This is not the first time that the site rotten Tomatoes surrounded in controversies. Over the years, well-known directors such as Martin Scorsese have launched harsh criticism, and according to an article new York Times During a meeting in 2017 the CEO of a major Hollywood company said that he would ruin rotten Tomatoes, Now, a new scam has emerged in the form of an article on the site vulture has revealed that an advertising agency paid for positive reviews, which undermines the ratings’ credibility.
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Why blame an advertising agency for paying for positive reviews?
The article begins by noting that the film Ophelia starring Daisy Ridley was not well received by critics. Seven of the 13 reviews published after the first screening were negative, resulting in a 46% rating, a disappointing score for a film that aspired to be iconic and did not yet have a distributor in the country. That’s where Bunker 15 comes in, which, unlike other PR agencies, chooses more obscure critics to be part of the set it monitors. rotten Tomatoes, for which you pay $50 or more for each review. This information must have been released by the critics themselves.
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trying to improve the ratings of Ophelia, an employee of Bunker 15 approached a potential critic, and suggested that more opinions from different critics might be needed. When the critic asked what if he didn’t like the film, he was assured by Bunker 15 that he was free to write whatever he wanted. However, it was indicated that those compassionate reviewers often choose not to post negative reviews on their regular sites.
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Between October 2018 and January 2019, eight reviews were added to Review Score. Ophelia In rotten Tomatoes, Seven were positive and came from critics who had already reviewed the other Bunker 15 films. As such, the film increased its rating to 62%, moving from “rotten” to “fresh”. Shortly thereafter, distributor IFC Films picked up the film for a US release.
vulture attempted to contact Bunker 15, and Daniel HarlowThe agency’s founder argued that only a small group of critics have access to paid reviews:
There are thousands of authors on our mailing list. A small group has created a unique system whereby filmmakers can sponsor or pay for a film to be reviewed.
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According to vultureinstance of Ophelia Throws light on the working and effect of rotten Tomatoes, Despite its importance in the industry, the platform is prone to manipulation. Filmmaker Paul Schrader expressed this opinion rotten Tomatoes It’s a tool that studios can and do manipulate. The site’s credibility and role in decision making in the film industry is questionable.
On the other hand, it is quite understandable why it is so popular rotten Tomatoes, Most people don’t know if paying for movie tickets would be worth it, and they don’t even have the time or interest to read every review that’s written, so the site assigns a score, which is not a grade, but a pass. Percent. If they enter ten reviews and seven of them give a positive rating (which can range from 6 to 10, or moderate to five stars), the approval rate will be 70% and you have fresh tomatoes, and if only three Were positive, you would have a 30% approval rating and a rotten, green, cracked tomato.
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