Sunday, March 30, 2008

Movie Ads 'Target' Real Sarah Marshalls by Jessica Durando - NY Daily News

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Sarah Marshall of Manhattan playfully scowls next to an ad poster for new film 'Forgetting Sarah Marshall.'

One Sarah Marshall is signing autographs, another is hitting the gym.

A third got a phone call from an ex telling her: "I don't know who's doing this, but it's not me."

Huge ads dotted around the city, scrawled with messages like, "My mom always hated you Sarah Marshall," "I'm so over you Sarah Marshall" and "You DO look fat in those jeans Sarah Marshall" have real New Yorkers with the same name in a fluster.

"It's costing me a fortune," said stay-at-home mom Sara Marshall, 51, who has signed up for spin classes because of the signs telling her namesake she is not in shape.

"I have to worry about my hair and makeup everyday."

The posters, scrawled with the messages in thick black ink, are promoting a new movie from Universal called "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" and they are popping up on billboards, above subway station entrances and on bus shelters everywhere.

"When you're walking down the street, it gets a little wearing even though you know it's not you and has nothing to do with you," said Sarah Marshall, 34, who lives in Stuyvesant Town in Manhattan.

"You see . . . words like 'hate' and 'suck' with your name over and over again. It just doesn't feel pleasant inside."

Her mother, 70, who has the same name, says she cannot wait until the movie debuts and the signs are taken down.

"I'm very, very upset," the upper East Sider said.

"I'm an old person. It's today's lingo and today's jargon but it's a little rough for my taste."

But kids at Public School 60 in Woodhaven, Queens, think their fourth-grade teacher is the newest celebrity in town.

"Those billboards, they don't hurt my feelings, they don't make me uncomfortable," said Sarah Marshall, 27.

"My kids all want my autograph."