Advertising: 'Jason Lives' Video Store Promotional Knife

Advanced promotions of films being released into theaters is a great way to create awareness and anticipation among potential viewers. This is usually accomplished with film trailers, lobby standees and posters. Lobby cards were also utilized in the U.S. through the 1980's, however, marketing a film for home video release in rental stores was just as critical to the overall success of profits for a film.

Paramount Pictures was especially clever in their promotion of the Friday the 13th films when they were being released to Beta, VHS and Laserdisc in the 1980's. Occasionally, we will take a look at certain items that were sent to video rental stores to promote the release of the Friday the 13th films. Today our focus will be on the home video release of Jason Lives: Friday The 13th Part 6.

Paramount sent plastic promotional knives (pictured below) to video retailers to help create awareness for Part 6 coming to home video, with an obvious homage to Cort's death in the film. This promotional item, along with the hanging mobile show the fun creativity that distributors were taking in marketing home video releases to fans at the peak of video rental stores in pop culture in the 1980's.