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As in many break rooms around the world, the film It Ends With Us has taken my team of multi-generational, diverse, and wickedly smart staffers down a rabbit hole of questions, comments and strong responses.
My 16-year-old daughter’s rave review of the film eventually brought me to the TikTok storytimes and Instagram detectives sleuthing out who among the cast had unfollowed whom on social media, and who was the villain of the story about the story.
First, some background for those who haven’t been following the endless updates:
It Ends With Us, originally a novel written by Colleen Hoover, follows the story of Lily Bloom (played by Blake Lively), a young woman working through a cycle of domestic abuse as she navigates grieving her abusive father while entering a relationship with an abuser (played by actor Justin Baldoni, who also directed the film).
The book gained popularity and began selling in massive numbers in 2021 due to the influence of #BookTok, a niche TikTok community that is passionate about books, creating videos to review and discuss them. Their commentary and social traction have proven to impact book sales and the trajectory of book-to-screen adaptations.
During the promotion of the film, Baldoni was often seen discussing the dangers of domestic violence, promoting the nonprofit No More, an organization that raises awareness about domestic violence and worked with Baldoni on the film. Meanwhile, Lively often talked up the film as a lighthearted rom-com, encouraging fans to “grab their friends and wear florals,” earning her backlash from fans who felt that Lively not mentioning the domestic violence aspect was unethical and in poor taste. At the premiere and on the press tour, Baldoni and Lively can be seen avoiding each other.
Here are the five marketing insights that rose to the top of the chatter in our team meeting this week.
Build a community before you need a community
While not as big of a household name as his co-star Lively or her husband, Ryan Reynolds, Baldoni has spent his career building a community of supporters whose loyalty runs deep.
From his TEDWomen talk to his popular Man Enough podcast, Baldoni has spent his life cultivating community, including through his religion, the Baha’i Faith, whose writings extol the equality of men and women and the unity of mankind. Baldoni has implemented the pillars of his faith into every project, and his intentionality shines through.