The term “red band trailer” actually has a simplistic origin. The start of these explicit trailers features an advisory warning from the MPAA against a red background, as opposed to the green label featured on most regular trailers. As such, the red band moniker caught on as a shorthand way of referring to this specialized preview. Interestingly enough, there are also yellow band trailers, occasionally used for promos that blur the line between the red and green spectrum.
Red band trailers have been around for quite a while; the MPAA has used the system’s current iteration to rate movies and theatrical trailers since 1968. While sources vary on the exact timing of the introduction of red band trailers, their existence is known to predate the 21st century. These explicit first looks at upcoming mature-rated movies once played in theaters. However, a 2000 initiative from the National Association of Theatre Owners led to them generally becoming restricted from cinemas.
The internet’s rapid growth as an advertising tool for studios helped red band trailers become more popular. As such, many of the most iconic red band trailers of all time come from relatively modern movies.
