‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ Propaganda Posters Take Over Cities

Tena Milakovic
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Guerrilla-style installations and in-world propaganda have become essential tools for keeping long-running franchises relevant in popular culture, and few series do this better than ‘The Hunger Games.’ Lionsgate has crafted an entire promotional strategy around blurring the lines between fiction and reality, utilizing the Capitol’s authoritarian voice to sell tickets instead of relying on traditional advertising methods.

This approach has defined the marketing for ‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping,’ the franchise’s latest prequel, which follows a young Haymitch Abernathy during the brutal Second Quarter Quell. As the film’s release date approaches, the marketing team has intensified this immersive strategy more than ever.

Recently, this campaign reached a striking new level. Large Capitol-style propaganda posters have begun to appear in major cities around the globe, including New York, London, Los Angeles, and Mexico City. One particularly eye-catching banner was even draped over the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street.

The banners feature a consistent and unsettling slogan: “Peace is preserved, not promised,” along with smaller text attributing the message to “the Capitol.” The New York Stock Exchange banner prominently displays a soldier in white armor against an orange rising sun, an image that has been widely shared on social media by fans who encountered it in person.

The messaging has not been limited to static banners. A series of trucks displaying the same “Peace is preserved, not promised” slogan on LED signs, along with imagery of the white-armored soldier, were spotted driving through Philadelphia, surprising onlookers who initially mistook the eerie display for something more sinister.

According to a driver of one of the trucks, there are no promotional events planned around these installations, indicating that the campaign aims to elicit organic, slightly unsettling public reactions. This strategy seems effective, with fans online responding to the posters as genuinely disorienting rather than merely clever marketing.

The propaganda rollout has expanded beyond a single slogan. New posters have emerged featuring additional pointed phrases like “Challenge Authority” and “Capitalize Power,” continuing the film’s trend of embracing overtly political messaging as it approaches release. This evolution suggests that the marketing team is treating the campaign as an ongoing narrative rather than a one-off stunt.

This approach aligns seamlessly with the source material. ‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ is adapted from Suzanne Collins’s novel of the same name, which focuses heavily on themes of propaganda and media manipulation, particularly how the Capitol works to erase any visible signs of resistance. Bringing these themes into the real world through marketing adds a layer of meaning that goes beyond typical movie promotion.

‘Sunrise on the Reaping’ is directed by Francis Lawrence and stars Joseph Zada as a young Haymitch Abernathy, a role originally played by Woody Harrelson in the original trilogy. The ensemble cast features a mix of rising and established talent, including Elle Fanning as a young Effie Trinket, Kieran Culkin as Caesar Flickerman, and Jesse Plemons as Plutarch Heavensbee, with Glenn Close, Maya Hawke, Whitney Peak, Ben Wang, and Kelvin Harrison Jr. rounding out the supporting cast.

Notably, neither Jennifer Lawrence nor Josh Hutcherson has appeared in the marketing thus far, keeping the focus firmly on this earlier generation of characters. Since audiences already know Haymitch survives his Games and eventually becomes Katniss’s mentor, much of the story’s tension is expected to stem from understanding the cost of that survival.

‘The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping’ is set to hit theaters on November 20, giving Lionsgate several more months to continue this propaganda campaign across additional cities leading up to the film’s release. Given the aggressive escalation of the marketing in recent weeks, more unsettling banners and installations seem highly likely before then.

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