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Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – Posters from a marketing campaign that were discarded

February 4, 2022.

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald was the second film in the Fantastic Beasts series, and after the success of the first one (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them), Warner Bros. wanted to replicate the success with a big marketing campaign in a few cities around the world.

The chosen marketing action was a photo operation with street art murals around the world, where people took photos as if they were having a duel holding two wands. The hashtags used were #LiveTheMagic and #WandsReady:

#WandsReady & #LiveTheMagic - Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald
#WandsReady & #LiveTheMagic – Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

However, that wasn’t the first action that the people at Warner Bros. thought for the film. Based on the idea that the fate of the Wizarding World was a stake, and that a war was coming, they thought in creating propaganda posters, and let people choose which side to support.

Grindelwald’s side posters asked for “Rise Above The Muggles and Mudbloods” and “Join Grindelwald for the Greater Good of Wizard Kind”, using the hashtag #MagicIsMight, while the “good” side requested to “Hide Magic from Muggles” and “Keep Magic a Mystery: Wizard and Muggle Peace is in your hands!”. Both posters also showed the URL WizardingWorld.com/WhereDoYouStand.

Propaganda posters to promote Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - Grindelwald's Side
Propaganda posters to promote Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of GrindelwaldGrindelwald’s Side
Propaganda posters to promote Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald - The Good Side
Propaganda posters to promote Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald – The Good Side

Unfortunately this marketing campaign was never made because Warner Bros. preferred a classical approach to the promotion of the film, and maybe not try to divide people into two factions.