This is a re-write of a post I did last year on Bridgerton's PR Perception Problem. Due to how it was received by some, and the abuse I received, I will be restricting comments on my blog for the foreseeable future.
As the main promotional push for season 3 begins, and with less than six weeks until the release of Part 1, will the Netflix and Bridgerton marketing team be able to overcome the negative perception of the PR that is held within parts of the fandom. The perception by some is that the marketing team did not want to promote the season 2 leads as a romantic leading couple. After season 2, and the lack of promotion of the leads as the romantic leading couple, it was believed that perhaps the opportunities they did not have in season 2 (such as interviews with just the two of them, a main poster of them as a couple, and photoshoots that other leading couples had), may come in season 3 as a returning couple. This hope was dashed for many fans as they saw the 'passing the baton' promo as Netflix sending the message that neither Simone nor Jonathan will be used for season 3 promotion again. Will this negative perception by some of the season 2 fans be overcome, and can Netflix win them back to Bridgerton as a show for season 3?
Image Credit: Jason Bell
From the perspective of some fans the lack of promotion for the season 2 leads as a romantic leading couple was compounded with the elevated promotion of Penelope as a lead character, and Nicola as an actress, during season two. For many there is the view that Netflix did not want to promote a dark skinned Indian woman and gay man as a romantic leading couple, so instead added a third party to all of their promotion from the poster to their interviews, and gave some couple promotion to Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton, who will be the leads for season 3, the optics of this didn't look good for Netflix.
Image Credit: Jason Bell
This perception, especially in relation to the promotion of a dark skinned Indian woman in Simone Ashley, has just increased as much of the early season 3 promotion through 2022 and 2023 excluded her as a main cast member. In May 2022 the soft launch of season 3 began with Nicola announcing herself as the lead, (at an event that was widely believed to have been to promote Simone Ashley and season 2 for the Emmy nominations), barely 6 weeks after the release of season 2, and then seemingly taking over the US promotion to promote her character and season, barely mentioning the main story for season 2. I am not blaming Nicola for this promotional strategy, but it was not a good look for Netflix, Bridgerton or the actress that benefited from taking over promotion from the season lead, no matter whose idea it was, and as the saying goes "perception is reality" and this is never more true than in the world of PR and marketing.
This was followed 2 months later with the release of a video to announce the beginning of filming for season 3, which noticeably excluded both Simone Ashley and Phoebe Dynevor (the two previous seasons female leads), it subsequently came out that Phoebe Dynevor was not to be in season 3 however questions remained for some fans around why Simone Ashley was excluded if she was returning as a main cast member, especially when it was confirmed a few days later via the actors that Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey were on set for Bridgerton season 3. This left many believing that she had been deliberately excluded by Netflix and Shondaland from the video, and that they did not want to wait until she was on set to include her. This was a PR blunder by the team as the focus of the video was not on the upcoming leads, but became about questioning the noticeable absence of the season 2 lead, to the point that some online entertainment publications focused on that in their stories about the video, rather than on the new leads.
The exclusion of Simone in the video to announce filming could have been overlooked by some fans (perhaps), if it wasn't for the fact that official Netflix articles which came out over the rest of 2022, and into 2023, also excluded Simone Ashley's name from the list of returning cast members, whilst naming some actors with very small roles in previous seasons. For some fans this was viewed as erasure of the South Asian season 2 lead from official Bridgerton marketing, and evidence that Netflix and Shondaland were wanting to forget her and move on to the white women who was leading season 3.
Some may have thought that the beginning of the more concentrated promotion period was a turn around in terms of the way Netflix would promote the season 2 leads, with the release of an official still of Kate and Anthony, and then a few months later the only non Polin clip released being a Kate and Anthony clip, the hope was that we would see them feature more in the promotion of season 3, just as we saw Penelope/Nicola feature heavily in season 2 promotion. However, when the initial 'moving portrait' promotional clip of Kate and Anthony was followed quickly with 'passing the baton' promotional videos showing Simone Ashley and Jonathan Bailey 'handing over' to Nicola Coughlan and Luke Newton, some saw this as a sign that Netflix are washing their hands of the season 2 leads altogether, and they have very little hope of seeing them feature in anymore promotion this season.
Video via BridgertonNetflix Instagram
As the season 3 leads are expected to get the promotion deserving of a leading couple, with magazine photoshoots, interviews together as a couple, and a poster that focuses on them as the leading romantic couple - a promotional effort that was never put into promoting a gay man and Indian woman - it could raise more questions as to why a leading couple played by straight white actors are promoted better as the romantic leads than those played by a gay man and Indian woman. The promotion for season 3 will send a decisive message to the viewers and fans as to how they view their leads, and Netflix has a very tricky time ahead with regards to the promotion of season 3, the leads and the main characters/actors who are not part of the main storyline, and especially how they handle the promotion of the returning couple.
The promotional tightrope is not limited to the perception of the fans alienated (and hurt) by the lack of promotion of the season 2 couple as romantic leads, but also pleasing the fans of the season 3 leading couple. The release of the clip of Kate and Anthony, and the Kate and Anthony 'moving portrait' the Polin fans have shown a low level of tolerance for promotion that does not involve Penelope and Colin, meaning that there is a risk that Netflix will anger and alienate the fans of Polin whilst not managing to win back the fans of Kate and Anthony already angered and alienated as a result of season 2 promotion.
Will Netflix be able to promote Penelope and Colin enough to keep Polin fans happy, give the right amount of promotion to other cast members that need it such as Benedict, Francesca and Eloise, as well as promoting Kate and Anthony enough to not make it seem like tokenism and win back season 2 viewers whilst not angering and alienating the Polin fans as they have the Kate and Anthony fans?
Netflix and Shondaland have an uphill battle for season 3 promotion to not only make all fans of Bridgerton excited, but to also win back many of the fans of Kate and Anthony. To be honest I lack sympathy for the position they are in with regards to how the different subsets of fans view them, this is a battle of their own making by failing to promote the season 2 leads together as romantic leads, and their perceived exclusion of the season 2 Indian female lead.
