Crashing into the nerd culture consciousness with an explosively brilliant YouTube pilot, Vivienne Medrano’s Hazbin Hotel grabbed the campy musical cartoon chaos and hit all the right notes. From the character designs which could arguably be compared to the most popular mascot horrors to the exploration of redemptive narrative arcs for characters which earlier shows would consider lost causes, Hazbin Hotel struck where we already knew there was oil, especially in the aftermath of successes like Netflix’s Nimona.
However, despite the excitement following the pilot’s premier, the audience has moved toward a narrower niche fandom-focused group rather than the wider scope where it started out. While it is completely possible that the direction of the show scared away less adventurous viewers, the lack of more wide-spread advertisement as well as the non-China friendly content would put Hazbin Hotel squarely into a kill zone where Amazon may not be eager to advertise widely knowing that simply producing it allows them to achieve what Disney failed to do when they kicked Nimona to the curb and gave Netflix the chance to grab it.
By releasing Hazbin Hotel, Amazon gets not just the cash but the kudos, knowing that the section of nerd culture which it hits without advertising is the one most often responsible for lifting media to cult classic status.
Then again, based on the show’s currently mixed reviews, a larger audience achieved through Amazon’s enviably wide advertising reach would’ve likely invited further criticism from those less interested in exploring redemption or any untraditional views of the afterlife, so perhaps letting the primary audience be individuals dedicated to cultivating strong fandoms will give the show room to breathe and grow before it once more faces those who’d be keen to censor its core concepts.
Have you watched Hazbin Hotel? If you have thoughts on how the series compares to the pilot, let us know in the comments below. If you have thoughts on Amazon Prime Video’s advertising methods for Hazbin Hotel or believe we have it wrong, share your thoughts and join the conversation on Boss Rush Network’s Discord and Facebook.
Featured Image: Amazon Prime Video
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