The Passion, Bob & Larry

Fox News: "Advance ticket sales hit $10 million, distributor Newmarket Films (search) reported this week — evidence of the skilled marketing campaign and word-of-mouth buzz as the film was screened for private, often conservative Christian audiences."

Even Fox isn't telling the whole story on this one. Yes, word of this movie has spread through "word-of-mouth" buzz. Mel had NO OTHER WAY to spread the word because NOBODY would agree to distribute his film, and the networks refused to run TV previews. This wasn't some subversive marketing campaign, it was the ONLY POSSIBLE CAMPAIGN. Hollywood tried to choke this movie by ignoring it altogether. Once it became clear that strategy wasn't working, they turned to open hostility and slander.

As this week's National Catholic Register points out, there's no difference between how Gibson has marketed this movie and how VeggieTales videos and DVDs have been marketed for years. Bob the Tomato and Larry the Cucumber are anti-semitic? Say it's not so...