackson would be the director. This came about after many discussions and last-minute talks about the executive producers. The film was eventually given the go-ahead after one-minute storyboards and an hour-long discussion on the changes to the film.