I don't know anything about marketing, other than the insight one gains from watching commercial breaks and flipping through print publications.
But here and there I pick up a few things. For instance: if you want to sell something to a man, appeal to his libido or his desire to fix things.
If you want a commercial to connect with a woman, imply that she is by far superior to her husband, or promise that a given product will make her drastically more attractive.
If you want to attract people to movie theatres, do not come up with an original idea. Original ideas are a waste of time.
Make a sequel instead, or base your movie on a well-read book. Even better: base your movie on a toy or TV series that was popular 20 or 30 years ago.
Most parents of young children are 20- or 30-something years old, and they probably do not enjoy adulthood as much as they want people to think they do.
Find find your way into their wallets by appealing to their appetite for nostalgia, and chances are they'll bring their kids along for the ride.
So it is that in the past few years we have seen two films based on Transformers action figures; one feature film based on G.I. Joe action figures; several films based on comic book characters; and a forthcoming film based on the A-Team television series.
Worse, as many of you know, Hollywood has chosen to remake the hit '80s movie "The Karate Kid," with Jackie Chan as  a Mr. Miyagi-esque character named "Mr. Han."
With respect to Mr. Chan and Jaden Smith, who plays the part of a a bullied martial arts pupil in the remake, some things are better left alone.
And there lies the rub.
Movies that promise nostalgia are a good bet for decent profits, but more often than not they're also a disservice to the products and films on which they're based.
The 100-plus minutes I wasted watching "G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra" were as well-spent as a conversation about foreign policy with Richard Simmons, and I'll never get them back.
The "Transformers" movies, while chock-full of things getting exploded or smashed to smithereens, were not thoroughly edifying.
The "A-Team" film will not have Mr. T in it (at least not in his original capacity), and as poor an actor as he was, I have doubt his impersonator will be better.
I have little hope the new "Karate Kid" will hold a candle to the old "Karate Kid," except to people who have not seen the original film.
Show business is indeed a business, and it's difficult to blame movie houses for doing what it takes to stay financially viable.
But taking the quickest, easiest route to making profit, especially when art and and childhood memories are involved, is not always the best route to take.
Nostalgic movies appeal to adults only to a point, and if the resulting product is an insult to their memories of simpler times, the end result is often the opposite of what's hoped for.
I don't know anything about marketing, but I figure this is a safe assumption to make: leaving a sour taste in the customer's mouth isn't the best way to go.