Negative Spin Ups Doc's Draw

2016's marketers funnel critical outrage into box office mega-hit

The marketers behind 2016: Obama’s America knew the ultra-conservative documentary would ignite a firestorm of criticism—and embraced it wholeheartedly.

The unorthodox strategy helped to draw a whopping $33 million at the box office, making the Barack Obama attack film the second highest-grossing political documentary of all time after Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, despite having virtually no marketing budget.

Filmmaker and right-wing author Dinesh D’Souza, whose best-seller The Roots of Obama’s Rage the movie is based on, knew he’d take some body blows by appearing on HBO’s Real Time With Bill Maher, for instance.

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