The Materialists uses a fake dating site to spark digital desire

A24’s marketing for The Materialists is less about trailers and more about temptation, packaged as satire. Ahead of the film’s late-June release, the studio launched menofny.com, a fictional "marketplace" where the film’s men are presented not as romantic partners, but as tradable assets.

Styled like a Bloomberg terminal meets Hinge, the site lists "Materialists" by daily swing, income, height, borough, and turn-ons with columns for "icks," hair status, and whether they rent or own. You can browse profiles like John P. ($12M income, turned on by boobs, turned off by unintelligence), or Felis T. ($50K income, turned on by confidence, icked out by lack of communication). Each "man of New York" is positioned like a stock to be bought, sold, or submitted underscoring the film’s critique of transactional dating culture.

There’s no movie branding above the fold. Instead, you’re invited to "Submit Your Profile," with real-time index swings for traits like income (+1.56%) or hair (-4.59%). The site nails the tone of The Materialists: part comedy and part commentary. Screenshots of absurd profiles have gone viral on TikTok and Twitter, with users debating whether the site is parody or prophecy, a perfect buzz-builder ahead of release.

📊 Data Opportunity: A24-Style CRM

A24 is continuing to use it’s playbook that turns niche film fandom into CRM gold. If users enter their email or message a character, A24 can:

• Build segmented lists based on character interest

• Retarget with hyper-personalized creative

• Gauge early audience sentiment ahead of release

Compare this to A24’s own microsite for Bodies Bodies Bodies, which included an “official” party invite form. Or the studio’s ongoing efforts to convert merch buyers into community members through newsletters and digital exclusives.

Microsites like menofny.com build the world beyond the theater and collect potential moviegoers information to remarket to them along the way.

💻 Why This Works

It builds story before the screen.
The Materialists, directed by Past Lives’ Celine Song, centers on a woman navigating New York’s hyper-materialistic dating scene. By launching a fake "market index" of the city’s most eligible (and questionable) men, A24 pulls the film’s themes—value, vanity, and transactional relationships—into the real world long before audiences hit the theater.

It invites user interaction, not passive scrolling.
Rather than promoting the movie with a static trailer, menofny.com invites users to browse and compare "profiles" in a satirical stock market format. You can analyze income swings, boroughs, turn-ons, icks, and more—turning casual visitors into active participants in the film’s world.

It’s designed for screenshots.
The site’s Bloomberg-meets-Hinge aesthetic, absurd details (John P.: $12M, "Boobs," "Unintelligent"), and real-time index swings ("Income +1.56%", "Hair -4.59%") make it pure meme bait. In a culture where users love to share the most ridiculous corners of the internet, menofny.com is engineered to spread, one viral profile at a time.

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