Ini Edo’s ‘Very Dirty Christmas’ Reinforces Need for Editorial Marketing -By Sylvester Ugwuanyi

When I read that the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) is “deeply troubled” by the title of the movie ‘A Very Dirty Christmas’ for its offence and disrespect to Christianity, I wondered aloud if it’s not yet high time for Nigerian brands and businesses to start leaning towards editorial marketing. Not too long ago, parts of the country, particularly Lagos, were virtually engulfed by revulsion and tribal chauvinism after a retail-chain outlet ran a controversial ad made by an ignorant content creator, which slurred an entire ethnic group. This is the fallout of not engaging intelligent editors to vet pieces of information meant for public consumption.

The fine-tooth comb to which news reports and analyses are subjected should equally apply to copies, scripts, collaterals and press releases. With editorial marketers, messaging lands as civil rather than crude or rude. They are magicians of some sort, with words as their magic wand for walking back corporate expressions that went awry or struck the wrong nerve. You won’t also be mistaken in calling editorial marketers prophets because they foresee trouble and counsel those who consult them from the headwind. If Ini Edo had run her movie title by these critical gatekeepers, it would have been flagged over similar sentiments expressed in the press statement issued on Tuesday by the CAN President, Archbishop Daniel Okoh.

The issues raised by the umbrella body of Christians in Nigeria are quite germane, although the body is being dragged online and accused by trolls of misplaced priorities. Some even wondered why CAN care, since several denominations, especially within the Pentecostal bloc, don’t identify with Christmas. Now, what’s your surname again? How would you feel if someone prefixes it with “A very dirty…”? Even if your family name is polysemous enough to be used in a different context, you’d still be uncomfortable being associated with such an adjective. So, don’t blame CAN; Christmas is like their surname in this instance. It’s only an irresponsible son who wouldn’t object to his father’s name being dragged in the mud.

You see, while a depiction of reality can be argued rightly or wrongly in the case of the characterisation of The Herd movie, the case in point is the flagrant association of an appalling word with what is considered sacred and solemn. Granted that artistes enjoy the poetic license in their work (Yours sincerely has benefited from this liberty), the license is only justified where the construct is actually poetic. Without putting in the right thinking to elicit literary appreciation, there is no basis to claim poetic license. After all, a keen sense of imagination and creativity is taken for granted when it comes to players in the creative space.

If filmmakers could put together a script, screenplay, engage the right thespians and directors to breathe life into the plot, then it shouldn’t be difficult for the team to come up with a title that safely encapsulates the theme and resonates with diverse audiences without offending sensibilities. Since the film tells the story of a family reunion during Christmas being disrupted by underlying tensions and past trauma, a title like “Dirty Secrets At Christmas” would have still grabbed attention without putting the filmmakers under the crosshairs of CAN and members of the public with a modest sense of decency.

Unless it was a ploy to create the perfect storm to be exploited for profit. It is bandied about online that the censure will boost the popularity of the movie. You only need to go online to see netizens congratulating Ini Edo for the free promotion that CAN has inadvertently accorded the film. This predominant sentiment makes it seem like a ploy all along. If not the case, it behoves the filmmakers to issue an unreserved apology to CAN and leverage the expertise (magic wand, if you may) of editorial marketers in taking active steps towards addressing raised concerns, at least for the sake of brand equity. They had better not find solace in the cheerleading by social media users, most of whom do not even understand the issues.

Netizens taking CAN to the cleaners for “majoring on minor” didn’t even read the press statement to understand the pain point and logic. They only ran on fumes from headlines cast by various news platforms reporting the story. How did I know? Some of them mistook the bone of contention to be Detty December when CAN’s grouse is clearly the affixing of “A very dirty” to their cherished Christmas festival. But then, how do the mockers like CAN now that the National Film and Video Censors Board (NFVCB) has attempted damage control less than 48 hours after the national Christian association complained?

While pointing out that the industry regulator had not received any formal communication from CAN, the NFVCB director, Shaibu Husseini, essentially admitted that the movie title is flawed and demanded its modification. According to him, “the Board recognises that public perception and reception are critical elements of effective regulation.” This points to the fact that the social media noise didn’t count as much as the reservations expressed by CAN.

However, for the film to have been “approved and classified after undergoing the established censorship and classification process” of the Board, it becomes imperative for regulatory agencies to hire editorial marketers. After all, who else is best suited to spot and manage public perception or reception of any piece of information than seasoned journalists turned public relations pros? These experts edit out the extraneous and contentious, ensuring that what eventually gets to members of the public is harmonious and fastidious! You can trust their assessment to go beyond a submitted film’s full narrative and thematic context, or expect them to merely consider a movie title as an element of fictional creative expression.

Moving on, a related nagging issue is the corruption of Christmas to Xmas, so much so that the rechristening is gaining acceptable usage in certain quarters. CAN’s condemnation of ‘A Very Dirty Christmas’ should equally apply to those who call the glorious Day Xmas. Perhaps, there would have been no issues if the movie title were ‘A Very Dirty Xmas.” Granted that Christmas isn’t the actual birthday of Christ, the Season deserves some respect since it is being used to celebrate Jesus’ nativity. Replacing Christ with X is blatantly taking Him out of the picture for an unknown entity. That should rile every Christian. Thankfully, society hasn’t yet degenerated to using Xmas in official communication. Editorial marketers must be on the lookout to avert this!

Sylvester, a Senior Analyst with Nigeria’s leading perception consulting firm, CMC Connect LLP, can be reached on X via @sylvesugwuanyi