I'm disappointed in you, Dane

I made a huge mistake Saturday night. Dallas was in the middle of a monsoon, so we decided to stay in and watch Good Luck Chuck.

I had refused to see in theaters because it looked miserable, but for an otherwise uneventful Saturday night, how bad could it be, right?

Wrong.

I can say with full confidence that Good Luck Chuck is the worst movie I have ever seen in my entire life. The only reason I watched until the end was because I was mesmerized by its awfulness- it just kept getting worse and worse.

It had potential. A witty guy realizes that everytime a girl sleeps with him, she then finds her true soulmate, leaving him to struggle between his sexual appetite and deep-down desire to find a soulmate of his own. Young, funny, what could go wrong?

Bad jokes (suprising because I usually like Dane Cook), bad acting (expected from Jessica Alba) and a storyline that lasted WAY too long.

What does any of this have to do with PR? Nothing really, but if I have to give it some relevance for this blog, I guess I could throw this situation out there: You're a PR practitioner for the film's studio Lionsgate. You've just prescreened the film, realized how suck-ass it is and now must decide how to promote it. What are you supposed to do? I sure as hell wouldn't know.

And, second, the movie is released and is met with nothing but negative feedback. Critics hate it. The only awards it is nominated for are two Razzies for Worst Actress and Worst Screen Couple. How do you get anyone to buy or rent the film when it's released on DVD? Again, I have no clue.

The real-life PR team for this movie should be fired. The previews for the film were completely misleading. The only good thing they had going for them was the fact that people my age love Dane Cook and think Jessica Alba is hot...and that still couldn't pull the film out of the gutter.

What's an ethical PR practitioner to do?