If “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues” isn’t a hit, don’t blame Will Ferrell.
Never has an actor worked harder promoting a movie. In fact, Ferrell has spent more time and effort publicizing “Anchorman 2” than he did filming it.
In costume as San Diego anchorman Ron Burgundy — complete with mustache and dark red polyester suit — Ferrell did a newscast in Bismarck, ND, on Saturday night. The next day, he announced the Canadian Curling Trials in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
He’s anchoring on ESPN’s Sportscenter on Thursday, and the movie doesn’t open until Dec. 18.
Meanwhile, Ferrell as Burgundy cut 70 different TV spots for Dodge Durango, taped several FunnyOrDie videos, and published a mock autobiography, “Let Me Off at the Top: My Classy Life and Other Musings,” which he’s been promoting with book signings around the country.
The Newseum in Washington, DC, has a show of 60 props from the movie, and Ben & Jerry’s released a special ice cream flavor in Burgundy’s honor, “Scotchy Scotch Scotch.”
“It shows that these stars have to go out and work it,” one producer told me. “They can’t just sit back and expect their fans to show up. No one is a sure thing.”
There is no such thing as too much publicity. The movie has an 87 percent audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Fans aren’t going to be sick of Ron Burgundy before the movie debuts. They’ll still want to hear his sign-off: “Stay classy.”
A spokesman for Ferrell said, “We hope people are enjoying this unique campaign. Will is having a lot of fun.”