--- title: John Green thumps Tom Cruise image: https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604533616-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511c9929c970c-320wi.jpg --- [Skip to main content](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2014/06/john-green-thumps-tom-cruise.html#maincontent) [ «  View All Posts ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog) # John Green thumps Tom Cruise June 8th, 2014 2 min read By [David Meerman Scott](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) ![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604533616-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511c9929c970c-320wi.jpg?width=320&height=474&name=6a00d83451f23a69e201a511c9929c970c-320wi.jpg) Tom Cruise was everywhere on television last week promoting his new mega-budget sci-fi spectacular [Edge of Tomorrow](http://www.edgeoftomorrowmovie.com) which released this weekend. Cruise deployed the tried and true method where the film’s star goes on the entertainment television shows and late night talk shows like *The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon*. Cruise used old marketing and PR techniques to promote his big budget film. **The Fault in our Stars hits number one** [![Fault-our-stars-movie-poster](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604533616-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511c9929c970c-320wi.jpg "Fault-our-stars-movie-poster")](http://freshspot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511c9929c970c-popup)Meanwhile, [The Fault in our Stars](http://thefaultinourstarsmovie.com) also released this weekend. John Green, the author of the *New York Times* bestseller by the same title rallied his fans to become #TFIOS brand ambassadors. These [#FaultFanatics](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23FaultFanatics&src=typd) talked up the film big time on social networks and they drove the small budget film to number one in the box office this weekend. *The Fault in our Stars* generated an [estimated](http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2014/06/08/shailene-woodley-kicks-tom-cruise-butt-at-box-office/) $58 million at the box office (film budget $12 million), thumping the *Edge of Tomorrow*, which generated about $29 million (with a whopping $178 million budget). **Rallying fans** John Green fans who love *The Fault in our Stars* book drove the box office success. Throughout the past year or so, Green has communicated to his fans as insiders, providing all sorts of details on the process of creating the film version of the book that they love. [![John green twitter](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604533631-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511c994e9970c-200wi.jpg "John green twitter")](http://freshspot.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511c994e9970c-popup)Green sold the film rights and told fans that he has no financial incentive in tickets sales. He’s talking up the movie because he likes it. Through his [Tumblr](http://fishingboatproceeds.tumblr.com), [@realjohngreen](https://twitter.com/realjohngreen) Twitter, [video channel](https://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers), and sites, Green has made fans feel a part of the process. [The Fault in our Stars](http://thefaultinourstarsmovie.com) movie site is a fantastic place to explore and share. Many John Green fans originated from the [Vlogbrothers](https://www.youtube.com/user/vlogbrothers) youtube channel that he co-creates with his brother, Hank. My daughter Allison is a fan of John Green, the Vlogbrothers videos and Green’s books. “I think a big thing is John acted like us, the fans, rather than a celebrity to promote the fandom involved in the movie,” Allison told me today. “People are encouraged to make art and music and responses to his book. Some of those he reblogged on tumblr and these also translate to the success of the movie. He is very open in communicating with his fans like they are his equals, which fosters community.” Green talks about treating fans as equals [in this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lnXwIgpmU8Q&list=UUGaVdbSav8xWuFWTadK6loA). His [video of the movie premiere](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gXMJLoQGApg) is a great example of how Green brings fans along on the ride. In the video you are with him as he arrives, and walks the (not red) carpet, and mugs for photographers. **Lessons for your business** Rallying fans works for any business. When your better-funded competitors are focused on traditional marketing and PR, why not bypass them talk directly to your audience. You can thump the competition too. +++++++++++++++++++++ UPDATE June 10, 2014 - Saw *The Fault in our Stars* last night with my daughter Allison and really enjoyed it. I'm glad I had read the book first. Interestingly, every now and then we could hear booms from the next auditorium over which was showing Edge of Tomorrow. +++++++++++++++++++++ UPDATE June 12, 2014 - An article in "The New Yorker" by Margaret Talbot titled [The Teen Whisperer](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2014/06/09/140609fa_fact_talbot?currentPage=all) goes into great detail on how John Green reaches his audience. [ David Meerman Scott ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott) David Meerman Scott is a business growth strategist, advisor to clever entrepreneurs who are building emerging companies, and the international bestselling author of a dozen books published in 30 languages. David’s high-energy keynote presentations, masterclasses, and virtual events educate, energize, and inspire. Connect: [mailto:david@freshspot.com](mailto:david@freshspot.com) Topics: [ Social Media ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/social-media) [ New Rules of Marketing and PR ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/new-rules-of-marketing-and-pr) [ Case Studies ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/case-studies) [ Marketing ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/marketing) [ Crowdsource ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/crowdsource) [ Books ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/books) [ Best Practices ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/topic/best-practices) Don't forget to share this post: ## Related Articles [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Artemis%20earthset.jpg?width=5568&height=3712&name=Artemis%20earthset.jpg) ### Nasa’s Artemis II Lunar Mission: A PR Triumph for the USA April 11th, 2026|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/nasas-artemis-ii-lunar-mission-a-pr-triumph-for-the-usa) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Moltbook.jpg?width=1536&height=1024&name=Moltbook.jpg) ### Moltbook: A Social Network for AI Agents Where Humans Can Only Watch February 3rd, 2026|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/moltbook-a-social-network-for-ai-agents-where-humans-can-only-watch) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202025-10-29%20at%2010.27.19%20AM.png?width=835&height=466&name=Screenshot%202025-10-29%20at%2010.27.19%20AM.png) ### Don’t Fly Wizzness Class Video from Dave Carroll October 29th, 2025|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/dont-fly-wizzness-class-video-from-dave-carroll) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Chef%20Todd%20Edwards.jpg?width=1500&height=1010&name=Chef%20Todd%20Edwards.jpg) ### Pulling Back the Curtain to Show What Happens Behind-the-Scenes October 15th, 2025|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/pulling-back-the-curtain-to-show-what-happens-behind-the-scenes) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DMS%20BM%20hybrid%202004.jpg?width=1432&height=966&name=DMS%20BM%20hybrid%202004.jpg) ### The Fandom Playbook: My New Book and Companion AI Chatbot September 24th, 2025|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/the-fandom-playbook-my-new-book-and-companion-ai-chatbot) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stefano%20Paciotti.jpg?width=1500&height=1084&name=Stefano%20Paciotti.jpg) ### The Ham Whisperer of Rome: How Stefano’s Honest Videos Won the World’s Heart June 24th, 2025|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/the-ham-whisperer-of-rome-how-stefanos-honest-videos-won-the-worlds-heart) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/LinkedIn%20comments.jpg?width=1114&height=737&name=LinkedIn%20comments.jpg) ### Comments Are the Key to LinkedIn Engagement January 29th, 2025|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/comments-are-the-key-to-linkedin-engagement) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Kolkata%20Chai%20Ani%20and%20Ayan.jpg?width=1236&height=858&name=Kolkata%20Chai%20Ani%20and%20Ayan.jpg) ### Brewing Authenticity: How Kolkata Chai Co. Uses Instagram to Reach Interested Buyers November 21st, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/brewing-authenticity-how-kolkata-chai-co.-uses-instagram-to-reach-interested-buyers) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/boring%20robots.png?width=1432&height=899&name=boring%20robots.png) ### Your Original Content Plus AI Equals Sparkle-Darkle August 13th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/your-original-content-plus-ai-equals-sparkle-darkle) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Jesse%20at%20Fenway.jpg?width=1256&height=843&name=Jesse%20at%20Fenway.jpg) ### Fans First Banana Ball Delights at Sold Out Fenway Park Game June 10th, 2024|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/fans-first-banana-ball-delights-at-sold-out-fenway-park) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/blog.jpg?width=1193&height=792&name=blog.jpg) ### Why You Need a Blog in the Age of AI and Social Networking September 5th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/why-you-need-a-blog-in-the-age-of-ai-and-social-networking) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Threads.jpg?width=2350&height=1574&name=Threads.jpg) ### Meta's Threads Social Text App Unlikely to Topple Twitter's Dominance July 14th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/metas-threads-social-text-app-unlikely-to-topple-twitters-dominance) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DMS%20and%20YWS%20in%20Scotland.jpg?width=1500&height=1125&name=DMS%20and%20YWS%20in%20Scotland.jpg) ### How Instagram Got Us to the Castles of Scotland May 24th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/how-instagram-got-us-to-the-castles-of-scotland) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stoned%20Immaculate.jpg?width=1259&height=827&name=Stoned%20Immaculate.jpg) ### Modern-Day Hippies! Meet Stoned Immaculate’s Unique Buyer Persona March 14th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/modern-day-hippies-meet-stoned-immaculates-unique-buyer-persona) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Scotus.jpg?width=1070&height=715&name=Scotus.jpg) ### Important Artificial Intelligence Case to be Argued in the US Supreme Court Today February 21st, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/important-artificial-intelligence-case-to-be-argued-in-the-us-supreme-court-today) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/man%20with%20typewriter.jpg?width=1189&height=788&name=man%20with%20typewriter.jpg) ### Unlocking the Potential of AI for Use with Your Own Content February 8th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/unlocking-the-potential-of-ai-for-use-with-your-own-content) [![Aaron Silidker showing people how to use ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/RoamRig%20van%20conversions.jpg?width=2566&height=1556&name=RoamRig%20van%20conversions.jpg) ### How RoamRig Built A Successful Business With Facebook Groups January 10th, 2023|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/how-roamrig-built-a-successful-business-with-facebook-groups) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/free%20speech.jpg?width=2210&height=1404&name=free%20speech.jpg) ### Free Speech November 29th, 2022|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/free-speech) [![Twitter and Mastodon logos](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Mastodon%20will%20not%20replace%20Twitter.jpg?width=1002&height=520&name=Mastodon%20will%20not%20replace%20Twitter.jpg) ### No Way Mastodon Will Kill Twitter November 10th, 2022|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/no-way-mastodon-will-kill-twitter) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/dance.png?width=2048&height=1366&name=dance.png) ### Baseball That Puts Fans First! Banana Ball from The Savannah Bananas August 31st, 2022|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/baseball-that-puts-fans-first-banana-ball-from-the-savanah-bananas) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Twitter%20Blue.jpg?width=2160&height=1301&name=Twitter%20Blue.jpg) ### Twitter Blue Subscription Service June 29th, 2022|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/twitter-blue-subscription-service-now-available-in-usa) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/DMS%20metaverse%202.jpg?width=1500&height=1009&name=DMS%20metaverse%202.jpg) ### What the Heck is the Metaverse? And Should You Care? June 1st, 2022|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/what-is-the-metaverse) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/2017-Silver-Oak-Napa-Valley-Cabernet-72.jpg?width=2160&height=1440&name=2017-Silver-Oak-Napa-Valley-Cabernet-72.jpg) ### How Silver Oak Cellars Created Passionate Fans Over Fifty Years May 18th, 2022|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/how-silver-oak-cellars-created-passionate-fans-over-fifty-years) [![](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/hubfs/SCOTT_pb_3D_rev.png?width=1293&height=2430&name=SCOTT_pb_3D_rev.png) ### 8th Edition of The New Rules of Marketing & PR Publishes Today May 3rd, 2022|2 min read ](https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/8th-edition-of-the-new-rules-of-marketing-pr-publishes-today) ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "David Meerman Scott", "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott" }, "datePublished" : "2014-06-08T19:55:42.000Z", "headline" : "John Green thumps Tom Cruise", "image" : [ "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hs-fs/file-1604533616-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511c9929c970c-320wi.jpg" ], "mainEntityOfPage" : { "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2014/06/john-green-thumps-tom-cruise.html", "@type" : "WebPage" }, "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/_Assets/Logo/david-meerman-scott.png" }, "name" : "David Meerman Scott" } } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/#person", "@type" : "Person", "description" : "Marketing and sales visionary, international bestselling author of 12 books, keynote speaker in 47 countries, and advisor to emerging companies.", "email" : "mailto:David@DavidMeermanScott.com", "image" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/hubfs/DMS-Homepage-Featured.jpg", "jobTitle" : [ "Keynote Speaker", "Author", "Business Growth Strategist", "Marketing Advisor" ], "knowsAbout" : [ "Content Marketing", "Fandom Marketing", "Newsjacking", "Real-Time Marketing", "Public Relations", "Sales Strategy", "Business Growth" ], "name" : "David Meerman Scott", "sameAs" : [ "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Meerman_Scott", "https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmeermanscott", "https://x.com/dmscott", "https://www.instagram.com/dmscott/" ], "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/#website", "@type" : "WebSite", "author" : { "@id" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/#person" }, "name" : "David Meerman Scott", "potentialAction" : { "@type" : "SearchAction", "query-input" : "required name=search_term_string", "target" : { "@type" : "EntryPoint", "urlTemplate" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/search?q={search_term_string}" } }, "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com" } ``` ```json { "@context" : "https://schema.org", "@type" : "BlogPosting", "author" : { "@type" : "Person", "name" : "David Meerman Scott", "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/author/david-meerman-scott" }, "dateCreated" : "2014-09-11T00:37:23", "datePublished" : "2014-06-08T15:55:42-0400", "description" : "", "headline" : "John Green thumps Tom Cruise", "image" : [ "http://cdn2.hubspot.net/hub/413105/file-1604533616-jpg/blog-files/6a00d83451f23a69e201a511c9929c970c-320wi.jpg" ], "inLanguage" : "en-us", "keywords" : [ "Social Media", "New Rules of Marketing and PR", "Case Studies", "Marketing", "Crowdsource", "Books", "Best Practices" ], "learningResourceType" : "article", "name" : "John Green thumps Tom Cruise", "publisher" : { "@type" : "Organization", "logo" : { "@type" : "ImageObject", "url" : "https://413105.fs1.hubspotusercontent-na1.net/hubfs/413105/_Assets/Logo/david-meerman-scott.png" }, "name" : "Freshspot Marketing LLC" }, "timeRequired" : "2 minutes", "url" : "https://www.davidmeermanscott.com/blog/2014/06/john-green-thumps-tom-cruise.html" } ```