History Main / TrailersAlwaysSpoil

Of course, some of this depends on your definition of "{{spoiler}}". Given that a trailer consists mostly of clips from the movie itself, a fair bit of spoilerage, in this case footage from a later part in the movie, is often inevitable. There is also the matter of ''context''. An action movie, for example, may preview a random fight scene between two characters, but when you actually see the movie itself and realize that the other dude the hero was fighting happened to be his best friend in the beginning (which may or not have also been part of that trailer), you realize ''in retrospect'' that the trailer's fight scene was actually a {{foreshadowing}} or ChekhovsGun about the betrayal that occurs later.

** The ''CloneSaga'' was such an example. Marvel announced several months in advance that the Spider-Clone would return with interviews in Wizard magazine and advertisements. During this time, the titles saw a "mysterious drifter" covered in shadows spying on Peter and visiting the graves of Parker's parents. It was obvious that it was the clone but the titles still treated it as some sort of huge mystery even to the point where, when they revealed the clone's face, it was played off as some surprise twist.

* In 2011 MarvelComics was especially bad about this saying that now they'll probably kill off a major character every quarter to raise sales:

* After initially teasing it as one of the big mysteries of the [[MarvelNOW All-New Marvel NOW!]] event, Marvel informed the New York Times that the new MsMarvel would be a [[spoiler: Muslim teenager named Kamala Khan]].

* When Marvel announced that {{X-23}} would be joining the cast of ''Comicbook/{{All-New X-Men}}'', they effectively spoiled that she'd survive the events of the then-still running ''AvengersArena'' series. The writer of ''Arena'' even jokingly acknowledged this at New York Comic-Con.[[http://www.newsarama.com/19176-nycc-2013-marvel-amazing-x-men-the-marvel-universe-live.html]]

* In 2011 MarvelComics has been especially bad about this saying that now they'll probably kill off a major character every quarter to raise sales:

** Early June saw the death of Bucky Barnes, the second Captain America, in ''ComicBook/FearItself'' #3 to the surprise of almost nobody as Marvel had already announced that original CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers would return to the uniform a month later (due to [[CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger the movie]]. The only reason it didn't make any sort of media splash was because DCComics one upped them the day before by announcing that they were relaunching their entire line of comics this September.

* After initially teasing it as one of the big mysteries of the [[MarvelNOW All-New Marvel NOW!]] event, Marvel informed the New York Times that the new MsMarvel would be a [[spoiler: Muslim teenager named Kamala Khan]].

->''[[SarcasmMode Oh, yeah, I'm sure]] [[HesJustHiding he's really gone.]] That's why the advertisements show him in about ''twenty'' more scenes that he wasn't in yet.''
-->-- WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's review of Film/PearlHarbor

Movie {{trailers}} are [[NeverTrustATrailer known to mislead]], but sometimes they go in the opposite direction, giving away key plot points and twists (and sometimes what would have been a TwistEnding). The odds of this happening increase for the commercials aired after a movie's opening weekend.

Of course some of this depends on your definition of "{{Spoiler}}". Given that a trailer consists mostly of clips from the movie itself, a fair bit of spoilerage, in this case footage from a later part in the movie, is often inevitable. There is also the matter of ''context''. An action movie, for example, may preview a random fight scene between two characters, but when you actually see the movie itself and realize that the other dude the hero was fighting happened to be his best friend in the beginning (which may or not have also been part of that trailer), you realize ''in retrospect'' that the trailer's fight scene was actually a {{Foreshadowing}} or ChekhovsGun about the betrayal that occurs later.

When a certain event is a ForegoneConclusion, like with TheFilmOfTheBook, it's again debatable that it's 'really' a spoiler. So if you read the examples below from a movie you haven't seen (either you have no intention of seeing it, or maybe you should reconsider continuing past this part), and find yourself thinking "I didn't even know that ''was'' a spoiler", don't worry about it.

* When Marvel announced that {{X-23}} would be joining the cast of ''Comicbook/AllNewXMen'', they effectively spoiled that she'd survive the events of the then-still running ''AvengersArena'' series. The writer of ''Arena'' even jokingly acknowledged this at New York Comic-Con.[[http://www.newsarama.com/19176-nycc-2013-marvel-amazing-x-men-the-marvel-universe-live.html]]

* Marvel basically confirmed that ''Hunger'' would end with a FailureIsTheOnlyOption scenario by revealing that their next CrisisCrossover for the [[UltimateMarvel Ultimate]] line, ''Cataclysm'', would see {{Galactus}} reaching Earth and beginning his assault. To those unaware, the entire premise of ''Hunger'' was that SilverSurfer and Rick Jones were desperately trying to stop Galactus ''before'' he could get to Earth.

** The CloneSaga was such an example. Marvel announced several months in advance that the Spider-Clone would return with interviews in Wizard magazine and advertisements. During this time, the titles saw a "mysterious drifter" covered in shadows spying on Peter and visiting the graves of Parker's parents. It was obvious that it was the clone but the titles still treated it as some sort of huge mystery even to the point where, when they revealed the clone's face, it was played off as some surprise twist.
* Marvel tried to keep the plot of the infamous OneMoreDay under wraps, but an interview with J.Michael Strazynski revealed exactly what would happen, who would be involved, and what the outcome would be. Despite this Marvel ran a promotional campaign for the story which gave readers a multitude of options as to who could help Spider-Man in his darkest hour, but thanks to the JMS interview, everyone knew it was [[spoiler: Mephisto]], they also knew the outcome [[spoiler: resulted in the retconning of the Spider-Marraige in the 616 continuity]]

** Early June saw the death of Bucky Barnes, the second Captain America, in ComicBook/FearItself #3 to the surprise of almost nobody as Marvel had already announced that original CaptainAmerica Steve Rogers would return to the uniform a month later. The only reason it didn't make any sort of media splash was because DCComics one upped them the day before by announcing that they were relaunching their entire line of comics this September.

* a few weeks before ''ComicBook/ForeverEvil'' kicked off, DC announced that Trinity War would see the Crime Syndicate of Earth 3 removing the Justice Leagues from the picture & taking over the Earth, with Lex Luthor's alliance of villains fighting back.

** Fandom specific: There are quite a few ''WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland'' fan competitions on fanfiction.net involving the original cast that say who the final two are in the "characters" tags.

* In the ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland Total Drama]]'' story, ''Fanfic/{{Legacy}}'', the brief Introduction suggests pretty strongly that the story's "ForWantOfANail" premise will end badly for a certain character. Sure enough, it does.

*** Granted, not including the pairings in the summary is practically asking the rabid shippers to flame you. And few fandoms have more rabid shippers than HarryPotter, where even crackiest of crack ships have rabid fans.

->''[[SarcasmMode Oh yeah I am sure]] [[HesJustHiding he is really gone]]. That's why the advertisements show him in about twenty more scenes that he wasn't in yet.''
-->-- WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic's review on Film/PearlHarbor

** The best summary of a story I've ever seen, for a ''Manga/DeathNote'' fanfiction: [[spoiler:''What if Rem never finished writing L's name in the Death Note? How will L cope with the loss of the only father figure he's ever had in his life?]] May contain spoilers.'' Just in case there was any doubt at all, the story is '''''called''''' [[spoiler:Watari]].

-->-- ''WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic'' review on Film/PearlHarbor

* TrailersAlwaysSpoil/FilmLiveAction

[[folder: Anime & Manga ]]
* The entire ''Manga/DragonBall'' metaseries (all dubs) plays with this trope, particularly at key moments. It's done as a ratings ploy: if you want people to watch, tell them exactly what they'll see. Why would I want to miss [[spoiler:Trunks kill Frieza]]? Also, the manga necessarily spoiled the anime. Common to any anime closely following a manga.
** In Japan it was assumed that the entire fan base was reading the manga so they would just tell them what happens in the next episode either through the title or through the preview.
* The trailers for ''BattleAngelAlita'' (aka ''Gunnm'') OVA summarize the entire episode, up to and including the defeat of the major villain.
* ''Anime/{{Naruto}}'''s English-language release of Vol. 30 gave away a ''major'' plot point ([[spoiler:who gets the final [[ChekhovsGun antidote]]]]) in its choice of picture for the "In the next volume" page at the back. With a little thought, it's easy to deduce what happens.
** It's something of a moot point, since it's suggested that [[spoiler:Sakura could have made it back to the Sand Village to make another antidote (the thing paralyzes instantly but takes ''3 days'' to actually kill someone)]] if not for [[spoiler:Chiyos's HeroicSacrifice]], which the preview for the corresponding anime episode spoils.
** Viz Media is incredibly bad with this. They spoiled the outcome for one fight, and if I recall correctly, they spoiled a character's death. In their translation of ''OnePiece'', they also showed ''the exact page'' where [[spoiler:Luffy defeats Captain Kuro]].
*** If you look closely in the background on the preview in Volume 66 for Volume 67, you can see [[spoiler:Trafalgar Law]] on Punk Hazard.
** ''Naruto'''s Volume 42 preview shows Sasuke saying that the Mangekyo Sharingan 1)[[spoiler:enables the user to control tailed beasts]], 2)[[spoiler:causes blindness]].
** The preview for the fourth uncut DVD collection reveals nearly all of the matchups in the preliminaries and, most {{egregious}}ly, features a shot of the winners gathered together.
* In a strange case, the [[OnTheNext Post Episode Trailers]] on the first three episodes of ''Anime/YesPrettyCure5'' (as well as the promo trailers, which focused a lot on the first episode) each showed part of the TransformationSequence of the girl who would transform for the first time in that episode. So in the trailer previewing episode 5, the conspicuous ''absence'' of a scene spoiling Karen's transformation was a spoiler in itself. (Or at least, in hindsight, it ''should'' have been.)
** On the other hand, although the ''Anime/PrettyCure'' fandom was more-or-less unanimous about [[SixthRanger Cure]] [[HeartcatchPrettyCure Sunshine's]] identity, there was still some suspense to be had in-show...until the trailer for Episode 23 killed it: the preview footage consisted almost entirely of [[StudentCouncilPresident Itsuki]] transforming into said Cure.
* The infamous "Malay dubs" of ''Anime/TransformersHeadmasters'' would often have major spoilage IN THE TITLE ("Ultra Magnus Dies!" Wonder what that episode is about). And one particularly amusing spoiler from the narrator in one episode:
** "Will Scorponok return? Of course he will."
* The trailer for the English release of ''VisualNovel/{{SHUFFLE}}!'' does a good job of keeping the secret of who the UnluckyEverydude ends up with, until you realize that [[spoiler:it's playing Asa's [[{{Leitmotif}} theme music]].]] This is a bigger hint than it would usually be, since [[spoiler:Asa is usually pushed aside until the viewer is hit in the head with her surprise victory, even left out of most plot summaries!]] Someone is going to put two and two together.
* Like the ''Phantom Menace'' example below, ''GundamSeed'' spoiled the death of a certain character by having one of the tracks on the official soundtrack being titled "(Character)'s Death".
* The tendency for trailers to spoil is parodied in ''Manga/SayonaraZetsubouSensei''. The plot summary on the back of the first volume of the manga appears to be spoiler laden, until you learn it has nothing to do with ''Zetsubou's'' actual plot. Likewise, the end of the MagicalGirl parody features a "spoiler" filled "Coming Next Episode" sequence, revealing (among other things) that Nozomu's mask was made of cardboard, and that he hasn't actually been defeated. Naturally, the real next episode is a return to the show's usual format.
* ''Manga/DGrayMan''. All the volumes end with a panel from the next volume. This panel is often a spoiler- let's see... volume 8 shows Allen's [[spoiler:destroyed Innocence reforming]] and volume 11 shows that [[spoiler:it takes more than an iron maiden to kill Krory]].
* ''Anime/DigimonXrosWars'' usually spoiled its content by releasing preview images of the next part of the story before the previous one aired.
** Before the ''Seven Kingdoms'' story arc began halfway through the series, it was revealed that [[spoiler:Taiki, Kiriha and Nene were to get new clothes, join forces and their Digimon will gain golden-armored forms]].
** Before the end of the series, plenty of previews of ''Anime/DigimonXrosWarsTheYoungHuntersLeapingThroughTime'' were released, confirming that [[spoiler:Damemon will be revived and become Yuu's partner for good (hasn't happened yet), that Shoutmon being killed off in episode 53 wasn't going to be permanent, and that in ''Young Hunters'' all characters were [[PutOnABus take the bus]] except for Taiki and Yuu]].
** The next episode previews at the end of each episode of ''Anime/DigimonFrontier'' usually spoiled the most important plot points of each episode. And if one simply chooses not to watch those, the ''episode titles themselves'' would be more than happy to do the spoiling in their stead.
** TheMovie could be considered a spoiler in this manner for ''Anime/DigimonAdventure02'' in one case (two if you saw it on it's American release date of October 6, 2000). The biggest spoiler was [[spoiler:the Golden Digi-Eggs,]] which would not appear in American airings for over a month after the movie was released (November 18, 2000). Viewers who saw the movie on the American launch day were doubly spoiled, as they also spoiled Raidramon who would not be shown until ''the very next day.''
* From ''VisualNovel/HigurashiNoNakuKoroNi'':
** The second season trailers ([[CaptainObvious the trailers that came out before the second season]]) spoiled a lot of the stuff in the beginning of the season. Then again, none of it would be news to anyone who'd read the original [[VisualNovel sound novels]].
** The next-episode trailers in the first season are usually [[ContemplateOurNavels too vague]] to give much away, but one of the Atonement-arc trailers includes the phrase "What I opened was a [[spoiler:scrapbook of deception]]", which spoils an upcoming plot point.
* ''Manga/FullmetalAlchemist'''s Volume 2 preview spoils [[spoiler:Nina and Alexander's unfortunate fate]].
** The trailer they made for the Season 1 boxset of [[Anime/FullmetalAlchemist the 2003 anime adaptation]] shows various clips from the first 26 episodes. The clips they use to end the trailer on? [[spoiler: Maes Hughes' death]]
** Although ''[[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood]]'' usually avoids this, the trailer for episode 50 completely ruins episode 49's CliffHanger of [[spoiler:Mustang's allies about to be shot dead]] by, after a pause of about half a second, showing [[spoiler:many of the "shot" characters perfectly fine]] in the OnTheNext trailer.
* The manga preview for Volume 27 of ''Manga/{{Bleach}}'' spoils [[spoiler:Orihime being abducted]], while at the end of Volume 26, [[spoiler:she had only just encountered Ulquiorra]].
** The summary of Volume 15 of the ''Bleach'' [=DVDs=] spoils [[spoiler:Aizen]] being the BigBad, by referring to him as [[spoiler:a captain who was thought to be dead]], screenshots showing him [[spoiler:clearly alive]] and the cover being of him after TheReveal.
** The trailer for Episode 224 of ''Bleach'' clearly shows [[spoiler:Momo]] helping Rangiku.
** The preview for Volume 24, while questioning what the outcome of the battle against the Arrancars will be, shows Renji, Hitsugaya and Rangiku winning their fights.
* ''Magazine/ShonenJump'' sometimes spoils plot points in its previews for the chapters in the next month's issue.
** In the December 2007 issue, the Bleach preview mentioned "reinforcements from the Soul Society" coming to help Ichigo against the Arrancar, and it was still ''several chapters'' before Hitsugaya's team arrived.
** The June 2009 issue suggests that the next issue's Naruto chapters would feature "the confession you never thought you'd hear", and it isn't hard to figure out that they're referring to [[spoiler:Hinata]].
** The July 2009 issue features a preview frame in Manga/{{Bleach}} showing Dordonii's defeat.
* Every "Next Episode" trailer in ''ZetaGundam'' does this. Watch the trailers and you need never be surprised by a plot twist again.
* The trailer for [[WhamEpisode Episode 405]] of ''OnePiece'' spoils almost the entire episode by showing [[spoiler:shots of Kuma lunging after each of Luffy's crewmates, and his saying that he can't save a single friend]]. And there's the [[SpoilerTitle title]]: "[[spoiler:Disappearing Crewmates! The Final Day of the Straw Hat Crew!]]"
* One of the next episode trailers for ''SamuraiSeven'' showed [[spoiler:Katsushiro]] and [[spoiler:Kirara]] kissing. They didn't actually RelationshipUpgrade, though.
* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaStrikerS'' has another example of a spoiling soundtrack. The name of Subaru's {{Leitmotif}}? "[[spoiler:[[HollywoodCyborg Steel]]]] Sprinter", a fact that isn't revealed until halfway into the season. Note that the OST with the spoilery track was [[{{Feelies}} packed with the first Japanese DVD volume]], which only had the first three episodes.
* The Next episode trailer for episode 8 of ''Anime/TengenToppaGurrenLagann'' has Kamina monologuing. Nothing to out of the ordinary for the show thus far except they gave the title of the episode, which was [[spoiler:"Farewell Comrades" ("So Long, Buddy" in the dub) which were Kamina's last words!]] [[SpoilerTitle They put the title card at the end of the episode for a reason!]]
* The English Trailer for GhostInTheShell starts with revealing the mystery the entire plot is about.
* The trailer for ''LightNovel/FullMetalPanic: The Second Raid'' at the end of "Episode 00" spoils that [[spoiler:Gauron survived the explosion at the end of the first season]].
* Completely averted by the back cover of the final volume of ''Manga/DeathNote'', which, instead of giving a brief plot summary, simply says "The battle ends here!"
** Mostly the same with the preview for it in Volume 11, although if you think about it, showing [[spoiler:Light's watch]] could be considered a minor spoiler.
* One [[http://naruto.viz.com/news/index.php?id=37 news post]] about ''Manga/{{Naruto}}'' chapters 430-434 (mislabeled as 425-429) mentioned that "when one of Naruto's comrades intervenes, more tragedy may be in store." While they did warn about spoilers, the event in question ([[spoiler:Hinata's confessing her love to Naruto and trying to defend him against Pain]]) doesn't happen until Chapter 437.
* ''Manga/YuYuHakusho'''s season four boxset mentions [[spoiler:Yusuke dying and coming back with the help of his demonic genes]].
* You can always tell in ''Anime/InuYasha'' when a character will be making a "surprise" return or Manga/InuYasha will be going through his [[spoiler:monthly transformation into a human]] by the pictures on the chapter covers (and sometimes the volume cover).
* The first Japanese volume of the ''[[Manga/FistOfTheNorthStar Hokuto no Ken]]'' manga ends in the middle of [[TheHero Kenshiro's]] final battle with his rival [[TokenMotivationalNemesis Shin]]. Yet, the cover of the second volume spoils the outcome of the fight by depicting [[spoiler:a dying Shin leaping to his death.]]
** The preview trailers and posters for the 2007 ''FistOfTheNorthStar'' movie ''Legend of Raoh: Chapter of Fierce Fighting'' spoils the fact that [[spoiler:Raoh dies.]] Considering the movie is an adaptation of a key story arc in a 24-year-old manga, this is a combination of LateArrivalSpoiler and ItWasHisSled.
* [[http://i34.mangareader.net/shiki/9/shiki-758007.jpg This]] cover for ''Manga/{{Shiki}}''. [[spoiler:Look at his eyes.]]
* Trailers for various iterations of ''Anime/NeonGenesisEvangelion'' contain ruthless spoilerage. An [[Creator/ADVFilms ADV]] trailer briefly showed [[spoiler:Misato and Ritsuko's death scenes from Episode 25]], and a "next episode" trailer spoils [[spoiler:Rei II's death]]; virtually every frame of the MangaEntertainment trailer for ''The End of Evangelion'' showcases massive spoilers, among them [[spoiler: the invasion of NERV HQ, the Misato-Shinji kiss scene, Asuka's death scene, and the appearance of GNR]]; even an early Japanese trailer for Death & Rebirth/[=EoE=] features a voiceover spoiling [[spoiler: Rei's betrayal of Gendo]]. Admittedly, [=EoE=] is such a spoilerific movie that it would be extremely difficult to have a trailer that spoils nothing whatsoever, but [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAMQybBc-Jk&feature=channel_page a series of Japanese TV spots]] seems to have figured it out (and encapsulated the general spirit of the movie into 15 seconds, to boot:)
** As [[NightmareFuel awesomely disturbing]] as the DVD menu for EoE is, it too is guilty of plenty of spoilerage as well [[spoiler: most notably Asuka's death.]]
* The preview for episode 23 of ''Manga/{{Bokurano}}'' spoils the fact that [[spoiler:Machi is the next selected pilot]].
* The DVD menus for the newest US release (Remix, I believe) of ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' do this terribly. The opening menu sequence on the first disk features the scene [[spoiler:right before Spike dies.]].
** A common trailer for the show clearly shows [[spoiler: Wen holding a gun and with a hole in his head]] which probably made it blatantly obvious who was the real villain of the episode long before anyone even watched it.
* The English trailer for ''Anime/KikisDeliveryService'' shows the climax of the movie: [[spoiler:Kiki saving Tombo after regaining her powers]].
** Similarly, Disney's trailer for ''Anime/PonyoOnTheCliffByTheSea'' shows the very last scene where [[spoiler:Ponyo kisses Sousuke and turns back into a human]].
* The back of the third DVD volume for ''Anime/CodeGeass R2'' shows Charles [[spoiler:with a code mark on his hand]], as well as [[spoiler:a dying V.V.]].
** The fourth volume shows pictures of [[spoiler:Nunnally]], who was assumed to be dead, including one with [[spoiler:her eyes open]], and also includes a SpoilerTitle for Episode 22: [[spoiler:Emperor Lelouch]].
** The final volume of ''Manga/CodeGeassNightmareOfNunnally'' shows [[spoiler:Nunnally standing up alongside Alice; granted, her eyes are still closed, but so are Alice]]'s, and also makes a reference to [[spoiler:Euphemia becoming Empress]].
* Lantis' 5-minute promo for ''[[Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya The Disappearance of Suzumiya Haruhi]]'' soundtrack spoiled THE ENTIRE MOVIE, so they had to redo it without spoilers.
** This trope, together with TrailerJokeDecay, was {{discussed|Trope}} in ''The Dissociation of Haruhi Suzumiya'' (the ninth novel), when Haruhi decides to make a sequel to "The Adventures of Mikuru Asahina". She talks about how much this annoys her and decides to avert this by producing the trailer before even starting the filming of the actual movie.
* The main Japanese Trailer of ''Anime/HowlsMovingCastle'' reveals the true form of the Witch of the Waste, but does not say that it is her.
* The Next Episode previews for ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'' has on one or two occasions spoiled certain things. Episode 10's preview ends with Yusei holding up the Rubble King card (the last card he uses against Takasu) and episode 12's preview spoils the end of the Yusei/Ushio duel by showing Goyo Guardian being destroyed by Turbo Warrior.
** The Next Episode preview for episode 53 spoils the outcome of the Crow/Bommer duel. The very last scene of the preview shows the exact scene in which [[spoiler: Earthbound God Chacu Challhua]]l is destroyed.
* The previews for the film adaptation of ''[[Anime/{{Metropolis}} Osamu Tezukas Metropolis]]'' showed scenes from when [[spoiler:Tima realized her true potential - to destroy Metropolis.]]
** And not only have the trailers given off the climax, but the DVD covers as well!
** The original manga did a [[http://www.boingboing.net/images/tezukabook.jpg similar thing.]]
* The cover of the third volume of ''Manga/{{Bakuman}}'' shows Moritaka Mashiro, one of the main characters, working as an assistant for Eiji Nizuma. When the offer is first proposed, Mashiro's editor, Akira Hattori, initially doesn't think he'll take it.
** The preview for Volume 6 notes that "all (Mashiro and Takagi's) dreams may go up in smoke when one member of the team can't take the pressure," and it shows [[spoiler:Mashiro]] collapsed in his office (Granted, this is foreshadowed).
** The preview for Volume 12 asks whether Mashiro and Takagi entering a contest will lead to strife between the two; in the volume, [[spoiler:things come to a head and Mashiro and Takagi, for the second time, seem poised to part ways]]. Interestingly enough, the accompanying image subverts this; [[spoiler:Takagi punching Mashiro]] seems like a spoiler of [[spoiler:the conflict to come]], but it actually [[spoiler:takes place as they ''reconcile'']]. The summary on the back also strongly implies that [[spoiler:Mashiro and Takagi save PCP from getting cancelled, but fail to get an anime]].
* In ''Anime/{{Mai-Hime}}'', Episode 15's trailer, after a cliffhanger involving [[spoiler:Mai's apparent death]], contains a brief shot with [[spoiler:Mai in the background while Yukino is ordering food and drinks at the Hime Sentai's karaoke party]].
* The intro of the first season of Anime/{{Pokemon}} Black and White had the Pokémon not covered in black[[note]]Unlike Best Wishes.[[/note]], thus revealing [[spoiler: '''EVERY SINGLE POKéMON IN THE FLIPPI'N INTRO!''']]
* One of the ''PokemonDiamondAndPearlAdventure'' featured a prominent spoiler on one of the covers, the volume after it was revealed. It clearly showed [[spoiler:Mitsumi]] as a Team Galactic member so to anyone who saw that cover early.. You're spoilered.
* In episode 19 of EurekaSevenAO, [[spoiler: Christophe sacrifices himself to destroy Truth in a quartz explosion.]]. The scene was incredibly well-done and poignant and the fans would've appreciated it far more if it weren't for the fact that the preview for the next episode [[spoiler: clearly shows that Truth survived.]]
* The North American DVD trailer for [[{{Slayers}} Slayers Evolution-R]] not only features footage from the final episode. ''It features footage from the last '''eight minutes''' of the final episode!!!''
* The trailer for ''[[BlackButler Kuroshitsuji II]]'' has one shot--easy to miss, in their defense--that shows [[spoiler:Ciel with black nails]]. This may seem like a minor detail to reveal anything, but the series establishes that [[spoiler:the only characters with black nails are demons; hence revealing that Ciel becomes a demon]].
* ''Manga/{{Asura}}'' 's trailer reveal that [[spoiler: Asura becomes a monk and Wakasa died]], which is '''the last ten minutes of the film'''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Film - Live Action]]
* Serials by ColumbiaPictures were particularly bad about this. As a serial, each chapter or episode ended with the hero in a cliffhanger facing certain death... meant to entice the audience back to the theater the next week to see if and how the hero will survive certain death. Columbia, however, always showed clips from the next chapter after the cliffhanger - which, inevitably, showed the very hero involved in the cliffhanger alive and in action.
* Most comedy films today seem to put all the best jokes in the trailer. Some wags claim that the marketing department does this to disguise the fact that all the jokes ''not'' in the trailer just aren't funny. TrailerJokeDecay inevitably ensues.
** Look at the number of jokes per trailer. If a film has three trailers, and they all use the same jokes, they were the only funny ones in the movie. If they use different jokes (or emphasize different parts of the movie), the odds are better.
** When RogerEbert reviewed ''DodgeballATrueUnderdogStory'' favorably, he said he was pleasantly surprised by how much funny stuff was kept ''out'' of the trailer. Likewise, he mentioned in his one-star review of ''Year One'' that the only funny stuff were lines already in the trailers.
* The trailers for some of the best horror films have occasionally tried to counter this trope by inverting it, showing as little about the plot as possible. To name a few examples:
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LjLamj-b0I8&feature=related the original trailer]] for ''Film/{{Alien}}'' literally explains absolutely nothing about the film. All we get are a bunch of quick shots of... intense things happening, most of the images being two or three seconds long.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ouZkkIsLiNg The trailer]] for John Carpenter's ''Film/TheThing1982'' has some opening narration, and two out-of-context lines; one a brief speech that gives a sense of paranoia but fails to reveal anything about what actually happens, the other revealing little more than the fact that some guy named Garry at one point thinks one of the guys is a Thing (which is also shown out of context). Then like the trailer for ''Alien'' it's mostly just a bunch of quick shots from the movie.
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DTC9Lt3hiWo the trailer]] for ''Film/AngelHeart'' shows a whole bunch of bits and pieces of the film, playing segments of dialogue throughout, but again, all is shown out of context, and only makes sense when one actually sees the film. It's actually quite haunting, and if this trailer freaks you out (which it will), [[NightmareFuel just wait until you see the actual movie and you find out just what all that scattered dialogue means...]].
** [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3b726feAhdU The utlimate example]] would be ''Film/TheShining'', the trailer for which is literally just a single scene, specifically a long shot of a room. There's some credits, then a river of blood, and that's it.
* The TV commercials for ''WesternAnimation/{{Nine}}'' try their best to hide things by cutting rapidly from scene to scene, but they still manage to spoil [[spoiler: 2's funeral, the destruction of the Fabrication Machine, the Cat Beast's death, and several of the dolls having their souls sucked out by the talisman]]. Geeze!
* In the first few seconds of the ''Film/FiveHundredDaysOfSummer'' teaser trailer, you'll see that Summer is clearly wearing a wedding ring, not necessarily a spoiler but with the narration claiming "This is not a Love Story", it gives you a pretty big hint that the two [[spoiler: will not end up together.]]
** The film's opening shows Tom and Summer holding hands, so showing her hand with a ring on it doesn't show any more than the first couple of minutes, and the audience doesn't know that [[spoiler:Tom's not her fiance.]]
* The trailer for ''{{Affliction}}'' is a very serious example: it shows the ending of the movie, [[spoiler: where Nick Nolte's character kills his father and then burns the body.]]
* The poster for ''{{Airheads}}'' reveals that [[spoiler:Chazz, Rex, and Pip are ultimately arrested and sent to prison]].
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksnwIUyspps This trailer]] for the 1999 ''AnimalFarm'' film may be more respectful to the film than [[NeverTrustATrailer the rest of the promotion]], but it also spoiled [[spoiler:the corruption of the pigs by the end of the movie]].
* ''ArlingtonRoad'''s main plotline involves whether or not the Tim Robbin's character is actually a domestic terrorist or just a regular guy. If you've seen the trailer, however, you know the answer. In fact, Jeff Bridges spends much of DVD commentary complaining about the film's tell-all marketing.
* They did it for ''Film/{{Avatar}}'' - a major part of the first two thirds of film is 'Can we stop them attacking the Na'vi?', when the trailer had already shown [[spoiler: lots and lots and lots of gunfire and [[GunPorn huge robots with rockets]].]] Is Cameron doing this deliberately?
** You also see the tree falling over in the trailer. You have to wait 2 hours for that to happen in the film.
* ''BallsOfFury'' tries really hard to make Feng's identity a secret, despite that ChristopherWalken is 99% of the star power (the other 1% being, of course, James Hong).
* A TV spot for ''Film/BatmanBegins'' revealed, in order, that [[LateArrivalSpoiler Bruce's parents died]], Wayne Manor burns down (something that happen 3/4's of the way through the film), and that Bruce has a reconciliatory conversation with Rachel that happens right beside the ashes of said burned-down manor.
** ''Film/TheDarkKnight'''s trailers featured [[spoiler: a few scenes involving Gordon (the Joker interrogation, smashing the Batsignal) that took place after his apparent death, tipping viewers off that he wasn't really dead]].
* Averted and lampshaded in [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j063r4O33OE the trailer]] for the 1947 film ''The Bishop' s Wife'', in which actors DavidNiven, Loretta Young, and CaryGrant all appear as themselves on the Samuel Goldwyn backlot, deciding not to film a trailer because they don't want a trailer to give away the film's surprises.
** A similar aversion is employed with [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDC5H2MdtEw the trailer]] for another Christmas-themed 1947 film, ''[[Film/MiracleOnThirtyFourthStreet Miracle on 34th Street]]''.
* Before ''Film/BlackSwan'' won an Oscar, the trailers and TV spots for the film show [[spoiler:Nina's [[NightmareFuel disturbing]] swan morph.]]
* Several trailers for ''TheBoatThatRocked'' (''Pirate Radio'' in the US) showed [[spoiler: the [=DJs=] choosing to ignore the new laws passed to ban pirate radio, and the boat flooding]].
* The trailer for ''Film/{{Bratz}}'' pretty much tells the entire movie's story.
* A commercial for ''CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' shows [[spoiler:Cap standing in modern-day Times Square flanked by SHIELD agents (including Nick Fury), when the movie is supposed to take place in WWII. Since the Avengers franchise (Iron Man, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, etc.) is also set in the modern day, this was the inevitable conclusion)]].
* The trailer for ''{{Carrie}}'' shows pretty much all the climax of the film, including the deaths of every significant character, which begs the question of why anyone, having seen it, would actually go and see the film.
** Not a trailer, but "The 101" (a Direct TV exclusive channel) advertised it as "A teenage psychic wreaks havoc at her high school prom". Way to not only skewer the plot, but also portray Carrie White as the villain!
* This is common with RobertZemeckis' films; for instance, the trailer for ''CastAway'' reveals that TomHanks makes it off the island in the end. Zemeckis argues that the audience most of his films are targeted toward ''want'' to know about the plot twists ahead of time rather than having an GenreShift sprung on them.
* The trailer for ''CharliesAngels: Full Throttle'' revealed the identity of the BigBad despite its being set up as a big surprise in the film itself. As if that's not bad enough, in pre-release promotional interviews and press pieces, everyone involved was frank and forthcoming with the BigBad's identity.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze6M7EbB0R4 This trailer]] for ''Charlie St. Cloud'' gives away basically every plot point from the film.
* ''ChildrenOfMen'': Sitting through the first act is tedious when you already saw TheReveal in the trailer.
* The original ''TheChildrensHour'' trailer effectively spoils the entire twist of the story, and [[spoiler:Martha's suicide]].
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gQLZlIoNI8c One trailer]] for ''{{Cocoon}}'' explicitly revealed that Walter, Kitty, et al [[spoiler: are aliens]].
* ''{{Collateral}}'' treats Tom Cruise/Vincent's occupation as a secret, but you already knew it if you saw any promotion at all. Even critics were unsure how to treat this bit of information, most saying something to the effect of "I guess this is a spoiler, but it's already spoiled." In a hilarious bit of probably accidental hypocrisy, [[http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040806/REVIEWS/408060302/1023 Roger Ebert's review]] kindly tells you not to finish reading it if you don't already know, but the picture and caption at the top of the webpage give it away anyway.
* Likewise, if you watch the trailer for ''CollegeRoadTrip'', you probably won't have to see the movie at all, as it seems to summarize the entire plot of the movie quite nicely.
* ''Film/{{Commando}}'''s plot is already razor-thin anyways, and it's transparently obvious that the bad guys will lose since it's a 1980s-style action movie. So just to really rub salt in the wound, the trailer ruins the movie... by ruining almost all of the best catch phrases, including the immortal, "[[BondOneLiner Let Off Some Steam, Bennett!]]"
** Not the only Arnie movie to be spoilt either. ''Film/TotalRecall1990'''s main trailer is pretty much the majority of the movie, especially the best parts [[spoiler:("Consider that a divorce!")]]. The trailers for ''Eraser'' give away [[spoiler:that James Caan is the villain.]]
* One of the cinematic trailers for ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'' reveals that Olivia Wilde's character [[spoiler:is an alien.]]
** Trailers also showed [[spoiler: her stepping naked out of the fire]], so when you watch the movie, you know that [[spoiler: she can't really be dead because that scene hasn't happened yet.]]
* One DVD release of ''CrouchingTigerHiddenDragon'' had the very final scene of the movie as the background for the language menu. Anyone who wanted to see the movie in any format other than English dubs had to spoil the ending for themselves.
* In the trailer for ''{{Critters}} IV'' they give away every turning point, everyone who dies, and how all of the critters are killed.
* The trailers for ''TheCuriousCaseOfBenjaminButton'' pretty much detail every event in the entire movie, showing just about everything important that happens in Benjamin's life.
** Granted, the source material for the film, a short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, is so short that you could pick up a compendium of Fitzgerald's short stories which include "Benjamin Button", flip to where the story is, and within 10 - 15 minutes know how the entire story goes.
* The little known horror movie ''Film/DarknessFalls'' has a glaring plot hole involving a character getting killed despite not having met the requirements for the token supernatural serial killer to choose to kill her...that is, unless you saw the deleted scene [[NeverTrustATrailer in the trailer]].
* The case of the VHS of George Romero's original ''Film/DawnOfTheDead'' has a picture on the '''spine''' of one of the main characters dead and zombified, an event that occurs about ten minutes from the end.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=luSqcSVGknU This trailer]] for ''DeadOrAlive'' is notable for including the ''very last scene in the movie''. Now, it's a short gag scene, but it does reveal that [[spoiler: Kasumi and Ayane end up on the same side despite Ayane spending most of the movie trying to kill Kasumi]].
* Watch the trailer for the hip, black version of ''DeathAtAFuneral'' and you don't need to bother seeing ''either'' movie because it shows [[spoiler: the boyfriend accidentally getting high then getting naked, the elderly uncle's bathroom problems, and the two brothers (who are also rivals) learning their father was having a homosexual affair -- with the same actor as the original!]]
* ''DeathRace'''s trailer appears to cover the entire plot. If anyone was watching for that rather than Jason Statham based violence, they'd be disappointed.
* The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jxf73ebZfeY trailer]] for the ridiculous and sub-par SlasherMovie ''Detention'' (2010) (best known as one of [[Series/KungFu David]] [[Film/KillBill Carradine's]] last appearances before his rather unusual death) tells you absolutely ''everything''. Who our group of victims is, who gets killed, the [[SinsOfOurFathers entire back-story]] for the killer's rampage, exactly which two characters survive until the end, and who the LargeHam killer is. About the only detail it leaves out is whether or not those last two make it to the end-credits, but it's a ForegoneConclusion.
* The ''Film/DieHard 2'' trailer showed John [=McClane=] fighting [[spoiler: Major Grant at the end revealing his FaceHeelTurn as TheMole near the end of the film]].
* ''DoubleJeopardy'' was infamous for its trailer revealing that: Ashley Judd goes to jail for the murder of her husband, she finds out her husband is alive, a fellow inmate informs her that she cannot be convicted for the same crime twice, and that she menacingly points a gun on her husband while Tommy Lee Jones (who was investigating Judd) sits back and watches.
* The first trailer for the movie adaptation of ''EndersGame'' ends with [[spoiler:Ender shouting "Now!" as he orders his fleet to destroy a planet- the Buggers' homeworld.]] This would happen to be ''the absolute climax moment for the film.''
* The Music/JenniferLopez movie ''{{Enough}}'' is about an abused wife who goes on the run, but her husband tracks her down and she realizes the only way to stop him is to TakeALevelInBadass. The trailers showed her confronting him after her training, which is basically the climax of the movie.
* While not spoiling any plot points, and anyone who's read up on the movie should see this coming, but the trailer for ''Film/TheExpendables'' shows [[spoiler: clips from the meeting between Stallone, Schwarzenegger, and Willis.]] A good way to get people to see the movie, but it's similar to the above Transformers example.
* {{Nickelodeon}} began releasing trailers for ''AFairlyOddMovieGrowUpTimmyTurner'' over a month before the movie aired. One of the earliest trailers showed a clip of [[spoiler:Tootie talking to Cosmo, Wanda, and Poof after Timmy introduces them to her]].
* ''Film/TheFall'' starts out as a cute story about a couple of patients in a hospital narrating and imagining a fantastical epic. It slowly sinks into a darker tone when you realize that one of the main characters is suicidal, eventually becoming very dark indeed. The trailer showed the main character [[spoiler: attempting suicide]], explained outright that he had [[spoiler: made up the story to get his friend to steal morphine for him]], and showed [[spoiler: the death of nearly every main character]].
* The trailers for ''Film/FantasticFour: Rise of the Silver Surfer'' [[spoiler: reveal the plot point that the team exchanges powers, and shows the climax where they combine all their powers into Human Torch]].
* The ''FinalDestination'' series is really bad about this. The trailers or pre-release clips spoil [[spoiler: [[EyeScream Evan's death]], Tim's Death, [[YourHeadASplode Nadia's Death]], [[EyeScream Samantha's death]], Andy's Death, [[AssholeVictim Hunt]] dying in a pool, George's Death, [[StuffBlowingUp The Theater Explosion]], Lori's "death" by Escalator, [[YourHeadASplode Isaac's Death]] (Hard to catch, but it IS in one of the TV Spots), [[DisneyVillainDeath Olivia's Death]], Dennis's Death, and [[TwistEnding the ending twist of Final Destination 5]]. Throw in pre-release pictures and you can count Candice's and [[ImpaledWithExtremePrejudice Peter's]] deaths too!]] Don't even get me started on what you can find out if you add in analyzing their released pictures and clips!
* The trailer for ''FirstDaughter'' spoils the true identity of [[spoiler:the boyfriend]], a surprise twist revealed very late in the movie.
* The trailer for ''FreeWilly'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6bSTWtAo0U does exactly this]], outlining every major plot point in just under two minutes.
* At least one trailer for ''Film/FromDuskTillDawn'' makes explicitly clear that the inhabitants of the bar are [[spoiler:vampires]], which is a twist halfway through the movie.
* The trailer for Creator/JuddApatow's ''FunnyPeople'' shows that Creator/AdamSandler's character has a life-threatening disease. That's part of the premise that's been widely-known. [[spoiler:Then it goes and says outright that he may have beaten the damn thing.]] According to many online script reviews, this happens two-thirds into the film. Yep.
* The trailer for the 1987 movie ''Film/TheGate'' included every single special effect in the entire film except one.
* ''Film/TheGeneralsDaughter'' is a thriller full of plot twists. The trailer spoiled every single one of them. (It even ''almost'' spoiled the actual murderer. While it didn't show the murderer, it showed a short clip from the final scene, where the murderer is revealed.)
* Since the Eiffel Tower's collapse is the MoneyMakingShot of ''GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'', its inclusion on the trailer kinda ruins some of the tension of the Paris scenes. A scene from the final part of the movie involving an airplane being devoured by {{Nanomachines}} is also in the previews.
* The original theatrical trailer for ''Film/TheGodfather'' features stills from the movie, including almost every single murder.
* The trailer for ''Film/GoldenEye'' revealed the plot twist that Bond's old partner 006 (Trevelyan) was the film's main villain.
** The trailer for ''Film/Dr.No'' told the audience the whole plot, including the final scenes.
** [[spoiler:M's death]] in Skyfall was revealed in the internet even before the movie's teaser trailer was revealed.
** The box art for ''Film/YouOnlyLiveTwice'' prominently shows the full likeness of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, which is shown in that movie for the first time. It isn't exactly a major plot twist, but it doesn't seem appropriate for a villain who famously spent at least two a half ''movies'' with his face just off-camera.
* Watch the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QcAFbGJv6k trailer]] for ''Gray Matter''. Congratulations, you have just seen the entire movie. Sure, there was a lot of {{Gayngst}} in the middle, but that was the whole movie right there.
* The trailer for ''TheGreatEscape'' reveals that [[spoiler:a bunch of men do, in fact, escape, which happens very late in the film]].
** Given that [[spoiler: "Escape", something that happens in the movie, is ''[[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin in the title]]'', [[ForegoneConclusion what did you think was going to happen?]]]]
** It is based on a true story, what did you expect?
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRrZ7CRpcw4 This trailer]] for ''GrossePointeBlank'' gives away every single plot twist in the film.
* The original ''Film/{{Halloween 1978}}'' theatrical trailer gives away the first scene's twist - that the killer is the victim's six-year old brother.
* The DVD trailer for ''Film/TheHangover'' spoils almost every significant plot event, including [[spoiler: that Ed Helms marries a hooker, that the group is attacked by an Asian gang, the poker scene, and the fact that there are two Dougs in the film.]]
* The trailer for ''{{Hanna}}'' gives away the minor plot twist when Marissa sends a double into the holding cell where Hanna is(from the back the person looks and sounds exactly like Marissa), and Hanna starts crying and then snaps the woman's neck.
* Both the trailer and the description on the back of ''HappyAccidents'' give away that [[spoiler: Sam may or may not be from the future and he is trying to save Ruby from dying.]] The movie is great either way, but it's more effective if you don't know this information beforehand.
* The trailer for the [[HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows seventh Harry Potter movie]].
** [[spoiler: Harry and Voldemort fight! Ollivander isn't dead! Hogwarts erupts into battle! Ron uses the sword! There's a dragon! Griphook comes back! Harry hands himself over to Voldemort!]] The worst part about all of it is that most of this stuff is from what has to be the ''second part''. So not only are they spoiling a good section of the book, they're spoiling a good section of the ''second movie''.
** You thought ''that'' was bad? Just wait until you see the theatrical trailer for Part 2! It shows two of the most important parts of the battle of Hogwarts. [[spoiler: The first, though only a flash, is Ron visibly cradling Fred's dead body. The second Lupin and Tonks hold hands before what is most likely their death, and the third is Molly and Bellatrix fighting.]] Might as well spoil the fact that [[spoiler: Snape loved Lily]].
** ButWaitTheresMore! The trailers for Part 2 also show a scene where Harry speaks to dead friends and loved ones, like his parents -- as well as a certain character ([[spoiler:Prof. Remus Lupin]]) who was still alive last time we checked. And said character is quite prominent, meaning it's hard to miss. Whoops.
** Not to mention a lot of the scenes from said trailer show Harry [[spoiler:after his death and resurrection, removing the dramatic tension leading up to his death]].
* Bizarrely subverted in that the DVD cover of ''HeLovesMeHeLovesMeNot'' looks [[RomanticComedy good enough at first glance]], but on closer inspection [[spoiler:all the review quotes seem to be describing a PsychologicalThriller]], mirroring the plot of the film.
* According to WilliamGoldman, producer Joseph E. Levine started this with the 1960 ''Film/{{Hercules}}'' movie (the Steve Reeves one).
* Not exactly a trailer ''yet'', but the NewYorkTimes' profile for the upcoming adaptation of ''HereThereBeDragons'' flat out advertises what was supposed to be a big surprise at the end of the book, namely that [[spoiler: John, Jack and Charles are J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and Charles Williams.]]
* In the JohnWoo film ''HeroesShedNoTears'', the film's trailer spoils Every. Single. Named Protagonist death with the exception of two, both of which would be too gruesome for the trailer.
* ''HomeAlone'' was really bad about this. The trailer showed every booby trap and pratfall. And let's face it, anyone who watched that movie watched it for the "''StrawDogs'' for kids"-style pratfalls, not the chance to see Macaulay Culkin act out every young boy's fantasies of living without parental supervision while bonding with the creepy neighbor who turns out to be a JerkWithAHeartOfGold.
* The trailer for ''HotFuzz'' focuses almost entirely on the two main characters fighting against the entire population of a surprisingly well armed rural community, despite the fact that not only does this not happen until two thirds through the movie, but [[spoiler:it reveals that Danny does a HeelFaceTurn, before he is ever revealed to be on the same side as the townsfolk.]]
* The trailer for ''Film/HotTubTimeMachine'' spoiled that [[spoiler: Lou is Jacob's father]], which is an event that occurs fairly late in the film and is a bit of a twist.
* Both the poster and the DVD/VHS cover art for ''TheHudsuckerProxy'' spoil one of the funniest jokes in the movie.
* The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1W8igqK_QWU trailer]] for ''ICantThinkStraight'' pretty much sums up all the major plot points in the movie, which is a shame since Lisa Ray and Sheemal Sheth give great performances as Tala and Leyla, respectively.
* The trailers and posters for ''Film/TheIncredibleBurtWonderstone'' spoil just about every plot development and serves as more or less a two minute summary of the entire film.
* A trailer for ''Film/TheIncredibleHulk'' shows RobertDowneyJr appearing as [[Film/IronMan Tony Stark]]. This is ''the last scene in the movie''.
** And you can tell too, the last shot of Norton doing the green eye thing is clearly meant to be the the last thing you see before the credits roll. Then they roll TheStinger and it breaks the whole mood.
*** They pushed the Tony Stark appearance for fan-boy appeal. They knew they had hit something big with [[spoiler:SamuelLJackson]] showing up in ''Iron Man'', and also knew the last attempt at Hulk was dismal. Showing a connection to a proven blockbuster powerhouse was [[ExecutiveMeddling pushed]] from above to try and harness the salivating geekdom.
** Besides that, the theatrical trailer shows you everything else in the movie: that the Hulk is being pursued around the world by an elite military force, that one member has a pretty bad grudge against him, that they capture the Hulk and derive a Hulk-making serum from him, which they use on said soldier, which turns him into another Hulk, and the two have a big showdown fight.
** On the other hand, the post-credits scene from ''Film/IronMan'' is just about the only really cool thing in the movie that ''wasn't'' shown in the trailer.
*** For ''Film/IronMan2'', the briefcase armour was supposed to be an nod to the fandom, if they'd been paying attention to it. Otherwise, it's just a mysterious briefcase, right up until it opens up.
** Speaking of ''Iron Man'' and ''Hulk'', several websites involving both movies and comics include a article which spoiled the ending to ''Film/CaptainAmericaTheFirstAvenger'' [[spoiler:which involves Cap in modern-day New York with Nick Fury along with a teaser to the next Marvel Cinematic Film ''Film/TheAvengers'']] so if you've seen the spoiler then you don't have to stay during the credits. You can thank the Internet for ruining the moment we've been waiting for.
*** The Avengers subverted this trope. All you could tell from the trailer that the villain really, REALLY hated cars because there they were being destroyed.
**** ...Until the SECOND trailer, which clearly shows and has several voice-overs from Loki.
* The advertisings for TheFilmOfTheBook of ''Literature/InhabitedIsland'' by the Creator/StrugatskyBrothers spoils ''every'' major plot point. One trailer even reveals that [[spoiler: TheHero and the BigBad turns out to be on the same side]], what was supposed to be a TwistEnding.
* ''TheIsland'' built up suspense in the beginning that was impacted by revealing in the trailer [[spoiler: that the people shown were clones and showing the escape into the real world which all was part of the midway twist along with figuring out what the island was.]]
* The remake of the horror and revenge film ''ISpitOnYourGrave'', about a woman who spends over a month taking systematic revenge on the individuals in a group that gang-rapes her, actually says what the entire story and ending are plainly and totally straight, clearly with no attempt in allowing the slightest bit of suspense. It states right in your face what happens after describing the entire first half in a few sentences with the words: "When the carnage clears, victim has become victor."
* The trailer for ''Film/ItsAMadMadMadMadWorld'' gives away that [[spoiler:the money is lost to the crowd watching them fight over it.]]
* A cross between this and NeverTrustATrailer; everything from the trailers to the box art of ''Film/JasonX'' market Jason's futuristic upgrades which he only gets within the last 15 minutes of the movie.
** The trailers for the original ''Film/FridayThe13th1980'' and its [[Film/FridayThe13thPart2 first sequel]] showed enough of ''every'' death scene in the movie to know who was going to die before ever seeing the film. Also a case of NeverTrustATrailer as both trailers implied that there were thirteen deaths in each movie, when in fact [[spoiler:there were only ten in each (if you count the killer in the first one)]].
* It was bad enough that ''Franchise/JurassicPark'' had trailers that showed off the impressive special effects in the film, spoiling key moments in the film. There were also special programs that gave away the rest of the special effects, so by the time you made it to the theater, the only part you hadn't seen was the character development.
** However, the original marketing deliberately did not show ANY of the dinosaurs. You actually had to buy a ticket to see them in action for the first time. Audiences in 1993 audibly gasped at the first reveal (which is actually quite a ways into the film). After the first week or so, the trailers became much more revealing.
*** When the actors went on late-night talk shows to promote the movie, they showed scenes of the initial reveal of the brachiosaurus to the paleontologists... but cut every shot of the brachiosaur. The best you saw was a tailtip and the back of a foot. The show host was unamused.
* Trailers of ''The Kindred'' and ''Centipede'' spoil the demise of the monsters.
* The trailer for ''Literature/TheKiteRunner'' bizarrely chooses to focus on the last third of the movie and reveals that [[spoiler:Hassan dies]] and makes it seem like the whole movie is about [[spoiler:Amir trying to save Hassan's son]], even though most of the movie is about their childhood friendship.
* Subverted in the case of ''LarryCrowne''. While people might think that the trailer gives away the entire film, it mostly only shows what happens in the first hour. Most of the film's third act was not shown in the trailer.
* Most of the footage for the theatrical trailer of ''Film/TheLastStarfighter'' comes from the last half hour of the movie.
* If you watched the trailer for ''LawAbidingCitizen'', you see every single murder that is committed in the movie. Plus a clip of the last scene, just for good measure.
* ''Film/TheLeagueOfExtraordinaryGentlemen'' had most plot points which were intended to be a big twist end up getting spoiled by the trailer. The worst offender is probably Dorian Gray's immortality and Mina Harker's vampirism, both of which were clearly intended to be a surprise to the audience, but both of which were shamelessly spoiled by every single trailer.
** Anyone familiar with the original works the movie draws characters from wouldn't find those spoilers at all; Dorian Grey in particular boarders more on ItWasHisSled.
* Go watch the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yP2V4mt4XWQ trailer]] to ''LettersToJuliet'', and you already could probably write a synopsis of the entire film.
* In certain circles (that is, the obsessive ones), the trailer for ''[[Film/TheLordOfTheRings The Two Towers]]'' is rather notorious for giving away what is clearly set up in the film (and even more so in the book) as a point of mystery and contention -- the identity of the mysterious White Wizard who is following Aragorn's Terrific Trio around.
** In the book, Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas were totally surprised to find out that [[spoiler: Gandalf had returned from the dead]], and when they heard about a "White Wizard", and even at first when they finally came across him, they thought [[spoiler: it was Saruman, not Gandalf]]. In the movie, to maintain this, Peter Jackson actually went so far as to have [[spoiler: Gandalf the White]] speak with the voices of [[spoiler: ''both Lee and [=McKellen=]'']] imitating each other's voice, with their voices overlaid on top of each other. You can hear the transitions quite well, and for a moment [[spoiler: Gandalf]] sounds like he's talking with the VoiceOfTheLegion because of this.
** Well, it might have been somewhat hard to keep the revelation that [[spoiler: Gandalf's alive]] out of the trailer, since he shows up at the end of the first fourth of the movie. Then again, he leaves shortly after not to return until the end, so it might have been feasible...
* The people editing the trailer for ''TheMachinist'' thought it would be a brilliant idea to hint at the plot twist at the end too heavily, [[spoiler:including the answer to hangman game, "KILLER"]].
* ''{{Magnolia}}'': Not a major twist, but posters for the movie reveal the final unexpected scenes of [[spoiler:frogs raining from the sky]].
* Given the young target audience, it's not surprising that the trailer for ''Film/{{Matilda}}'' showed the headmistress getting her comeuppance.
* The trailer for ''Film/TheMatrix Reloaded'' revealed that Agent Smith was not only still alive, but has gone rogue and could replicate himself by jamming his hand into other people/programs. Though all of this was shown ''fairly'' early on in the film, many scenes were clearly meant to be reveals that would surprise and confuse the viewers, such as the scene where Smith speaks to another Agent only for the camera to pan over and reveal the other Agent is also Smith.
** A more minor example would be the Twins and their ghosting ability. Within the progression of the story itself, their ability to phase into intangible ghost-like forms came as a surprise to the main characters, but scenes with them using said ability were featured pretty heavily in the film's marketing. As such, as soon as the Twins first showed up on screen, probably just about everybody in the theater started eagerly anticipating when they'd get to see their powers in action, which actually didn't happen until a good chunk of time after their first appearance.
* The trailer (not to mention the VHS cover art) for ''Film/MeetTheFeebles'' shows the surprise ending in action.
* ''MeetTheParents'' would have been lot funnier if the trailer hadn't given away that the girl's father isn't really a retired florist but actually an ex-interrogator for the CIA.
* Much of what made ''Film/MenInBlack'' enjoyable was its striking visuals and special effects - all of which seem to be in the trailer.
* A more subtle example occurs in the trailer for ''Film/MillionDollarBaby'', which clearly shows [[spoiler: Maggie lying on the ground with a doctor kneeling over her]]. This one is somewhat excusable because they didn't actually show [[spoiler: her getting punched or landing on the stool before hand, and the viewer might not easily guess that she ends up paralyzed after this scene]]. Also to be fair, they also had the decency ''not'' to spoil [[spoiler: the incredibly dark turn taken by the last quarter of the film, where Maggie is paralyzed from the neck down and the story becomes about Frankie's efforts to cope with what's happened]].
* The trailer for the movie ''TheMillionDollarHotel'' shows a scene of Jeremy Davies' character [=TomTom=] [[spoiler: confessing that he "went ahead and pushed him off".]]
* The trailer for ''{{Multiplicity}}'' gave away that the movie has four {{Michael Keaton}}s, a development that does not happen until about 80 minutes into the 120 minute movie.
* In the trailer for ''Film/MuppetsFromSpace'', the very first Muppets that you see are none other than [[spoiler: Gonzo's family]].
* The trailer for the Martin Lawrence film ''NationalSecurity'' gives away the film's ending where [[spoiler: Steve Zahn's character gets his job back and Lawrence fulfills his dream about being a cop]]...at the very beginning of the trailer. A few seconds later, you see the tail end of the film.
* ''NationalTreasure 2'' was pretty bad about trailer spoilers. Ben [[spoiler: kidnaps the president,]] Ben [[spoiler: was just kidding when it looks like he loses his hand to the eagle,]] the treasure is [[spoiler: hidden under Mt. Rushmore.]] It's pretty bad when a movie's trailers subject it to [[LateArrivalSpoiler You Should Have Forgotten This By Now]] spoiler tagging.
* Trailers for ''Film/TheNegotiator'' revealed that Spacey's character would eventually side with Jackson's.
** David Letterman parodied the trope using an expanded version of this particular trailer. His version included an announcer who summed up the entire movie plotline beginning to end ("Oh, and this guy dies too.")
* Try watching the trailer for ''NeverBeenKissed'', and then once you see the movie it will be as though you just watched it twice.
* In ''Film/ANightmareOnElmStreet1984'', only four characters are killed; the trailer shows all of the deaths and the order they happen.
* ''Film/{{Oblivion 2013}}'' : The fact that [[spoiler: humanity isn't completely dead]] and there's a [[spoiler: [[LaResistance resistance]] led by MorganFreeman]] would have been a great plot twist if it hadn't been included in the very first trailer. Fortunately, there are other twists that the trailer managed to omit.
* New trailers for ''ParanormalActivity'' show a shot of [[spoiler: Micah's body flying toward the camera]] from the final scene.
* The trailer for ''Piranha3D'' finishes up with the last scene of the film! Which happens to be a stinger showing the death of one of the main characters.
* The ''PiratesOfTheCaribbean: At World's End'' trailer clearly shows [[spoiler: Will Turner on the helm of the Flying Dutchman as he becomes Captain. You can even see the scar on his chest]].
** Every single trailer showed [[spoiler: Jack Sparrow, clearly back from the dead.]] Sure, it was pretty obvious that would be happening in the last movie, but it still might have been more tense had they avoided showing him at all in the trailers.
** And the poster/DVD cover for ''At World's End'' spoils the twist ending from the second movie ([[spoiler:Barbossa is BackFromTheDead]]).
** Even the first trailer spoils to a lesser extent: when a viewer remembers that, in the trailer, he saw Jack standing in front of the gallows, he won't be concerned that [[spoiler: Jack is really dead when Barbossa impales him, since that scene hasn't happened yet.]]
** One piece of merchandise for the third movie (which came out before the film) was called "Will Turner, [[spoiler: Captain of the Flying Dutchman]]"
* The ''PlanetOfTheApes'' movie features the Statue of Liberty on the DVD case.
** The trailer for RiseOfThePlanetOfTheApes basically summarizes the plot of the whole movie.
* The "shocking" revelation that [[spoiler: they're all not on Earth, but another planet]] on ''Predators'' might have been more surprising if it hadn't been seen in EVERY theatrical trailer and TV spot.
* The theatrical trailer for ''Film/ThePrincessBride'' spoils [[spoiler:the Clergyman's funny voice, Count Rugen going into a battle stance before running away, the outcome of the battle of wits, and Wesley's "death"]].
* All trailers for ''Film/{{Prometheus}}'' show things that happen in the last 10 minutes into the film. The same is true for one of the international posters advertising the film. [[spoiler: Namely, that titular ship Prometheus crashes into the alien vessel.]]
** To be fair, that was a very quick shot which only lasted about two seconds, so it's pretty easy to miss unless you've actually ''seen'' the movie.
* ''Film/{{Psycho}}'' unfortunately unveils the murderer's identity in the synopsis included with every home video release from 2008 onward. Some home video trailers even have the nerve to show [[spoiler: Norma Bates' stuffed corpse]]!
* ''Film/ThePurge'': AvertedTrope. The trailer explains the premise, shows the Sandins taking in a stranger, and then experiencing a home invasion by a gang of psychopathic killers. The trailer doesn't show any plot twists, the ending or anything like that.
* You know the part of the trailer for ''Film/{{Quarantine}}'' where the lady gets dragged screaming into the darkness? ''That was the ending to the movie.'' This is also featured on the DVD cover, TV spots, ''and every piece of marketing for the film.''
* The Icelandic national TV station (RÚV) makes a habit of giving a brief description of each film they show before the airing. These descriptions are usually summaries of about 2/3rds of the movie's plot.
* ''RepoTheGeneticOpera'' treats Nathan Wallace's secret identity as the Repo Man like it's a big secret, and "Legal Assassin," his first big solo a third of the way into the movie, is TheReveal. The official website's designers were clued into this: they treat Nathan and the Repo Man as separate characters. The people who made the trailer did not get that memo, however: they used part of "Legal Assassin" in the trailer, complete with visuals of Nathan donning the uniform, and even declared that the film starred "Anthony Stewart Head as Repo Man"!
* The green-band trailer for the upcoming ''RepoMen'' [[spoiler: appears to show the death of Liev Schreiber's character]], in addition to most of the plot.
* At least one of the trailers for ''[[Film/RevengeOfTheSith Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith]]'' clearly begins by showing Darth Vader as seen in the original trilogy (who doesn't appear as such until the last five minutes of the movie). Granted, this was something of a ForegoneConclusion, but they didn't need to also show every piece of Anakin's fall, including some of the climatic duel between him and Obi-Wan.
* ''Film/TheRocketeer'' trailer was basically a mini version of the movie, leading some people to blame it for the movie's poor box office -- people felt they had already seen it.
* The trailer for ''[[Film/{{Rocky}} Rocky IV]]'' completely spoiled the death of [[spoiler: Apollo Creed]] as one of the main plot points, so nobody was shocked when he did within the film. On the other hand, the trailer for ''Rocky III'' averted this by giving no indication whatsoever [[spoiler: Mickey]] would die.
* Old example: ''{{Rope}}'' drew all its drama from the fact that they [[spoiler: hid the corpse in the trunk and whenever someone would open it.]] Too bad that the [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VCFP6vDkSUE trailer]] included the climactic shot of [[spoiler: the trunk flying open and the ensuing fight.]]
* The trailers for ''ScottPilgrimVsTheWorld'' give away the fact that [[spoiler: one of Ramona's exes is not an ex-''boy''friend]] which was supposed to be a minor twist.
* ''TheSeventhSeal'' had part of its resolution narrated in the trailer: the reason for the spilled chess pieces.
* The menu screen on the first edition DVD release of ''TheShawshankRedemption'' uses the pivotal scene of Andy Dufresne [[spoiler:escaping from Shawshank by crawling through a sewage pipe]] as its background. This is particularly {{egregious}} as the movie was something of a sleeper hit, so many viewers would not have already seen it in theaters.
** The trailer itself contains a major spoiler. The scenes leading up to [[spoiler: Andy's escape]] are obviously intended to create a credible suspicion that he has committed suicide. The trailer entirely gives away the conclusion to this suspenseful scene.
** To be fair, only a few bits and pieces of this scene are shown and out of context. To someone unfamiliar with the film, the sequence leading to the big reveal ([[spoiler: the scene where the guard angrily walks over to Andy's cell after he fails to show up]]) could have been referring to anything. Also, assuming the viewer didn't log onto IMDB and memorize the last names of all the characters [[spoiler: they had no real way of knowing that the guard was referring to Andy]]. Another argument you could make is that while they show that [[spoiler: Andy escapes]] they don't show in too much detail [[spoiler: ''how'' he escapes]] so the sudden twist where it turns out [[spoiler: Andy had been tunnelling his way out of prison for 20 years, and many of his seemingly trivial actions were in fact vital parts of his plan]] still can come as a suprise.
* The trailer for ''{{Sideways}}'' reveals that [[spoiler:Miles accidentally lets slip that Jack is getting married, and Stephanie beating Jack up when she finds out]].
* The trailer of ''TheSixthSense'' spoiled a major revelation, which made a large chunk of the film rather lame since everyone knew what was going on. Luckily, that's not all there is to it.
** That said, the soundtrack album does give away a fairly major plot twist in the title of the final track [[spoiler: ("Malcolm Is Dead")]].
* ''SkyHigh'''s trailer makes it seem like the main conflict of the movie is the main character's lack of super powers. Then, approximately 10 seconds later, it shows him with super strength and flight -- at which point the viewer realizes there's probably more to this movie that they're not telling him, and there goes the element of surprise.
* The trailer for ''SnakeEyes'' reveals that [[spoiler: Gary Sinise is the villain]] even though this is supposed to be a twist revelation over half an hour into the film.
* ''{{Solanin}}'''s trailer spoils [[spoiler:Taneda's death and Meiko taking his place in the band.]] Which is kind of the whole plot.
* ''Film/SoylentGreen'' had this, in that in one part of the trailer, it shows the main character seeing a conveyor belt with body bags on it, and in the next cut, you can see soylent green on the same conveyor belt. Then the trailer voice asks, "What is the secret of Soylent Green?"
* The ''Film/{{Spider-Man}}'' films haven't been very discreet:
** The trailer for ''Spider-Man 2'' shows the strain Peter is under as Spider-Man, him quitting the superhero biz, Doc Ock's origin, his deal with Harry Osborn, him kidnapping Mary Jane, Peter becoming Spider-Man again only to be delivered to Harry by Ock and unmasked; essentially, the first four-fifths of the movie.
** The ''Spider-Man 3'' trailer shows Spider-Man's new popularity, Peter's decision to marry Mary Jane, Harry attacking Peter as the New Goblin, Harry being hospitalised, Sandman's origin, Peter discovering that Sandman killed his uncle, being taken over by the symbiote and turning evil, fighting Sandman, Sandman being dissolved in water, Peter fighting Eddie Brock, throwing a bomb at Harry, hurting Mary Jane, realising he's gone too far and tearing the black suit off.
*** The online version of the first trailer had a stinger that showed a bit of the symbiote fall on Eddie, and it ends with a shot of Venom.
** By this standard, the original ''Spider-Man'' trailer seems restrained in only revealing about two thirds of the plot; Peter Parker becomes Spider-Man, Norman Osborn becomes the Green Goblin, and the two end up fighting one another.
* The trailer for ''Film/StarTrekIIITheSearchForSpock'' ended with the shot of the ''Enterprise'' spectacularly exploding while the narrator says "Join us on this, the final voyage of the Starship ''Enterprise''!" Although this is not really the "ending" - it occurs about midway through the film - the producers had wanted the ship's destruction to come as a complete surprise to the audience. Obviously, that didn't happen.
** Not learning their lesson, ''Enterprise''-D's crashing saucer was shown in the ''Film/StarTrekGenerations'' trailer.
** The soundtrack for [[{{Film/StarTrek}} the 2009 reboot]] isn't much better. The track when [[spoiler: Spock's mom dies? [[DeadBabyComedy "Help, I've Fallen and I Can't Beam Up!"]]]]
* In ''StarWars Episode 2: AttackOfTheClones'', Count Dooku's effectiveness as a mysterious villain (as parodied in a [[http://www.gamespite.net/toastywiki/index.php/Site/ThumbnailEpisodeII02 Thumbnail Theatre]]) would undoubtedly have been more effective if his action figure packaging hadn't given away the fact that he was a Sith Lord months before the movie was released.
** Even if you never saw anything that gave away his Sith Lord status, the movie still did a horrible job of hiding it.
** To make matters worse, much, including Dooku's role (but not the [[NoPronunciationGuide pronunciation of his name]]) was given away by ''JediStarfighter'', which was released three months before ''"Clones"''.
** [[ThePhantomMenace Episode 1's]] soundtrack had a couple of track names that gave away the fact that a major character died. In the [[http://replay.web.archive.org/20080926060847/http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/2062/index.html "Humorous Version"]] script parody, the soon-to-be-dead character refers to this spoiler, and the ensuing altercation is joined by George Lucas and John Williams[[note]]who is notorious for giving away key plot points in his track titles[[/note]]:
--->'''JW''': What was I supposed to do? Label Track 15 as "Some Nifty Jazzy-Type Music Followed by Heartwrenching Violin Music" and Track 16 as "The High Council Meeting and A Bunch of Basses That Sound Like They're Singing a Catholic Monk Death Chant"?\\
'''GL''': (thinking) You know, that could've worked.\\
'''JW''': Really? I thought about it, but then I decided that it would be a lot cheaper to go with the labels already on there.
*** The soundtrack of ''Film/X2XMenUnited'' also has a track named after a character death (and it's punny: [[spoiler:"Death Strikes Deathstryke"]]).
** Also, the trailer of ''Film/ThePhantomMenace'' itself spoils the death. [[spoiler: Obi Wan screams [[BigNo NOOOOOOO]]!!!! in the trailer, and there's a shot of Qui Gon during the BigNo.]]
* In ''TheSumOfAllFears'', the trailer reveals that [[spoiler:the bomb goes off]].
** This plotline was the reason that Harrison Ford refused to reprise his role as Jack Ryan.
* The entire campaign for ''{{Surrogates}}'' was a spoiler: [[spoiler: James Cromwell's character (who invented the surrogates) describes them as "an addiction", which makes him easy to guess as the killer, and every trailer and TV spot showed the surrogates shutting down and collapsing in the street, which is the ending to the movie.]]
** The same goes for BreakingBenjamin's ''I Will not Bow'' videoclip.
* The horror anthology ''TalesFromTheHood'' trailer spoiled quite a bit of the film... including the end of the framing sequence that connected the tales together [[spoiler: where the mortician turned out to be Satan himself.]]
* The trailers for ''{{Terminator}}: Salvation'' give away the fact that [[spoiler:Marcus is a Terminator, something that's set up as a big reveal in the film.]] The third movie has scenes from all over the film in the trailer, but at least without spoiling much.
* A home video trailer for ''TitanAE'' showed the entire movie, start to finish, in order, including the final scenes of [[spoiler: a new Earth being formed and the lead characters on it]]. Why bother to see the movie?
* The trailer for ''TheTown'' has a fairly mild example, in that [[spoiler: The last line in the trailer is actually the last line in the film.]] Granted it's tough to tell outside of context.
* The [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K-sUv5uGq5k&NR=1 trailer]] to the 1994 movie TradingMom gives away the entire plot from start to finish and shows the ending too.
* Late trailers for ''[[Film/{{Transformers}} Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen]]'' go out of their way to reveal [[spoiler:[[BackFromTheDead Megatron's return]]]].
** To be fair, anyone who thought [[spoiler: Megatron wouldn't back for the sequel]] really [[LateArrivalSpoiler should've known]] [[JokerImmunity otherwise]].
** Also, [[spoiler:Devastator]] would have been a kickass awesome surprise. He just ended up being kickass awesome.
** There were also several TV spots released, and made available on the director's website, that showed the entire Sideways chase-sequence, [[spoiler:including his death at the bladed hands of Sideswipe.]]
** The theatrical trailer for ''Dark of the Moon'' clearly revealed [[spoiler:Starscream's death, while later TV spots even showed glimpses of how it happens]]. Likewise, the TV spots spoiled [[spoiler:the death of Shockwave, showing how Optimus punches a hole in him]].
* The trailer (or at least one of them) for ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' gave away ''absolutely everything''. The sequel, ''New Moon'', is even worse! The first trailer for it was fine, it stopped at the first major plot revelation. But the second trailer? Well that just takes one scene from pretty much every plot point in the movie, save the VERY last one, and mashes it all together in a sequential montage! You could nearly write the Wikipedia plot summary with just that trailer alone!
* The teaser trailer for ''[[{{Twilight}} The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2]]'' spoiled the revelation that [[spoiler: Bella becomes a vampire]].
* ''{{Unknown}}'''s trailer shows the people telling him that the person he thinks he is does not exist - the HUGE twist (although it only gives the line, not much context of it), and it shows the explosion, and one even showed them faking the picture.
* Good luck finding a ''Film/{{Vertigo}}'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5jvQwwHQNY trailer]] that doesn't [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyAN7IP4tYQ reveal]] the HalfwayPlotSwitch.
* There is no reason to see the film ''WarmBodies'' due to the fact that the trailer casually spoils the fact that it's a reverse parody of ''{{Twilight}}'' where the zombie boy gets turned back into a human by the love of a human girl. Unless the producers do a DoubleSubversion where she gets turned and the plot occurred for naught, but since this is Hollywood, they'll never do anything ''that'' creative. [[spoiler: Or would they?]]
* EnforcedTrope in the case of ''TheWatch'', about a neighborhood watch group that stumbles on an AlienInvasion in progress. The movie, whose original title was ''Neighborhood Watch'', had its marketing pulled from movie theaters in the wake of the fatal shooting of 17-year-old [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shooting_of_Trayvon_Martin Trayvon Martin]] by a neighborhood watch person in Sanford, Florida. The film was subsequently renamed ''The Watch'', with the marketing revamped to focus more on the alien aspect than the neighborhood watch. However, upon watching the film it's obvious that the alien invasion was meant to be a surprise.
* The trailer for WoodyAllen's ''WhateverWorks'' shows [[spoiler:Boris's second suicide attempt]], which occurs near the end of the movie.
* The trailers for ''WhatLiesBeneath'', they reveal the identity of the ghost, which makes watching the wife [[spoiler: sneak around suspecting the neighbor of killing his wife]] painful and awkward to watch.
** However, the trailer doesn't give away that [[spoiler: Harrison Ford is the bad guy.]]
** ''WhatLiesBeneath'' was Harrison Ford's most recent film when he received a Lifetime Achievement Oscar. The clip they used for the montage of his body of work to date gave away one of those two details. It's hard to discern changes in Ford's expression, but he didn't look happy.
* The TV-movie ''WhenAStrangerCalls'' suffered from this in that the promos spoiled just about every single plot point. The kicker? When it was recently remade into a theatrical film, the theatrical film had the exact same issue.
** The movie is based on an old campfire ghost story, so this really should be an issue of LateArrivalSpoiler.
* Although the trailer for ''WorldsGreatestDad'' presents the film as a standard disconnected father/uninterested son plot, the first words on the back cover are: [[spoiler: After his son dies in an embarrassing accident...]]
* The trailer for ''Film/XMenOriginsWolverine'' inadvertently revealed Weapon XI, whom Wolverine fights at the end of the film. And [[http://splashpage.mtv.com/2009/02/19/x-men-origins-wolverine-spoilers-in-new-deadpool-action-figure/ the toy packaging]] spoiled that he is [[spoiler:{{Deadpool}}]].
* The trailer for ''MontyPythonsLifeOfBrian'' gives away one of the funniest - and most unexpected - gags in the movie: [[spoiler: the [[BigLippedAlligatorMoment spaceship chase sequence]].]]
* The trailer for ''EndersGame'' features a shot of [[spoiler:the bugger homeworld being destroyed]], through people unfamiliar with the book might not realize the context. Also, the casting of BenKingsley couldn't really help but reveal that [[spoiler:Mazer Rackham is still alive]].

[[folder:Literature]]
* Do NOT read the back of GeorgeRRMartin's ''ADanceWithDragons'' unless you have read all of ''AStormOfSwords''. The blurb reveals the deaths of two key main characters, and a major character development. This, in a series where a major selling point is the unpredictability of events.
* Do not read the back of ''TheGirlWhoPlayedWithFire''. It treats a major shock and story shift that occurs halfway through the book as the sole plot point, and casually mentions it as if it happens in the first couple chapters.
* The blurbs on the omnibus editions of LoisMcMasterBujold's MilesVorkosigan books are particularly bad, although the task is made harder by the blurb needing to be for at least two books at once.
* Many editions of ''Literature/{{Twilight}}'' mention in the blurb that [[spoiler:Edward's a vampire]], thereby robbing the first ''two hundred'' pages of any sense of mystery. Of course, if this hadn't been spoiled it would have been a pretty bad case of [[spoiler:GenreShift with a mystery romance novel suddenly including vampires. Imagine how that felt to the eight people in the world who didn't know about this beforehand.]]
* This, however, was {{subverted|Trope}} by the cover text for ''HarryPotter/HarryPotterAndTheDeathlyHallows''. It says, though not in so many words, "Hey, this is the seventh book in the Harry Potter series. Either you're reading this while waiting in the checkout line to buy it, or you aren't interested in Harry Potter and thus aren't ever going to read this. So there's no point in having an advertisement here."
* A cheap supermarket paperback thriller called ''{{Rabid}}'', about the rabies virus getting into the animal population in Great Britain, one of the few completely rabies-free places in the world (and thus a place where pets are not rabies-vaccinated). In a twist at the very end -- literally on the last page of the book -- the virus mutates into an airborne strain. The back-cover copy ended with, "And when the virus mutated, became airborne, the whole world would learn what it was to become ... RABID!"
* For some editions of ''Literature/TheEndOfEternity'' by Creator/IsaacAsimov, the back cover clearly spoils that [[spoiler:Noys was sent back from the distant future to stop Harlan and the Eternity]]. Thanks a lot!
* Creator/IsaacAsimov's ''Literature/{{Foundation}}'' series books are even worse, at least the European versions. The back cover blurb for each book describes, in a fair amount of detail, events that only happen near or at the very end of that book, which leaves the reader very confused for a while ("This isn't about what the back cover said it would be about!") and then very annoyed as soon as it becomes obvious that the climax of the story has been spoiled.
* Some versions of ''Literature/TheWheelOfTime'' books are odd about this, as they give away plot points that only become relevant for the ''next'' book.
* Through the webmaster of his official website--he claimed to not have an Internet connection himself - TerryGoodkind, author of the ''Literature/SwordOfTruth'' novels, actually warned his fans that the cover blurb of book six was disgustingly spoilerish and not to read it before they read the book.
* I have yet to see a cover for ''Literature/TuckEverlasting'' that doesn't ruin the surprise.
* The Polish publishing house Amber seems to have a thing for horribly spoilerish blurbs. In an edition of Strugatsky's ''Literature/ThePowerlessOfThisWorld'', the back cover blurb is ''only'' the surprise ending, and nothing else. A Polish edition of RobertSheckley's ''DimensionOfMiracles'' likewise spoils the humorous ending, that [[spoiler:the hero gets back to his world but finds it insufferable]]. And the one for ''[[TheStainlessSteelRat A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born]]'' spoils the [[spoiler:death of The Bishop]], and even gets it [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer completely wrong]] ([[spoiler:claiming that he's killed by the police in an ambush, while in reality he's killed in a military attack on a distant quasi-medieval planet]]).
* The Harper Collins paperback 2000 version of the ''Literature/AubreyMaturin'' series every book has a summary of between 2 and 4 of the next in the series (each book after the first 4 of so is pretty much a continuous series) in the back. As the books also have anecdotes and essays after the true end of the book (which is disguised to surprise the reader), you can read an essay on the book you just read, then accidentally spoil yourself for the next book.
* ''{{Messenger}}'' has a back cover where everything is revealed, right down to [[spoiler: Matty's heroic sacrifice]], which only comes up on the last page of the book. And of course, when discussed in class, the teacher will mention not to look at the back panel. [[ForbiddenFruit So of course, everyone does.]]
* DavidEddings' book, ''Regina's Song'' features not one, but TWO double-paragraph plot summaries on its back blurb. Both of them, in trying to be mysterious, blatantly state who the killer is and to some extent, what happens after we discover that fact. The book is pretty enjoyable, but still.
** That would work a lot better if the stores didn't put the book's sequel with a spoiler as its title (although it is kind of obvious)
* Even worse than a spoiler summary on the back cover, there are a few books which backcover is an actual ''extract'' of the book. Not a matter when it comes from the beginning, but sometimes it comes from the ending. There is a French edition of ''Literature/{{Salammbo}}'' whose backcover is an extract of one of the last pages, describing [[spoiler:the death of the main protagonist.]]
* ''TheKidWhoRanForPresident''. Somewhere in the beginning, it mentions something about looking at the last page to find out the ending. When you do exactly that, it says something along the lines of 'Hey! Read this in order, you loser!'
** In ''HowToBecomeAPerfectPersonInJustThreeDays'', a boy finds a book that tells him how to become perfect in one week. The first page of the book stated that the secret to perfection was at the end. So he flipped to the last page... which called him a dope for falling for it and told him to do it properly.
* ''{{Mogworld}}''. The first thing anyone learned about it was [[spoiler: the world is an MMO]]. It doesn't come up until the second-to-last chapter or so, although there are hints that are pretty obvious ''when you already know it.''
* Creator/JRRTolkien, it seems, hated the name that his editor gave the third volume of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'', ''The Return of the King'' because it gave away one of the major plot points: the fact that [[spoiler: Aragorn, finally, decides to accept becoming the King.]] Of course, it has a double meaning, it could easily hint to [[spoiler: a DownerEnding of Sauron getting the ring and rising to power]].
** Nearly all Italian editions of ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' have an Introduction by Elémire Zolla (Italian literary critic, essayist and philosopher). Initially it looks just like it is a preface, comparing Tolkien's masterpiece to other famous works of the past... but at a certain point it starts talking about the plot, and before you can realize, in about 10 (TEN!) pages it has summarized the whole book, revealing the main plot twists (e.g. Gandalf's [[spoiler:death and rebirth]]) and the twisted ending - you know, the one that's not in Creator/PeterJackson's film (Saruman [[spoiler:attacking the Shire]])).
* One particular edition of ''GoneWithTheWind'' summarised the events right up to the very last chapter, ending by saying: [[spoiler:"When their daughter dies, Rhett leaves his Scarlett forever."]]
* Books of "literary merit" often have a preface that discusses [[WhatDoYouMeanItsNotDidactic the meaning of the book]], casually throwing major plot points out there.
** Related are all these teachers who, when assigning their students novels for mandatory reading, casually spoil everything about the plot , because Lord forbid the students actually derive ''pleasure'' from reading.
* Averted, apparently by accident, on the back covers of some of the Harper Torch-published ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' paperbacks, where it's obvious that [[CowboyBebopAtHisComputer whoever wrote the blurb had never read the books.]]
** Except for ''Discworld/GuardsGuards'' which gives away the fact that [[spoiler: the dragon is crowned king]], which doesn't happen until about halfway through the book and is apparently intended to be a surprise twist. One copy has a friggin' [[spoiler:Dragon with a Crown on the cover]] - both sides of the books will spoil (so will the spine of the book since they have mini versions of the cover art.)
** The cover of ''Discworld/TheWeeFreeMen'' shows Feegles armed with glowing swords around the Toad. [[spoiler: Feegles' swords glow in the presence of a lawyer.]]
* ''Literature/TheTurnOfTheScrew''. [[spoiler: Peter Quint's dead, and so is that governess he was dallying with.]] This is made out to be a surprise in the book. Thanks, blurb.
* Another Creator/HenryJames example: in at least one edition of ''DaisyMiller,'' the blurb reveals that [[spoiler: Daisy dies at the end.]]
* The back of ''BridgeToTerabithia'' spoils that [[spoiler:Leslie dies]].
** So does the [[spoiler: [[DeathByNewberyMedal Newbery Medal]]]] on the cover.
** So does the summary in the copyright page. Is it just me, or is this overkill?
*** On the newer additions of the book, the back cover is more vague about what happens. It's obviously something tragic, but they don't tell you what. The copyright page spoiler is still there, though.
* The blurb of ''Literature/CameBackToShowYouICouldFly'' reveals that [[spoiler:Angie is on drugs]], a fact which is not revealed in-story until almost 85% of the way through.
* If you're about to read Creator/GeorgeOrwell's ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', don't look at the back of the book, which will probably quote the final line. The trailer for the film does this as well. Seriously. AVOID.
* Alan Dean Foster's Humanx Commonwealth novel ''{{Cachalot}}'' is set on a world almost entirely covered by ocean, a planet to which all terrestrial cetaceans have been transplanted after they've been administered a serum which makes them as intelligent as, or more intelligent, than humans. The plot opens with the mysterious destruction of several human habitats and the arrival of a team of specialist investigators who attempt to discover what has happened. Possible candidates are the highly intelligent but aloof toothed whales, the dumb but inoffensive baleen whales, or some indigenous but unknown form of life. Except... the cover of the first UK paperback edition clearly showed [[spoiler:a bunch of baleen whales smashing up a town.]] Cheers, cover artist.
* If you skim the back of any ''Literature/WarriorCats'' from the end of the first series on before reading the rest, you know there's a cat named Firestar. After learning the naming conventions, it's pretty obvious who's going to become leader and in which book as well...
** Add in that the first few book spoiled name changes and deaths as well, in the first few pages! Erin learned her mistake and either tdid not after a certain point in the book, or [[BaitAndSwitchCredits baited us in]].
* Jeffery Deaver's novel ''TheBlueNowhere'': the book cover for at least one Italian edition reveals facts which happen halfway through the book, e.g. chief Anderson [[spoiler:is easily murdered by the serial killer]] and Wyatt [[spoiler:was an old friend of the serial killer]].
* Creator/EdMcBain's ''Literature/EightySeventhPrecinct'' novel ''Mischief'': the book cover for at least one Italian edition reveals the secret plan of The Deaf Man - ''what'' he wants to steal, ''from who'' and ''when''. The only problem is... the plan is actually discovered only at the very end of the book!
* Creator/RoaldDahl's ''CharlieAndTheChocolateFactory'': in an Italian edition (late 80s), the book cover reveals that Charlie will find a Golden Ticket. Well, that's pretty obvious. But it goes on further, revealing that the children, (cite) [[spoiler:"one by one, will meet a dreadful fate, according to their flaws. The last one (who?) will become the new owner of the factory"]]. The whole plot and ending spoiled!
* As per usual for TamoraPierce's books, ''[[CircleOfMagic The Will of the Empress]]'' has a nice map at the front showing the geography of the fictional country where the action takes place. One location is clearly labeled as the place where [[spoiler:Shan ambushes and kidnaps Sandry]]. This is both a twist and the catalyst for the climactic conflict of the book. Many fans were displeased.
* ''HereThereBeDragons'' states on the back cover that the three main characters are, in fact, [[spoiler:J.R.R. Tolkien, Lewis Carrol, and Charles Williams]], when this is not revealed until the very end of the book.
* The dust jacket of ''{{Warbreaker}}'' ruins a major plot twist if you think hard enough, by telling you flat out that [[spoiler:Vasher is the titular Warbreaker, which is a major hint that Vasher is also the similarly named Peacegiver.]]
* One recent printing of ''Literature/PodkayneOfMars'' by Creator/RobertAHeinlein features a contest on the back cover where readers wrote in on whether the main character, Podkayne, should [[spoiler:live or die]]. Apparently, Heinlein wrote the latter but his editor forced him to change it to a happier ending, completely undermining the entire point of the book. This edition featured both endings, as well as choice letters.
* The ''ClubOfQueerTrades'' is a series of off-beat detective stories by Creator/GKChesterton. The blurb at the beginning gives away the solution to every single story.
** Chesterton himself commented on this trope in a poem, entitled "[[http://chesterton.wordpress.com/2007/02/21/commercial-candour/ Commercial Candour]]".
* The cover of the HarperCollins printing of Creator/JohnDicksonCarr's novel ''Literature/TheCaseOfTheConstantSuicides'' features a dog carrier with strange fumes rising out of it. [[spoiler: This essentially gives away the murder method used in the book - a block of dry ice hidden in a dog carrier that releases carbon dioxide gas as it sublimates.]]
* At least two covers of John Dickson Carr's ''ToWakeTheDead'' show a man in uniform at the climactic cemetery fight. One shows a man in uniform with a helmet.
* If you're going to read a novel published by the Penguin Classics line, just don't read the back cover blurb. The worst is the Penguin (and almost any other edition of) ''LittleWomen'', which states plainly that readers will "[[spoiler:cry over Beth's untimely death]]", which doesn't happen well into the second half of the novel. This might be a case of ItWasHisSled, but still.
* Craig Brown (British columnist) wrote an article deploring this practice, citing several egregious examples - one which sticks in the mind is a blurb along the following lines: "in this gripping narrative, the reader slowly realises that the narrator is insane" - thus preventing the reader from slowly realising anything of the sort...
* All of the later [[TheSookieStackhouseMysteries Sookie Stackhouse]] books seem to have a compulsive need to spoil major plot points for earlier books on the back cover. Add in that all of the books look similar, so it's easy to pick the wrong one, and you've got a recipe for frustration. Extremely annoying if going from an early book to a far later one. [[spoiler: Fairies? We don't even have werewolves yet! Vampire War? What? Oh- thanks for telling me that Eric wins it. Dammit book.]]
* The godly parentage of the titular character in the ''Literature/PercyJacksonAndTheOlympians'' series is saved for a big reveal several chapters into the book, but the back cover tells you right off that it's [[spoiler: Poseidon]]. Not to mention the title of the series and even the vaguest summary give away the a-few-chapters-in reveal that the Greek gods are still around.
** The advertisement in a Scholastic book order form blatantly says in one sentence that Percy is the son of [[spoiler: the sea god.]]
* "Oh, look, ''TheGreatGatsby''! I've always wanted to check that out! Let me see what the book is about." ''*reads the back cover*'' "Sold!" ''*about halfway through reading the book*'' "So...why did the back cover spoil [[spoiler:Gatsby and Daisy's relationship]]?"
* There's a historical whodunit out there called ''TheMysteryOfTheRomanRansom''. The back cover tells us that it's about a group of boys in Ancient Rome who uncover that a respected senator - one of their fathers - is going to be assassinated, and that they have to find out who it is. Fair enough...and then you flip open the cover and see a lengthy excerpt from the scene where they find out who it is on the '''very first page.'''
* The novels of Edward Rutherfurd (''Sarum'', ''London'', etc) always include a family tree for the characters, which tracks them through the generations and centuries. Nice and handy ... except that it ''always'' spoils who survives to reproduce, who marries whom, and which families will attain noble titles. Could easily be averted if they put this at the ''back'' of the book, instead of next to the maps which you're always having to flip back and reference.
* Daniel Handler (also known as Lemony Snicket) wrote "The Basic Eight", which is really enjoyable and has a great twist. Unfortunately, at least one newer edition spoils this twist by stating that Flannery is not a murderer, [[spoiler:but a murderess]]. For the record, [[spoiler:Natasha]] did the murder but reading the back kind of gives avay that [[spoiler:Natasha doesn't exist]].
* Subverted in ''Shades of Grey'' by JasperFforde (no, not the other [[Literature/FiftyShadesOfGrey Shades of Grey]]), where you can come across an announcement for the as yet unpublished second part that "De Mauve and Brunswick will return" for the second volume. Only you don't even find out until after the climax who they actually are.
* ''[[Literature/TimeMachineSeries The Rings of Saturn]]'': The plot of the book is finding out the source of mysterious signals from Saturn. At the end, it turns out it was [[spoiler:a crashed alien spaceship. The pilot is still living in suspended animation and the protagonist wakes him up.]] Except the cover for the book shows [[spoiler:the alien in all his glory]], though, admittedly, until the end you're likely to not realize that it was something from the actual book and not just a random, sci-fi themed picture.

[[folder: Live Action TV ]]
* The producers of ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' had to pull a fast one on Creator/{{NBC}} in order to avert this. In the "Adventures in Paradise" two-part episode, Frasier finds himself at a Hawaiian resort in a room next to his ex-wife, Lilith. The second part ended with a dream sequence where Frasier was back at the resort, this time next to [[spoiler: [[Series/{{Cheers}} Shelly Long as Diane Chambers]]]]. The producers were worried that NBC would heavily promote the surprise cameo, so they shot the scene in secret and turned in a copy of the episode without the scene, only giving the real episode to the executives at the very last minute.
* During ''Series/{{Chuck}}'''s third season, one episode ended with the implied death of [[spoiler: Devon Woodcomb, aka, Captain Awesome. However, almost immediately afterwards, we see him in the next time trailer, still alive.]]
** Even worse, one episode ends with Chuck about to meet his father (who ran off years ago) in a trailer in the middle of nowhere. The episode ends with the door opening, and Chuck's father hidden. Immediately afterwards the next-episode trailer proclaimed "Next week on ''Chuck'', [[spoiler:Scott Bakula returns to NBC!]]"
** Done again in the fifth season, with "Chuck Versus the Curse" ending with [[spoiler: a jail cell about to open, and the scene abruptly cutting after that.]] Lo and behold NBC's next-episode trailer revealing that [[spoiler: Daniel Shaw]] is the person who's about to exit the jail cell.
* Happened in the Season 3 finale of ''Series/{{Lost}}''. The commercials for it showed Jin, Bernard, and Sayid tied up. In, the show, Ben ordered their deaths, and you hear 3 gunshots through the radio. However, the scene with them tied up did not appear yet in the episode, telling people preemptively that they were alive.
** In the penultimate episode of the 5th season, Kate, Sawyer, and Juliet are seen leaving the island. However, the commercials for the finale show them back on the island. So much for that.
** Creator/producers Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse have ordered ABC not to show any footage of season 6 in trailers for the next--and final--season. This is both because they want a large amount of suspense going into the show's conclusion, and because showing any footage at all would explain the results of season 5's massive cliffhanger.
*** ABC, however, did not listen to them and began showing new footage just a couple of days before the season's premiere. Due to how season 5 ended, almost any footage would have spoiled the basic premise of the season. They also spoiled specific things like the fate of [[spoiler:Claire]].
** The previews for the last few episodes have done exactly this, and show absolutely nothing from the upcoming episode. It's nice.
** "Everybody Loves Hugo"'s final scenes include [[spoiler:Desmond]] being tossed down to a well, possibly to his death. Cue the next time trailer for "The Last Recruit", which shows [[spoiler:Desmond]] alive and well.
*** To be fair, no one who watches ''Series/{{Lost}}'' religiously would have had any doubt about [[spoiler: his fate]] anyway. If we didn't see it, it didn't happen.
* {{Lampshade h|anging}}ung along with pretty much everything else on the ''Series/StargateSG1'' episode ''200''. According to {{Wikipedia}} the twist they're talking about ([[spoiler:Jack O'Neill's sudden appearance]]) actually made it to the commercials for the episode.
-->'''Vala''': Wow. Nobody's gonna see ''that'' coming.
-->'''Daniel''': No. There'll be spoilers.
-->'''Carter''': Are you kidding? It's gonna be in the ''commercial''.
** Also occurred in the episode "Fragile Balance". A boy of approximately 15 years attempts to gain access into the SGC. After a little info checking, the boy convinces everyone that he ''is'' Jack O'Neill. A genetic test reveals [[spoiler:that he's a clone which, for some reason, didn't age properly.]] Rather than let us find out about this little twist during the episode, the trailer showed ''adult Jack O'Neill'' stating it in no uncertain terms.
** And more recently, a commercial for ''Series/StargateAtlantis'' promised you "won't believe what happens in the last five minutes..." before showing you ''exactly what happens''. Of course, may also be a subversion as the commercial's description for the rest of the episode's plot is completely off.
*** The announcer notably said in that episode's trailer: "They fall into a surprise attack of the replicators!" as the trailer shows...a Wraith ship attacking.
**** Nothing beats a sneak peek into "The Lost Tribe" giving away who the new enemies are.
*** Another possibly attempted subversion was the commercials for the episode where Teyla poses as a Wraith queen, with scenes taken out of context to imply she would end up turning against the team. The possibility isn't even ''mentioned'' in the episode itself.
** EVERY SINGLE promo for ''Film/StargateContinuum'' shows [[spoiler: Ba'al being betrayed and killed by Vala/Qatesh]], which is really supposed to be a surprise.
* A well-known TV example would be the trailers for the ''Series/{{Firefly}}'' ''pilot'' (if you can call it that, considering it was the last episode aired). The major act break at the half-way point of the two-hour episode was supposed to have been revealing what was in the box Simon was so anxious to keep secret. This was ruined by the fact that the FOX promos spoiled it from the get go, as well as showing the moment the box was opened in the opening credits.
* Happens pretty often in trailers for the 2000s ''{{Series/Battlestar Galactica|Reimagined}}''. The promo for ''Resurrection Ship, Part 2'', apparently attempted to be discreet in its final frame, which showed a hand holding a gun, aimed at Admiral Cain's head. However, the shot of the hand was detailed enough that many astute viewers were able to determine that it was [[spoiler: "Gina", the Number Six Cylon imprisoned on the Pegasus]], well before the resolution aired.
** Worse still, the opening TitleSequence (sometimes) contains cuts from the upcoming episode, frequently turning the opening into an automatic, hard-to-avoid spoiler.
** In the trailer for ''Revelations'', [[spoiler:every scene but one has already occurred by the episode's apparent ending, and that one scene can literally be missed if the viewer blinked. Even when you see it, it's ambiguous.]]
** The trailer for ''The Ties That Bind'' pretty much gives away the fact [[spoiler:that Cally doesn't survive the episode]], though how and why are still a mystery.
*** There's another trailer that makes the how and why very clear.
** ''TheHub'' had an interesting case. The trailers showed the newly-ressurrected [[spoiler: D'Anna]] telling [[spoiler: Roslin]] that she is a Cylon. Many viewers wondered if it was real or creative editing. As it was revealed, [[spoiler: D'Anna]] ''did'' say that to [[spoiler: Roslin]]. However, she said to to mess with [[spoiler: Roslin]]'s head. In the commentaries of the episode, [[WordOfGod Ronald D. Moore]] expressed great anger that they ruined the joke by putting it in the trailer.
*** Not to mention showing [[spoiler: D'Anna]] was a spoiler in itself.
* ''Series/LawAndOrder'' sometimes gives away the twist in the commercial for it, or even in the preview right before they play the ep.
* The new ''Series/DoctorWho'' has a strange relationship with this; for the tenth and eleventh Doctors, even though sneak peeks are run at the end of most episodes, they make sure that any trailers for the second part of a two-parter are given as much warning as possible, moving them to the end of the credits and giving plenty of room for a continuity announcer to explain. RussellTDavies is a very vocal critic of spoiling trailers, and often directed editors to screw around with press copies.
** Played straight with the first CliffHanger of the revived series; "Aliens Of London" ends with [[spoiler:the Doctor being electrocuted to death by the Slitheen]], which then immediately cuts to a OnTheNext trailer not only showing the Doctor [[spoiler:very much alive]] but also telling [[spoiler:the army]] about the Slitheen's plans!
** The trailer for "Bad Wolf" gives away the twist that the [[spoiler:Daleks]] are behind the deadly game shows the Doctor and Co find themselves in.
** The sneak peek for "Army of Ghosts" at the end of "Fear Her" all but gives away that the "army of ghosts" is made up of Cybermen. This was not actually much of a surprise when you consider that the fact had already been reported in various media. However, [[spoiler: the Daleks also appear]] at the last minute of the episode, a fact that the show's creators went to great lengths to keep secret... only to be spoiled by a rather obvious shot of [[spoiler: a Dalek DeathRay firing]] in the same trailer.
*** The best part of it is that the [[spoiler:Dalek attack]] scene isn't even in ''Army of Ghosts'' - it's from the episode after that, ''Doomsday''.
** The American recut trailers on Sci-Fi are even worse about this. The trailer for Utopia gives away the last minute twist of [[spoiler: the Master's return]]. Perhaps they thought Americans wouldn't be up enough on ''Doctor Who'' history to understand it when it came, so they spelled it out for us.
*** Oddly enough, they spoiled the same episode with the same line in the Australian trailers, a country that's been regularly airing Doctor Who since 1966.
*** This however doesn't excuse what they did for the fourth season finale: the ''very first thing they show'' is [[spoiler:David Tennant's face, spoiling that he doesn't really regenerate]], and it goes downhill from there. It's like they ''want'' Americans to pirate the show from the UK...
** Subverted ''oh so very much'' in the BBC trailer for "Forest of the Dead."
*** Sci-Fi's version (as usual) pretty much ruins it, what with [[spoiler:Donna being alive]] and [[spoiler:River biting it]].
** The worst example in the history of the new ''Who'' is the episode ''Daleks in Manhattan''. The twist ending of this is the revelation of the [[spoiler: dalek-human hybrid]]- whose picture was on the front of the Radio Times. I am eternally indebted to my mother, who put an envelope over it and wouldn't let anyone look until after, saving the dramatic impact of the episode...
** Alternatively, for ''The Stolen Earth''. The protagonists finally learn what has caused the Earth's movement, and that there is reason to be very very afraid, and the audience should also be very very afraid and surprised... except that [[spoiler:the Daleks]] had been on the trailer for the entire series, broadcast a least once a night for the past three months, and hadn't yet appeared in a single episode.
** However, it was played with quite well in Victory of The Daleks getting Radio Times cover. It got three, each showing [[spoiler: a different Paradigm Dalek,]] but since these [[spoiler:Daleks]] had three with the colors of the British Political Parties they played it off as for the election, one for each. Still spoiling, but covertly.
** Oh, and the End of Time DVD menu is basically a montage of the first episode's cliffhanger, giving all the plot twists away. [[spoiler: It's almost entirely made up of clips of the Master zapping around or taking control of the Immortality Gate or turning everyone into himself]]. Nice one, BBC.
** The cliffhanger at the end of the opening two parter of Series 6 centers around [[spoiler: Amy shooting a little girl in a space suit.]] The trailer for Part Two not only [[spoiler: shows the girl alive and well, but also where the bullet harmlessly penetrated the space suit.]]
** One of the trailers for The Angels Take Manhattan shows Amy and Rory [[spoiler: falling. So the minute they get to the roof, you know what's coming...]]
* Other DavidTennant dramas can't escape this either. The Next Time trailers for ''Series/SingleFather'' repeatedly revealed major plot points. You'd think that for a show where a major, tension-creating plot element would be [[spoiler: about who fathered whose children]], you wouldn't give the answer away in the trailers. But no...
* Subverted by ''{{Eastenders}}'' in the late 90s, when ''fake'' spoilers were inserted into trailers. One gave the impression that club owner Steve was going to be killed by his girlfriend, whereas the actual episode had it happen the other way around. Steve then framed his colleague, who subsequently escaped from prison and returned for revenge. The trailers for that episode implied that he had booby trapped several lightbulbs with explosives as revenge, but the episode had no exploding lightbulbs in it at all.
* ''Series/ArrestedDevelopment'' subverts this trope with its 'Next time on 'Arrested Development...' sections at the end of each episode, which depict events which are then never shown to occur in the next episode.
** Making it even more surprising the one time it did happen: [[spoiler: Tobias sneaking into the blind attorney's home.]]
* ''Series/{{House}}'' previews occasionally seem to subvert this, by taking one of House's sarcastic lines from the next episode and implying that it is literal.
** Local previews for the Australian broadcasting of House were often deliberately misleading, taking quotes out of context and hinting that the focus of the story was something totally different.
** This subversion itself may have been lampshaded by a Season 4 episode where a documentary crew, failing to get House to utter anything serious, edits their documentary to make comments like "I became a doctor because of Patch Adams" look serious.
** The preview for the finale of Season 6 on British TV spoils the surprise ending: [[spoiler: Cuddy leaving Lucas and telling House that she loves him]].
** Polish DVD Box for 4th Season of the series is one of the greatest offenders of this trope. The whole point of the 4th season is "Who will be in House's new team". Some brilliant editor thought that it would be great if he placed the three new doctors (chosen in the middle of the season!) on the DVD cover.
** Also shown on the back of the DVD cover in the British release (I've just had a look...)
** While on the subject of the British Season 4 DVD boxset, each episode on the DVD itself is accompanied by a still from that episode. The still for 'Wilson's Heart' shows [[spoiler: a distraught Wilson lying with Amber on her deathbed.]]
* Creator/{{NBC}} was notorious for doing this during most if not of all of their miniseries "events", but a particularly egregious example occurred ''twice'' for ''TheTenthKingdom'': just after the suspenseful scenes in which Virginia and Tony were trying to buy the Traveling mirror at auction, the trailer revealed [[spoiler:that it gets broken]], and right as we're wondering if the heroes will get to the ball and stop the Evil Queen's plot in time, the trailer revealed [[spoiler:all of Wendell's guests collapsing from poison.]] Next commercial break then shows us ''both'' [[spoiler:the same guests awakening, revealing they weren't really dead]] and [[spoiler:Prince and Wendell switching back--though granted, this was something of an [[TheUntwist Untwist]] by that late in the game]]. About the only major plot point not revealed by the trailers, thankfully, was that [[spoiler:the Evil Queen was Virginia's mother]].
** Not to mention [[spoiler: Wolf stopping the Huntsman from killing Virginia at the end.]]
* Certain seasons of ''SuperSentai'' (such as ''Boukenger'' and ''Gekiranger'') have a nasty habit of showing story spoilers in the "next episode preview" at the end of each episode.
** In the Boukenger episode called "The Golden Sword," the MonsterOfTheWeek is NighInvulnerable and utterly tearing the Rangers a new one. The trailer reveals that in the following episode, a new character could turn out to be friend or foe and might even fall under the bad guy's control. [[spoiler: Then it goes onto show the Rangers handily beating up the monster that was killing them in the current episode, then said new character joining in and later posing with the Rangers' HumongousMecha.]] Not much is saved for the actual episode at all.
* The last few seasons of the reality show ''TheUltimateFighter'' has had several fight ending finishes shown during the commercial ''about the show'' just before it happens.
** Also, they often tease a "special guest" showing up in the next episode and vainly attempt to edit around the actual person to keep it a surprise. This often fails (IE, Matt Hughes being clearly seen sitting on a bench in the background in one teaser).
* During the last season of ''GilmoreGirls'', the teaser at the end of each episode showed ''the very last scene of the following episode''. Technically, this may have been more misdirection than spoiler, though, as the final scene of each episode was usually unrelated to the main action of the story, and was ''itself a lead-in for the following episode''. Which is to say, that after the final scene foreshadowed the next episode, the OnTheNext teaser that followed showed you what amounted to ''a teaser for the episode two weeks down the line''.
* FOX has a tendency to completely ruin the element of surprise on their gameshows, including ''MomentOfTruth'' and ''AreYouSmarterThanAFifthGrader'', by having openings and "coming up after this commercial" previews which show how far along the contestant is going to get, which completely defeats the point of going to commercial after the contestant answers the question but before it is revealed if they are correct or not.
** Likewise the "later tonight" promos in their Sunday night cartoon block tend to show the best [[OrphanedPunchLine punch lines]] from the forthcoming shows, which would've been funnier if you had seen them [[ItMakesSenseInContext in context for]] the first time.
** In the Season Four finale of ''SoYouThinkYouCanDance'', the show cut to commercial before announcing whether the winner was Joshua Allen or Stephen "Twitch" Bass. During the commercial break, a promo for FOX News at 9 advertised a story about "So You Think You Can Dance champion Joshua Allen." No prizes for guessing who was crowned the Season Four winner when the show resumed...
** NBC did one worse: they hyped the first millionaire of ''DealOrNoDeal'' about ''one week'' before the episode aired, and considering how desperate NBC was to get a millionaire, even a casual channel surfer would get it. (It doesn't help when you use phrases like "It's the one you've all been waiting for!")
** NBC does a masterful job of subverting this trope, though, nearly every week on ''TheBiggestLoser''. During the part of the show when the contestants are participating in their weekly weigh-in, they love cutting to commercial a split second before revealing a contestant's amount of weight loss with the final shot being a close-up shot on the face of one of the trainers or another contestant as they react to the number revealed. When the show returns from commercial and reveals the number, the reactions are usually the complete opposite of what was implied by the reaction shot before the commercial.
** ''RuPaulsDragRace'' (especially the Untucked program) has a bad habit of spoiling quite early into the season how far different contestants will make it, simply due to the fact that you know they're going to last at least another week because either one of the season promos, a trailer for the series, or the SpoilerOpening shows them wearing an outfit you haven't seen them in yet.
* Crossing over with NewMedia: watching Creator/{{NBC}}'s online streaming of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' episodes, instead of the broadcast, is only for spoilerphiles and people who click 'Play' faster than they read. Their single-sentence summary for "Angels and Monsters" manages to completely give away the ending of Claire's plotline: [[spoiler:the guy kills himself]].
** Season 3 of ''Series/{{Heroes}}'' is bad with this. Not only is the arc titled "Villains", but the trailer reveals that there are 12 new "Sylars" and that the original will get his powers back. Didn't stop them from making the break out in the second episode look like a BigReveal...
*** Erm. Sylar got his powers back at the end of season 2. And complaining that the title gives away the general direction is like complaining that the title "Spider-Man" spoils that there's a guy getting the powers of a spider.
* German TV stations are particularly notorious for this. A trailer for ''Film/{{Evolution}}'' with David Duchovny featured one of the movie's final scenes, a trailer for season 2 of ''Series/{{Lost}}'' featured the confrontation between [[spoiler:Mr. Eko and the smoke monster]], a trailer for season 4 reveals who the Oceanic Six (one of the "main" mysteries in the first half of the season) are and on top of that features ''scenes from the season finale'' (the Oceanic Six arriving at home, [[spoiler:the island disappearing]]), and so on.
* One immensely frustrating one occurred to ''Series/StarTrekVoyager''. At the very end (literally in the last five seconds) of the otherwise unrelated episode "Blood Fever," the crew discover [[spoiler:a Borg corpse, setting up the [[WhamEpisode next episode, "Unity,"]] and the primary threat of the remainder of the series. It was pretty effective -- it came completely out of left field and chillingly evoked one of the most terrifying enemies in the Trek mythos (regardless of how unforgivably {{Villain Decay}}ed they would subsequently become)]]. So what do the producers do? Why, they put that scene right in the trailer, of course.
** ''Voyager'''s "The Chute" is a classic example. Paris and Kim are thrown in an alien prison, and about halfway through comes the revelation that [[spoiler:they can't break out because the prison is in space]]. It's a very dramatic shot that would no doubt have been more effective if it hadn't ''been in the commercial''.
* Reality shows on {{Bravo}} typically show the judges' harsher comments and contestant reaction shots/defenses. Although this is sometimes subverted, like one time where a comment was said in the trailer and the contestant shot showed him tilting his head back and going down, as if in frustration/agony. In the episode, he was in the top 3.
* ''Series/{{MadTV}}'' regularly did this with fake trailers (notably the one for the Rocket Revengers in Excito-Color movie). The narrator asks the audience various things like "Who will die?", followed by footage of that person dying, going so far as to even show the ending of the film. ("You'll have to pay big money to find out Tooka's secret; that she's carrying Tiny's baby!")
** However, a year before MadTV debuted, local Seattle show ''Almost Live!'' did their own fake trailer, which you can see [[http://youtu.be/fiC2J4yoPHI here]].
* Has occurred on ''TheUltimateFighter'', sometimes inadvertently spoiling fights during the in-episode previews.
* Even {{Showtime}} manages to do this. A trailer for season three of ''TheTudors'' aired before the season began showed Henry [[spoiler: being introduced to his fourth wife, with a voice-over of how marriage to her would add military might to England]], thus spoiling the mid-season plot point of [[spoiler: Queen Jane dying]].
** But that actually happened in real life. It's history. So whether it's a spoiler at all is subjective.
*** And this relates to ''The Tudors'' how?
**** Since it's history, anyone with historical knowledge of the period in question would expect said spoiler to occur at some point. Still a spoiler for the series itself, though.
* ''Series/TwentyFour'' is somewhat notorious for this among fans; there's a fairly large portion of the fanbase that refuses to watch the "OnTheNext" previews at the end of each episode. Since the show takes place in real time and is largely fixated on the suspense of "what happens next", it's easy for a preview to take the suspense out of quite a few minutes of the upcoming episode. Examples are really too numerous to list, but here's a fairly recent one:
** At the end of an episode in season 7, the ambassador from Sangala had locked himself and his wife in a panic room. The bad guys are outside, wondering how they can get to him. Cue the preview for next week, which shows the room being flooded with gas. Naturally, it's no surprise next week when Jack Bauer (working undercover) suggests that he can create a gas out of household items and pump it through the ventilation system.
** Done again a few episodes later when Tony warns Jack that a major attack is going to happen in Washington D.C., but he doesn't know exactly where. Previews for the next two episodes come up and we immediately see the White House being taken under siege.
** Season 3 had a very notorious example. At this point in the season, there was a powdered form of a virus being transported in a plastic bag by a mule (just a kid who agreed to carry something over the Mexican border). CTU spent the entire episode trying to track down the package and the kid. Then, after the episode was over the preview literally had [[spoiler:Jack Bauer yelling "THE VIRUS IS OUT!" in absolute panic]]. Granted, it turned out to be [[spoiler: a false alarm]] but 24 fandom was so pissed off at potentially being spoiled that complaints were flown at FOX's direction and addressed. This resulted in the previews being treated as spoilers in 24 fandom discussion.
** A trailer for an episode late in season 4 spoiled the return of [[spoiler: David Palmer]] in the episode even though he was uncredited to keep his return in it a surprise.
** However, a few episodes that have pulled the OurHeroIsDead cliffhanger notably avert this by having the following trailers show no signs of Jack in them to keep his survival somewhat more suspenseful ([[ContractualImmortality for all the good they do, anyway). However, at the same time they ''do'' spoil some other key twists happening to some other characters within the episode.
* The OnTheNext trailers of the original ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' were terrible about this. Particularly {{egregious}} is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uU3B_5hVsns the preview]] of "The City on the Edge of Forever", which so effectively summarizes the whole episode that it plays more like a PreviouslyOn than anything else.
* The original trailers of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' could be pretty awful about this too. Perhaps the most {{egregious}} was the trailer for the episode, "The Most Toys" which showed Data being captured by aliens, a woman alien offering to help Data escape, and a man [[spoiler:incinearting the woman with a phaser]]. When the episode aired, the man was the villain of the episode while the woman was his loyal assistant...and was a major character throughout the entire episode, not doing her HeelFaceTurn and getting [[spoiler:zapped [[RedemptionEqualsDeath by her boss]]]] until within the last 5 minutes of the episode.
** Though it wasn't a secret that the search for Spock (pun intended) was on in "Unification Part 1", the fact that they found him was spoiled...because the last five seconds of the episode (with the big reveal, which would be followed almost immediately by "To Be Continued") was shown in the trailer.
* When TV Guide Channel re-aired episodes of ''HollywoodShowdown'' (which was 30 minutes), they would pad out the show with commercials to make it an hour long. Towards the end of the hour, they would run the first five minutes or so of the next episode.
* The {{Maury}} talk show does this religiously. In every commercial break before DNA test results, they try to build suspense by showing quick clips of the guests before and after the results. 99% of the time, they show the guests' reactions to the results, defeating the purpose of sticking around for the results. Sometimes, if the DNA test is for a more serious tone, like an adult daughter finding her long lost father, the clips fade into a commercial break without showing the reaction.
** Considering that the crazies they get, their reactions would have come no matter what the result would have been.
* If you have a box set/are watching episodes of a TV series on Website/YouTube of a show you've never seen, never, EVER read the episode summary, unless you want the whole episode spoiled for you. In one sentence, the summary will ruin your whole viewing experience.
** More or less than TV Tropes?
* TheCW did this to themselves with a Season 7 episode of ''OneTreeHill''. The OnTheNext preview that aired after 7x08 had Brooke's voiceover stating that she thought she could be pregnant. Later, the CW released the clip where she confesses this to Haley before a concert Haley will be playing that night at the town's nightclub. Then the CW releases a promo photo of Brooke drinking at Haley's concert, clearly revealing she ''wasn't'' pregnant.
** Then there were the trailers for the season five finale which showed the cliffhanger-end in the preview.
* Ads have started running for a {{TBS}} stand-up comedy show which says "If these are the punchlines, imagine what the set-ups are like!" and proceed to show just the punchlines of jokes. Which [[CaptainObvious tends to ruin the joke]], but apparently nobody at TBS knows that, or how jokes work.
* The promo for the ''Series/{{Numb3rs}}'' episode "Spree" made a big deal about Megan being kidnapped, as if the entire episode was about that. Almost none of the scenes in the promo are in that episode (they're in the next one, "Two Daughters"), and Megan isn't kidnapped until ''the last thirty seconds of the episode, as a cliffhanger''. So... the trailer made the entire episode pointless, really.
* The trailers in the later seasons of ''Series/RobotWars'' often showed footage from non-preliminary battles.
* Mere minutes after the last episode of ''Series/{{Life On Mars|2006}}'' had finished on BBC One, fellow BBC channel BBC Three's ''60 Seconds'' (presumably attempting to encourage viewers to watch the episode) announced that the final episode had been shown and, in under ten seconds, spoiled that [[spoiler:Sam had been revived in the present and jumped to an apparent death to return to the '70s]]. It was followed by an (unscripted, one imagines) apology for those that had recorded the episode to watch later.
* Commercials for the ''Series/ICarly'' hour-long special "iPsycho", in which a crazy girl locks the trio in her basement, featured about no clips from the first half-hour of the episode. Instead, every commercial emphasized [[spoiler:their friend Gibby coming to save them,]] which literally happens within the last 5 minutes.
** Seriously, just about every episode does this now. Recently examples include spoiling the funniest (in an episode which wasn't especially funny to begin with), and 'climactic' scene in "iSpace Out".
** "iGot A Hot Room" spoiled in the trailers that it was Carly's birthday, that Spencer burns down the room trying to do something nice for her, that Carly is upset at it, that Carly has a job as part of the episode, that Spencer rushes to re-do the room as a surprise with Freddie and Sam, the fact that Carly loves the new room, and what the new room itself looked like.
** "iCan't Take It" aired ''nine'' minutes of sneak peeks for a 22 minute show, including spoiling the big secret about Sam's misdeed to Freddie, and the ending where Freddie saves their relationship and Freddie kisses Sam again.
** Worst of all, they revealed Sam's mother, resident [[MemeticBadass Chuck Norris of bad parenting,]] who they spent ''seasons'' hyping up, '''[[AntiClimax IN THE ADVERTISEMENT.]]'''
** In multi-parters they often have spoilers in the "Next time" segment. For example, the NextTimeOn for [=iStill Psycho=] part 1 spoils [[spoiler:Nora's seemingly normal dad being in on the scheme and Mrs. Benson and T-Bo coming the gang's rescue]].
* ''Series/ICarly'''s sister show ''Series/{{Victorious}}'' is very guilty of this too. The promo for "Cat's New Boyfriend" gave away that Cat was dating Tori's ex, Daniel, that Tori sprayed cheese on Cat and Daniel, that Tori kissed Daniel, and that Cat punched Tori in the face.
* A similar scenario arised in a ''Series/TrueJacksonVP'' special. The trailers posed the question of whether True and Jimmy will become a couple or not [[spoiler: while almost simultaneously showing the two kissing, which happens mere seconds before the episode ends.]]
* {{Nickelodeon}} is just plain terrible at making trailers. The hour-long special ''[[Series/BigTimeRush Big Time Concert]]'' showed various clips of the boys [[spoiler:back in Minnesota, which implied that they had failed in some way and returned home.]] Worse than that were the clips of [[spoiler:the guys reuniting happily, followed by a detailed sequence of them getting kidnapped by Hawk moments before their show, escaping via Carlos's... bravery, and performing at their concert.]] Let's hope the channel never picks up a mystery series, since every trailer would reveal the culprit-of-the-day.
** [[spoiler: Yeah... [[HouseOfAnubis about that...]]]]
** Another notable example of this is the Christmas special. The first promo showed the weather forecast stating that the airports at Minnesota have been shut down due to a snowstorm, [[spoiler: which happens less than four minutes from the end of the episode,]] then shows the boys and Kendall's family greeting Mr. Bitters on Christmas morning, which happens in the next scene after that.
* ''{{Warehouse 13}}'' averts this, [[spoiler: not showing Artie in ads for season 2, since he is supposedly dead]]. They did the same for Myka in season 3 and Jinks in season 4.
* The promo for the "Wizards vs. Werewolves" special of ''WizardsOfWaverlyPlace'' showed Alex's new boyfriend, Mason, (who was introduced in the previous episode) [[spoiler:screaming in front of a full moon as if he was about to undergo some kind of a transformation into a werewolf]]. Guess what?
** The promo for the episode "Moving On" showed that Justin would miss Juliet, Alex would come up with some plan, and even had "Juliet" saying "I'm not Juliet." What happened here?
** Also the episode "Everything's Rosie For Justin" (at least I think that's the name). Not only was it advertised as the first episode in the [[spoiler: "Wizards vs. Angels" trilogy, but the promos featured her with angel wings and Justin saying "She's an angel". Them finding out about Rosie being an angel actually happens near the very end of the episode, and is probably supposed to be a surprising twist.]]
* The promo for the season three episode "My Oh Maya" of ''[[TheSuiteLifeOfZackAndCody The Suite Life on Deck]]'' completely gave away the main plot that Zack [[LadyKillerInLove would develop real feelings for a girl]], and would resolve to change his [[{{Kidanova}} womanizing]] ways.
* While not as bad a letout, the first promo for the ''{{Victorious}}'' episode "Robarazzi" shows Robbie being worried about his blog, then humiliating Tori after the video of her playing with her pimple is let out. Then, in another ad promoting the block it was going to be aired in (with ''Series/ICarly'' and ''Series/BigTimeRush''), it shows [[spoiler: Tori and Jade filming Robbie in his gym towel against his plea, implying that they set up a revenge plot, which happens about three minutes from the end of the episode.]]
* ''Series/TopChef'' is really bad with this.
** In "Top Chef Season 7", on the second-to-last episode, Bravo stretched the episode. Instead of going from 10-11 pm, they had it run from 10-11:30 pm to increase the suspense of the final elimination. The viewer watches until 11 pm, and that is about where Judge's Table starts. Here's the slip-up: Bravo still has the ads going like the episode was 10-11. So on the commercial break where they are choosing between three contestants to be eliminated, there are the two winning contestants walking through a door on the preview for the finale. Guess who gets eliminated now.
** "Top Chef Masters Season 2" was to select eight people to compete in the final round. This was the last selection round, and before the elimination they play a quick clip of the eight people in the final round. No point watching the ending anymore.
** In almost all the seasons, Season 1 has ended with a "This season on Top Chef!" preview, where you might see Bob saying "I'm cooking at a baseball park!" So until that clip pops up, Bob is completely safe. And if Alice is saying "We have to cook at NASA." Then again, Alice has immunity til the NASA challenge, and the shock of this new challenge will be softened because you knew what it was anyway.
* Another DisneyChannel mistake, before the credits for a new episode of ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'' started, a trailer for a Saturday block clearly said that Gabe won his class election, and showed scenes from the credits we had then yet to see.
** Some trailers for the ''Series/GoodLuckCharlie'' ChristmasSpecial spoil Amy's pregnancy
* Subverted for a few ''TopShot'' trailers, a reality show where competing marksmen are progressively eliminated. More than a few times the previews for the next episode, usually aired the commercial break before finding out who goes home, showed competitors that were eliminated.
* The promos for the ''Series/HannahMontana'' Forever episode "Hannah's Gonna Get This", spoiled the fact that [[spoiler: Hannah ended up recording the song as a duet with Iyaz]], something which doesn't happen until the ''last minute'' of the episode.
* {{Lifetime}} managed to kill the suspense surrounding the identities of ''ProjectRunway'''s eighth season finalists by airing a promo for the next week's episode during the commercial break directly ''preceding'' that episode's elimination.
** Oxygen Network is bad with this as well, in particular with their reality show ''Hair Battle''. Gee, thanks for giving me a comprehensive list of everyone who is not going to be eliminated halfway through the episode, guys.
* The DVD booklet for the first season of ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' contains a quote that spoils the outcome of the season finale.
** You know that guy who dies at the end of Buffy's seventh season? Well he shows up in the fifth season of ''Series/{{Angel}}'', in a shocking surprise at the end of the first episode. Oh, he's also featured prominently in the [[FacePalm opening credits]].
** The ''Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}'' season 6 DVD has [[spoiler: Dark Willow]] on the cover, and, even more inexplicably, on the ''first disc''.
** TeenNick is about to start running ''Series/{{Buffy|TheVampireSlayer}}'' repeats. Their ad announcing this shows [[spoiler: Buffy and Spike kissing]]. OK, maybe that's ItWasHisSled by now, but the commercial is aimed at people who are not familiar with the series, who will now probably be quite confused when they start watching season 2.
** When Fox ran trailers for the season 5 finale it prominently featured [[spoiler:Buffy's gravestone]], giving away the ending. Worse yet, it was practically played on a loop, making it near-impossible for viewers not to get spoiled if they simply tuned into the channel.
* NetworkTen purposely ruined the shocking twist in the finale of the third season of ''Series/TheOC'' for Australian viewers. Instead of letting us think she was getting PutOnABus ten decided to start showing ads three weeks before the finale saying "[[spoiler: MARISSA... WILL... DIE]]".
* VH1 spoiled a match in ''TheWorldSeriesOfPopCulture'' this way: One of the semifinal matches spilled over into the final episode...and the preview trailer for the finale spoiled who wins that semifinal match. Oops...
* Some years ago, a promo for the Creator/{{ABC}} nightly news promised an interview with the first-ever million dollar winner on ''WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire''. Said promo aired ''before'' ''WWTBAM'' started.
* ''Series/{{Glee}}'' did this in a season 2 episode, showing [[spoiler: Kurt, who has been at a rival school for ten episodes,]] standing at the top of a staircase yelling [[spoiler: "Kurt Hummel's back at McKinley!"]]
* In the Season 2 episode of ''Series/{{Leverage}}'' that introduced Tara Cole, [[spoiler: she was posing as their client's uptight lawyer to "audition" as a stand-in grifter for Sophie - a fact she didn't reveal to the team (or the audience) until the end.]] Unfortunately, that was given away in one of the promos that aired just prior to the actual reveal in the last segment.
* One episode of ''{{Sliders}}'' had the title group land in a version of SanFrancisco where those in charge force everyone to use some kind of buddy system. If one guy does something illegal, the other one is killed. The area is also more prone to earthquakes than the normal San Francisco and everyone knows that a big one is imminent. Quinn asks one authority figure why nobody tries to leave because of this. The man tells him something the audience learned from the promos: [[spoiler: this version of San Francisco is a maximum security prison.]]
* An episode of ''Series/{{ER}}'' did this badly enough for TVGuide to call them out. The promos for one episode touted the return of Dr. Carter, even showing a brief scene. How long was Carter's actual appearance? Exactly as long as in the promos, using the exact same scene.
* A DVD sleeve example - the UK boxset of the final series of ''Series/SixFeetUnder'' not only shows a wedding photo of [[spoiler: Nate and Brenda]], but the entire cast at a funeral with [[spoiler: Nate]] mysteriously missing...
* For the episode "Grace" in the first season of ''FallingSkies'', the promo immediately before it showed the boy putting the harness back on his back. The boy doesn't actually put it on until ''45 minutes'' through the hour-long episode.
* The promos for the season finale of ''MyBabysittersAVampire'' on DisneyChannel pretty much spoil what was probably intended to be a {{Wham E|pisode}}nding, showing clips that make it blatantly obvious that [[spoiler: Jesse bites Ethan and Sarah sucks the vampire venom out of Ethan, becoming a full vampire in the process]].
* The Season 2 Comic-Con trailer for ''Series/TheWalkingDead'' shows a quick clip of [[spoiler:Guillermo, the leader (and caretaker) of the retirement home in the first-season episode "Vatos"]] lying dead on the ground, while Rick and the others fend off a contingent of walkers massing around the area near his body.
** Previews for the episode "Clear" averted anything that would spoil TheReveal, which harked back to an episode from some time ago, and which formed the basis of the entire episode. Too bad the PreviouslyOn blew that because whoever is in charge of it thought it was worth protecting new viewers from ContinuityLockout with a brief, out of context flashback at the cost of ruining the surprise for anyone else.
* The preview for an episode in Season 2 of ''Series/{{Parenthood}}'' showed one of the main characters being involved in a potentially fatal car accident and implied that the episode's entire plot would be centered around the buildup to the accident scene. The episode itself had the character shown in the accident scene being involved in a completely unrelated storyline with the buildup to the accident only happening within the final 5 minutes and the accident itself being the very last shot before the credits rolled.
* ''LawAndOrderLosAngeles'' began running previews nearly a month in advance of its return from its winter hiatus stating that "Law & Order loses one of its own" followed by a montage of all the main characters, indicating that their first episode back would be a TonightSomeoneDies story with one of the main characters being the one killed while leaving viewers speculating about which character it would be. However, subsequent previews shown closer to the episode's airdate blatantly spoiled which character would be killed, even showing nearly the entire death scene.
* In the promo for the Season 4 finale of ''Series/HowIMetYourMother'', they showed a scene of Barney and Robin kissing, despite the fact that a major reoccuring plotline spanning the ''entire season'' involved Barney struggling with his feelings for Robin.
** Done on a more minor level with most, if not all, promos for this show. Due to WolverinePublicity, CBS seems to have gotten it into their heads that every single one of their promos should mainly consist of Barney doing something sleazy or eccentric, regardless of how prominently Barney actually figures into the episode's plot. Therefore, most of Barney's crazy stunts get spoiled in promos before the episode ever airs. On one hand, this makes Barney seem incredibly annoying in the promos and sucks the humor out of his scenes. On the other, it means the other characters' (usually more substantial) plotlines are ignored by the promos and therefore remain complete mysteries until the episode airs, sparing them from this trope.
* ''Series/{{Grimm}}'', is a horror TV Series from NBC, but the first trailer that was released (in May) managed to spoil the ''ENTIRE first episode''. In just 3.55 minutes.
* Ads for The Event's return following its Christmas break made a huge deal out of revealing the origin of the aliens on the show. The show itself does not reveal this until the very last 5 minutes of the last episode, about six episodes after the ads started mentioning it.
* Series 4 of the BBC's ''Series/{{Merlin}}'' had a trailer for the first episode which showed Arthur carrying a lifeless Merlin. This is the cliffhanger at the end of the episode.
** Interestingly, the series is also infamous for the [[NeverTrustATrailer unreliability of its trailers]], particularly where interactions between Arthur and Merlin are concerned. There doesn't seem to be a middle ground.
** On a similar note, the US previews [[hottip:* : This US-based troper is unsure whether the UK preview was the same]] for season 4 opened with [[spoiler: "The king is dead"]], successfully spoiling the third episode before even making headway on the season premier. Not to be deterred, it went on to display Merlin and the [[spoiler: Dorocha that (successfully) attacked him]] and the aforementioned carrying scene. And also [[spoiler: Uther's body]] [[DiggingYourselfDeeper for good measure]]. [[DeaderThanDead Just to let us know they were serious]].
* In recent years, ''Series/WheelOfFortune'' (of all shows!) is guilty of this. The show uploads a preview of next week's shows on Sony's website every weekend. Nearly every preview shows contestants landing on or picking up prizes, the $10,000 side of the Mystery Wedge, or the Million Dollar Wedge. Occasionally, similar previews air on TV.
** On October 13, 2010, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLXGIf7lTE8 one preview]] that aired near the end of the show was devoted entirely to a woman picking up the Million Dollar Wedge, complete with suspenseful music and an announcer hinting viewers that she would win the grand prize. When the episode in particular aired, [[NeverTrustATrailer she lost the wedge to a Bankrupt]].
* USANetwork's promos for the season 3 finale of ''WhiteCollar'' spoiled the sudden WhatNowEnding about [[spoiler:Neal cutting his anklet.]]
* ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' had OnTheNext trailers that were notorious for this. The one for "Phases" revealed who the werewolf was, and the one for "Innocence" revealed that Angel had lost his soul.
* PBS' trailer for the newest adaptation of ''Literature/GreatExpectations'' gives away [[spoiler: how Miss Havisham dies]], even though the official website goes out of its way to stick "Spoiler Warning" on the production designer's discussion of that event.
* The trailers for ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' are infamous for this. For example, the season 3's big cliffhanger ending of [[spoiler:Dean being sent to hell]] was kind of ruined since the original episode promo showed [[spoiler:Sam crying over Dean's dead body.]] More recently, the episode promo for season 7's "Repo Man" completely ruined the episode's big twist of [[spoiler:the apparent victim actually being a villain and trying to let a demon that once possessed him once again inhabit his body]] by actually making it the ''focus of the trailer.''
* Happens frequently on WWE programming in Canada on The Score when during commercial breaks they announce upcoming events in Canadian cities, and announcing the matches...even when the match may include a performer who was "fired" on that same episode.
** Happens constantly in shows promoting upcoming events in the States as well; it's not at all uncommon to have a major showdown between Superstar A saying how he'll be trying to take the belt from Superstar B segue into a commercial break... Which includes an ad for "[Current Tour Name] is coming to YOUR TOWN! WWE Champion Superstar A tries to keep Superstar B from reclaiming the title!" Well gee at least they're planning ahead. Then again, "[[CatchPhrase On live TV]], [[ThrowItIn anything can happen]]!"
* ''Series/{{Degrassi}}'' does this often, especially from season 10 onward. The commercials also weirdly combine this with TrailersAlwaysLie in that they take dialogue out of context.
* EVERY OnTheNext summary at the end of EVERY episode of DowntonAbbey.
* OnceUponATime is terrible at this. Between the trailers and the lengthy promos ABC releases before every episode, you barely need to watch the episode at all. Most recently the trailers for season two episode 'The Doctor' gave away the big twist the writers had been keeping secret from fans since season one, that Doctor Whale's Fairytale Identity is [[spoiler: Doctor Frankenstein]]
* NCIS: Los Angeles did this at the beginning of season three. After shooting [[spoiler: Hetty]] at the end of the premiere, they went on to reveal [[spoiler: that she survived the shooting]] in the promo for the next week's episode.
** Although they do subvert this in the promo for the fifth episode of season four [[spoiler: in which all of the footage is from the continuation of the episode airing two weeks later. Seriously, nothing that that promo happened in the episode. Not a damn thing.]]
* {{Thunderbirds}} episodes all ''began'' with a trailer showing what was coming up in the episode. It would generally show the perilous situation of the week, the series of events that led to said perilous situation, what cool machine Thunderbird 2 would unload and how the situation would be resolved. Which is essentially the whole plot. And it would be shown '''at the beginning of each episode.'''
* Commercials for the Drake and Josh Finale, "Really Big Shrimp" were egregious users of this. One of them showed the entire resolution of the episode, which is everyone at Helen's [[spoiler: wedding]], Josh [[spoiler: wearing the gold vest]] '''AND''' [[spoiler: dancing with Mindy]], (If that's not enough, another ad showed them [[spoiler: kissing]]) and Drake performing [[spoiler: his hit song]], interwoven with clips form the episode.
* [=TruTV=] is getting really bad with this for ''Series/ImpracticalJokers''. Often a commercial airing ''during the show'' will spoil who the loser for the episode is.
* An Australian promo for ''{{Arrow}}'' that aired a few weeks before the show began screening there intentionally gave away the twist at the end of the pilot.
* ''Series/{{SpartacusBloodAndSand}}'': In the trailer for the final season ''War of the Damned'', there is a brief clip of what is clearly the final battle that spoils who does and doesn't make it to that point.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Many RPG adventures' cover art, seeking to entice buyers with action scenes, inadvertently spoil the nature of the scenario's FinalBattle or a major mid-story menace.

[[folder: Video Games ]]
* The trailer for the ''[[DotHack .hack//G.U.]]'' games revealed exactly who the eight Epitaph Users are and which Avatars they have.
* ''VideoGame/TimeSplitters: Future Perfect'' deserves a special mention; if you can't do a puzzle in an early level, go to the main menu, wait for the game to go into AttractMode and watch a character do it for you. It is a very easy puzzle, admittedly, but still.
* One of the commercials for ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII'' showed [[PlotlineDeath Aerith's death scene]], which probably helped cement its ItWasHisSled status. In fact, for the European version of the game, a screenshot from the FMV immediately following her death (which shows Cloud laying her body in a pool) is on the ''back of the game case''. It's not obvious enough to be a direct spoiler, but it does give a big hint.
** The voice-over for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nb2qEqR7kgg&feature=related at least one of these commercials]] also said "A love that can never be." HINT HINT!
** Coupled with the fact that the advertisement's narration is terribly cheesy and the teaser itself is [[NeverTrustATrailer quite misleading]], this is a particularly ''egregious'' example.
* The intro sequence for ''[[VideoGame/{{Boktai}} Lunar Knights]]'' is actually a montage of all of the cut-scenes in the game.
* The trailer for ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Original Generation Gaiden'' shows [[SuperRobotWarsReversal Fiona Guredan]] alive, and with her final HumongousMecha. This ruins the suspense of if she survived the malfunctioning Time Flow engine when her mecha was badly damaged..
** Some would argue that being a spoiler, considering the existence of the Excellence Eternal, the MidSeasonUpgrade that only she uses, in ''Super Robot Wars R''.
** In actuality, the whole bonus segment in ''Original Generations'' were like an interactive trailer for ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars Original Generation Gaiden'', thus the main story of the bonus sections got carried over to the Gaiden. [[spoiler:Including the death of [[PlayerPunch Lamia Loveless]]. Her [[BrainwashedAndCrazy rebirth in different circumstances]] was still well hidden in the commercial videos. As well as the inclusion of the Cry Wolves of the MX series and [[BackFromTheDead the return]] [[HeelFaceTurn and redemption]] of both Axel Almer and Alfimi.]]
* The trailers for ''VideoGame/DevilMayCry 4'' gave away things like the true intentions of the Order of the Sword, the failure of an attempted ShootTheDog, and the continued importance of the demonic katana Yamato. They didn't succeed in spoiling everything, but there was something of an InternetBackdraft regarding the final trailer.
* Several previews also spoiled the big twist in ''[[{{STALKER}} S.T.A.L.K.E.R.]]'' on who the player character is.
* Multiple previews for ''RatchetAndClankGoingCommando'' had the amazing distinction of spoiling ''half'' the game's plot, including the thief's real name [[spoiler:and gender]] (which you learn halfway through the game) and the purpose of the "experiment" (not referenced in-game until just before the final boss battle).
** For the third game, the true nature of Dr Nefarious' plan and the [[spoiler: [[UnwillingRoboticisation literal mechanisation]] of the entire Tyrrhanoid race]] were similarly spoilt. These things are explained around halfway and two thirds of the way into the game, respectively.
* ''FireEmblem Radiant Dawn'' is notable for having a press release that basically outlined the entire game's plot. This included the revealing of the true identity of the Black Knight, which was never revealed in the previous game Path of Radiance, but also only revealed near the end of Radiant Dawn.
* Although it's so disjointed that it may not be recognizable until you actually play it, the in-game trailer to ''VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders: The 2nd Runner'' pretty much shows the entire game, every stage, every boss fight (with the exception of the FinalBoss). It also shows pretty much the entire story, including clips from the Ending.
* The trailer for ''{{Starcraft}}'''s ExpansionPack, which features several clips of a military funeral interspliced between the imagery of awesome carnage. The fact that the coffin had the banner of the United Earth Directorate on it meant that a major UED character was going to die, though it didn't become clear until the [[spoiler: second-to-the-last]] Terran mission.
* The manual for ''VideoGame/NeverwinterNights2: Mask of the Betrayer'' advises you to read certain pages only after you've seen the twist at the end of act one. This would have been useful advice if the [[spoiler: Spirit Eater curse]] hadn't featured so prominently in the game's prerelease hype.
* The DS remake of ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIV'' runs into this trope headlong with its opening cinematic, its instruction manual, and even the back of the box. Square Enix must feel that all the info for a game approaching its twentieth birthday must qualify as ItWasHisSled.
** Then again, the instruction manual originally packaged with the North American SNES version included a walkthrough that spoiled the plot for about half of the game; just flipping through it randomly could spoil at least three {{Plotline Death}}s for you.
*** The manual spoiled even further by giving item lists that mentioned every character class in the game that could equip them. So anyone who read it over and noted that they haven't seen anyone with the class [[spoiler: Lunarian]] yet could easily figure out that anything before [[spoiler: The Giant Of Babel, the major dungeon following the recruitment of said Lunarian]] [[DiscOneFinalDungeon would not be the final dungeon]].
* In ''TimeHollow'' for the DS, you get a fleeting 'flashback' of someone falling past the top of a window, and from your perspective all you can tell is that the person's probably female and a student at the high school. Unless you watched the opening trailer, in which case you know who it is right off the bat, making it painful whenever Ethan recalls it and thinks "GEE I WONDER WHO THAT WAS."
* The blurb on the back of the case for ''RondoOfSwords'' spoils that you're actually playing the prince's body double, not the prince himself. This isn't as huge a spoiler as it sounds -- it's revealed after the very first stage -- but the game was very obviously written with the intention of keeping it a secret until this (early) reveal.
* A word of mouth example. If you're never played ''NicktoonsRacing'' before and want to check it out on Website/YouTube, [[SincerityMode DON'T YOU DARE READ THE COMMENTS! Seriously,]] everybody who comments on any video of that game reveal [[spoiler:Plankton]] is the mystery villain. If you don't believe us, [[YouHaveBeenWarned don't say we didn't warn you.]]
* The trailer for ''GrimFandango'' spoiled the [[DeaderThanDead sproutings]] of [[spoiler: Don Copal and Lola.]]
* The trailer for ''CrashOfTheTitans'' reveals that [[spoiler:Doctor Neo Cortex is replaced by his niece]].
** The manual for ''VideoGame/CrashTwinsanity'' spoils almost everything significant to the plot in the first three quarters of the game.
* Referenced in ''PhoenixWrightAceAttorney - Trials and Tribulations'', Godot mentions he doesn't like spoiling himself with trailers, and "we'll just wait and see how the movie turns out tomorrow, won't we?" when he refuses to reveal something until the trial starts.
** Investigations 2 would later play this straight. The trailers make a big deal of [[spoiler: Edgeworth being offered to become a defence attorney.]] But the actual offer itself, coming at the end of case 2, is a ''major'' WhamLine if you don't see it coming. It's even spoiled at the end of the ''demo'' too. (In fact, though the demo comprises of basically the first half of Case 1, the exchange at the end doesn't take place until ''the end of Case 3'')
* The instruction manual for ''VideoGame/TotallyRad'' reveals master magician Zebediah's secret at least three times until they actually lampshade this trope.
* One of the plot twists in ''JakIIRenegade'' that couldn't be seen coming three miles away is that the game [[spoiler:is set in the future]]. Unless you watched ''any'' trailer, of course, where it's explicitly stated by the characters.
* When ''The Twin Snakes'', the ''VideoGame/MetalGearSolid'' remake for the NintendoGameCube, was wrapping up production, several trailers were released spoiling the gene storyline (ingame, no mention of it is made until near the end) and dropping an extremely obvious hint as to who the Ninja was by playing a later clip over his introductory scene.
-->'''Ninja''': Do you remember me now?
-->'''Snake''': It can't be... you were killed in Zanzibar Land...
** Not to mention [[spoiler:Snake being tricked into activating Metal Gear by accident.]]
-->'''Terminal''': [[spoiler:PAL code number three confirmed. PAL code entry complete. Detonation code activated.]]
-->'''Snake''':[[spoiler:It's moving... But how do I stop it!?]]
** Considering the PlayStation version came out four years earlier, this was more of a LateArrivalSpoiler.
*** And the Ninja example wasn't much of a spoiler to non-Japanese audiences, since ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' [[NoExportForYou didn't get an international release]] until ''[=MGS3=]: Subsistence''.
** Similar to the above ''Phantom Menace'' and ''Gundam SEED'' examples above, ''VideoGame/MetalGear2SolidSnake'' features a track labeled [[spoiler:"Natasha's Death." (That's Gustava for those of you playing the version included in Subsistence.)]]
** {{Konami}} went to great lengths to keep Raiden a secret until the release of ''[=MGS2=]''. Unfortunately even that wasn't enough to get around different release dates and almost every British gaming magazine which ran a story on the game that featured that. In an amusing inversion, however, many magazines were able to avoid spoiling the plot by [[spoiler: making out that Snake had ''died'' on the Tanker, something the supporting characters treat as correct until halfway through]].
** The instruction manual also spells out that there will be a part of the game where you play as someone named Raiden who defuses bombs and uses a sword (it gives the controls for both). Although gamers reading it might assume that this will be a small part of the game, not the majority. But by the time the ''MGS Essential Collection'' for PS2 came out, everyone knew about Raiden, so the manual for [=MGS2=] mentions that you will be playing as Raiden for the majority.
** In ''[=MGS4=]'', the Metal Gears themselves don't play much of a role until Act 4. Screenshots showed [[spoiler:Snake in the cockpit of a reactivated, railgun-less REX and RAY in a snow-covered harbour]]. There's not much of their relevance to the plot that isn't spoilt by those facts.
* One of the trailers for ''[[SonicStorybookSeries Sonic and the Black Knight]]'' reveals [[spoiler:Excalibur Sonic]].
** Think that's bad? Before ''VideoGame/SonicUnleashed'' was released, there was at least one trailer for EACH ZONE except the last, on BOTH versions of the game. That's bad. What's worse is this: The trailers were each around a minute long, and usually showed both day and night stages. Each zone in the Wii/PS2 version (save one) has ONE primary day stage, that can be easily beaten in somewhere around three minutes (a requirement for all medals, actually). Therefore, at least a sixth of each stage was spoiled. In at least two cases, this included the GOAL RING.
** Anyone who, at this point, is surprised by Sonic turning glowy and yellow at the end of the game [[LateArrivalSpoiler clearly hasn't been paying attention to any Sonic game after the first]].
** But it's a different form than Super Sonic.
** ''VideoGame/SonicGenerations'' was also bad about this. For a game all about reliving Sonic's history, they revealed literally every stage, boss, and rival in the game except for the final boss (the only one not to be from a previous game) in the trailers leading up to release.
* The trailer for ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime [[UpdatedRerelease Trilogy]]'' shows the final bosses of all three ''VideoGame/MetroidPrime'' games. This could also be an example of LateArrivalSpoiler.
** Years before, one of the ads for ''VideoGame/{{Metroid}} 2: Return of Samus'' showed a clip of the fight with the final boss of the game.
* Done in the opening sequence of ''VideoGame/TheWorldEndsWithYou''. It spoils the whole plot, alright, but the player won't realize it until they've beaten the game.
** Similar case with ''DeadlyPremonition'' - [[spoiler:the first profiling sequence is a lightning-speed montage of every major twist and plot reveal.]]
* ''VideoGame/{{Maximo}}'' plays with it. It goes out of its way to spoil the plot twist that [[spoiler:Sophia's Achille's DecoyDamsel]] for GenreSavvy players, even mentioning it in [[spoiler:her]] manual bio... [[spoiler: and naturally she's none of the above]].
* The final encounter with the Hive Mind in ''VideoGame/DeadSpace'' is revealed in the pre-release trailer, thus ruining a [[CrowningMomentOfAwesome potentially awesome spectacle]].
* The Japanese trailer for ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon: Explorers of Sky'', which was also dubbed as an American ad, shows [[spoiler: Grovyle, who is ''smiling'' at the main characters who are ''clearly worried about him'' dragging Dusknoir through the time portal. [[GoodAllAlong Well, there goes half the plot.]]]]
** The third anime special, [[note]]not actually a trailer, but still a preview[[/note]] released around the same time as ''Explorers of Sky'', reveals that [[spoiler: the hero, Grovyle, and Dusknoir are from the future, and that the hero will erase himself from the timeline to stop Primal Dialga.]]
* This trailer from ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker''. Take the standard trailer [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1AVNa8q8T8 here]]. Pretty much half the late game gets given away, and the Gamespot trailer actually goes further by showing even more. For that matter, one of the pre order sleeves for the game actually had a picture of the final battle on the front...
* Early promotion material for ''[[VideoGame/{{Half-Life2}} Half Life 2: Episode 2]]'' revealed that [[spoiler:Alyx dies, or at the very least gets incapacitated, although it's also avoided in that Alyx also gets better and her "death" (falling off a bridge in the promo) is totally different in-game. The trailer also reveals that the G-Man is back in a speaking role after being sidelined for the last game.]]
** To be fair, [[spoiler:the scene where Alyx is stabbed]] happens about ten to fifteen minutes into the game.
* ''VideoGame/QuakeIV'' has a twist where your character is captured midway through the game and turned into one of the bad guys. This would have been surprising if the press releases, trailers, and the back of the box didn't give it away.
* A trailer for ''[[BackyardSports Backyard Baseball '09]]'' spoiled, among others, the last character to be unlocked.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyXIII'''s trailer has a prominent scene with all six characters flying on the back of a monster thing. Playing through the game, you get to a part where [[spoiler:Sazh "commits suicide"]], but this scene hasn't happened yet. Clues you in that [[spoiler:he's still alive!]].
** A Also, he get's his summon right before that seemingly happens wihtout giving you a chance to use it. It was shown in use in the trailers.
* ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyVI'' included [[spoiler:a map of The World of Ruin, which is what the game world turns into halfway through]], with the game. It also gives away the magic system (which has some storyline significance). Not to mention listing all the characters with mini-bios (giving away a few {{Heel Face Turn}}s) and their abilities. The latter gives away the twist that [[spoiler: Terra is a half-esper]].
* ''VideoGame/CallOfDuty - ModernWarfare 2'' had several trailers. The last one, released several months before the game came out, showed [[spoiler: Washington D.C. on fire.]]
* ''{{Shenmue}}'''s trailer spoils that Lan Di is seeking the mirrors' power, as well as an incident late in the game in which Nozomi gets kidnapped by Terry's gang.
* ''ShadowOfTheColossus'' had a trailer that ends with a montage [[spoiler:showing Lord Emon looking around the shrine of worship, Mono sitting up from her resting place, and Wander lying on the ground with HORNS!]] Of course the last part goes by [[FreezeFrameBonus extremely quick]], but keen eyed viewers of the trailer either had an idea of what the ending was about, or at least got an early head start on how the game would tie into ''VideoGame/{{ICO}}'' (which before the game's release, [[BlatantLies was said to have no connection to the latter title]]).
* The ''AlterAila'' Genesis. some fans have stated that they avoided watching the trailer for fear of spoilers. Which is funny, [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXk1mSaQ1Lw since it doesn't really contain any.]]
* In a possible attempt to subvert this trope, the [=E3=] reveal trailer for ''VideoGame/AssassinsCreedBrotherhood'' featured an attack on the Papal carriage in 1503 Rome, the city and year in which [[spoiler:Pope Alexander VI, aka Rodrigo Borgia,]] died. While both hold true in the game, unfortunately the circumstances are far less epic than the trailer implied.
** Played more straight with some European versions of the "Story" trailer (narrated by Cesare Borgia), which concludes with a showdown between him and Ezio Auditore atop a castle wall. The US version does not name it, but the European versions identify the setting as 1507 Spain, [[spoiler:the year and country in which Cesare Borgia died in RealLife]], ''de facto'' confirmed when the developers started name-dropping the site as Viana no less. Moreover, this showdown was much more accurate to the actual in-game event than the (completely inaccurate) [=E3=] reveal trailer had been.
* Divisive though it is among gameplay critics, there's little doubt that the developers of ''StarWars: TheForceUnleashed'' wanted [[spoiler:the Apprentice Force-pulling a Star Destroyer out of orbit]] to be a significant point in the story. Not only was it depicted on the back of the box, it was also used for giant promotional posters designed specifically to be positioned at the entrance to game shops.
* {{Zig Zagg|ingTrope}}ed (I think) in two different trailers for ''ProfessorLaytonAndTheLostFuture''. One shows [[spoiler: Future Layton]]'s clothes being flung away as a reveal. Anyone who played the last two games would have expected it to be [[spoiler: Don Paolo in disguise]], but it's actually [[spoiler: Doctor Stahngun/Dimitri Allen]]. Quickly afterwards, however, [[spoiler: [[MasterOfDisguise Don Paolo]] reveals himself to be disguised as the ''real'' Layton]]. In another trailer, Layton denounces [[spoiler: Stahngun]] as the villain when he discovers that [[spoiler: he is running the future London's mafia]], [[spoiler: however, the true villain of the piece is [[ManBehindTheMan Clive]]]].
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect2'''s previews, especially its "Fight For The Lost" campaign, gave away several plot points that the game's writers appear to have intended to be surprising reveals. Jack's sex and Archangel's identity are kept secret in the game until Shepard actually meets them, and the recruitment dossier sets Shepard up to recruit Okeer instead of Grunt; unfortunately, all three characters were featured heavily in the game's marketing, with Jack and Grunt even having their own interview-style promotional videos. And of course the only way to somehow avoid knowing that [[spoiler: Shepard is dead and the Normandy blown away]] at the beginning of the game would have been to avoid every piece of media BioWare released and abandon society for a year or two.
* A trailer for ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosBrawl'' showed some icons that accidentally revealed that Ness, Jigglypuff, and Lucario were playable; all three were hidden characters in ''Brawl''.
** One of ''Brawl'''s early E3 trailers revealed that [[TheUnexpected Solid Snake]] was a playable character.
** The opening cinematic of the game blatantly shows hidden characters Marth, Ness, Snake and Sonic.
* ''VideoGame/ResidentEvil5'' had fans upset about [[spoiler: Jill being killed]] prior to the story. One of the trailers had Wesker removing the hood off one of his goons claiming it to be "One big family reunion", making it obvious who it was.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbjavQHDwDw This trailer]] for ''HaloReach''. Which is somewhat justified in that it is a prequel game and fans of the series should know that [[DoomedByCanon Reach was a total disaster that pretty much sealed the fate of mankind]]. The story is written in a way that assumes the players know what will happen while the characters believe they still have a chance to save the day.
* In trailers for ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom3'', a certain combo count would result with an onscreen superlative of [[ViewtifulJoe VIEWTIFUL!]] Take a wild guess as to who was revealed in a subsequent trailer.
** To be fair, he also appears on the cover art too.
* Trailers for ''VideoGame/{{Portal 2}}'' clearly spoiled the fact that [[spoiler:[=GLaDOS=] was still alive and would still be the main antagonist of the game]]. At least for half of it.
* Extremely blatant in the case of ''VideoGame/KidIcarusUprising''. The information and trailers released prior to the game show off pretty much every stage, boss, character, and plot point up to Pit's final battle against Medusa. In addition, less than a month after the game's release, several new trailers came out, spoiling just about everything else.
* The Genesis version of VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2's manual has the story, but when you turn the page... '''BAM!''' The second picture shows a snapshot of the start of the final boss of the entire game, the Death Egg Robot. If you read the manual before turning on the game, good luck getting to the Death Egg Robot.
* Averted in VideoGame/{{Uncharted}} 3 with [[spoiler:Charlie Cutter. In the trailers before the launch, Cutter is seemingly a thug for the main antagonist and they even continue this ruse into their one month multiplayer trial, where Cutter's Skin was a part of the Villains team. In the actual game, it turns out that Cutter was always a double agent; a fact that the heroes knew before the player, and his multiplayer skin is apart of the Heroes team.]]. However, it's played straight in the launch trailer, released a few days before launch, where it shows [[spoiler:Cutter planning alongside the heroes.]]
* When ''[[VideoGame/{{CityOfHeroes}} City Of Heroes]]'' began their Signature Story Arc program, the very first one is "Who Will Die!?" It was pretty blatant that Statesmen was going to bite it, not only because many promotional images showed his iconic faceplate laying discarded, but because the dev whose moniker was Statesmen jumped ship when Paragon Studios split from Cryptic. [[spoiler: Averted, whoever, in that he wasn't the ''only'' one...]]
* Thoroughly averted by ''VisualNovel/VirtuesLastReward''. Though a promotional anime was released before the game, detailing the backgrounds of the characters and the setup of the Nonary Game, it neatly manages to hide ''the single biggest plot twist in the game.'' [[spoiler: It shows Sigma's face.]]
* VideoGame/SleepingDogs had a mission shown on YouTube to promote the game. Unfortunately the mission they chose was [[spoiler: Mrs. Chu's Revenge]] and they even gave the spoileriffic ''name'' of the mission. Anyone who saw that video probably knew what would happen to [[spoiler: Winston]] by the first fifteen minutes of the game.
** A trailer for the game included Wei mentioning that he [[spoiler: was now one of the Red Poles]].
* The second VideoGame/ZoneOfTheEnders intro shows you parts from the ending. If the player is wondering when certains scenes from the game are going to appear he will be spoiled.
* ''StarshipTitanic'' had a strange twist on this: one particular puzzle, in the Music Room, can be easily solved by looking at the back of the game box, where the screenshot of that room shows the puzzle completed. However, this isn't a spoiler.. it's the correct, and ''only'', way to complete the puzzle.
* Warhammer40000SpaceMarine had a rather predictable reveal, a [[spoiler: daemonic invasion headed by the chaos-infused mastermind]]. The trailer outright showed the protagonist fighting enemies which would only show up when something like that happened, spoiling the entire surprise. Not that GenreSavvy players wouldn't expect it.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Animation]]
* Parodied in ''TheDementedCartoonMovie'', which opens with a mock trailer that does the exact opposite: it doesn't reveal ''anything'' about the movie it's advertising because it's heavily censored, and parts of it have been replaced with stuff like [Dialogue Missing] and [Title Missing].
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Web Comics]]
* Parodied with the second trailer for ''TheWayOfTheMetagamer 2: InNameOnly'', which intentionally reveals many, many plot twists.
* The trailer for the {{Homestuck}} video game kickstarter was aimed entirely at people who had already read the comic, so it contained spoilers for ALL the major updates as of the time it was made. At least the spoilers were flashing by so fast that new readers missed half of them and didn't know enough to recognize many of the others as spoilery.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Web Original]]
* The trailer for Website/ThatGuyWithTheGlasses' two-year anniversary special ''WebVideo/{{Kickassia}}'' had [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony]] shouting "[[spoiler:Oh my gosh! It's 3D Lee!]]"
** And the final trailer for their fourth anniversary special ''WebVideo/ToBoldlyFlee'' spoiled [[spoiler: WebVideo/TheNostalgiaCritic absorbing the PlotHole.]]
* More like "the preview always spoils", unless the [=YouTube=] user has found a way to muck with the video thumbnail of a movie, [=YouTube=] will default it to the middle of the movie. If it's say, for a race and the course is known, you can tell at least midway who's winning.
** A variation: if you're going to watch a comedy video, you'd do well to avoid looking at the top comments. They almost always contain the funniest jokes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]
* Parodied in the ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' episode Professor Chaos:
-->'''Narrator''': Will Professor Chaos succeed? Which boy will replace Kenny? Which adult cast member will [[TonightSomeoneDies die]]? These questions will be answered... [[spoiler:[[ToBeContinuedRightNow right now]]. No, Tweek, and Ms. Choksondik.]]
** Though that may have been intended as a parody for the (in)famous "Who is Eric Cartman's real father?" 2-parter, since a ''lot'' of fans were ticked off when they got the Terrance & Phillip special after waiting for a month, instead of the continuing story.
* The ads for TheMovie and GrandFinale of ''WesternAnimation/KimPossible'' (before it was {{Uncanceled}}), ''[[WesternAnimation/KimPossibleMovieSoTheDrama So the Drama]]'', show the HighSchoolDance moments leading up to the [[RelationshipUpgrade the final kiss between Kim and Ron]], something shippers have been hoping for since Season 1. They didn't even attempt to ShipTease the fans with the RomanticFalseLead, Eric. [[ViewersAreMorons Obviously they believed fans needed MORE incentive to watch the show.]]
** As if that wasn't enough, one of said ads actually showed a clip of Kim being shocked by Eric while he had an evil look on his face, which would pretty much give away that [[spoiler:he's really working for Drakken]].
* Nickelodeon showed various commercials of scenes leading up to the release of TheMovie of ''WesternAnimation/HeyArnold''. One of these completely spoiled that Helga finally confesses her love for Arnold. (They didn't show how he reacted to it, though.)
* From an episode preview on ''WesternAnimation/TheTransformers'', "But is this really the end of Optimus Prime? Tune in for tomorrow's exciting episode: "The Return of Optimus Prime".
** However, the ''first'' time that aired, it didn't have the narration. Thankfully, newer DVD releases go without it (though of course the DVD's episode list does let you know that an episode called "The Return of Optimus Prime" is coming up.)
** Not to mention all the trailers for ''the movie'' showing clips of [[spoiler:Optimus Prime getting blown to bits while the Narrator asks "Does Prime die?!"]] WELL GEE KIDS, I DUNNO!
*** Then the very next question they Narrator asks is: [[spoiler:"Then, who will lead the Autobots?" There's not much need for a new leader unless the old one dies, ya know...]]
** The 20th Anniversary DVD set prominently shows [[spoiler:Hot Rot opening the Matrix]] on the inside cover art. This '''literally happens in the last scene of the film'''. And while all the other chapter titles are deliciously subtle, [[spoiler:"Megatron Transformed"]] might have been playing its hand a bit too much.
* In an episode of ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' (after Cleveland had left for ''WesternAnimation/TheClevelandShow''): "Cleveland! Who would have thought we would run into you? Except everyone because Creator/{{Fox}} [[LampshadeHanging spoiled it in all the promos.]]"
* The theatrical trailer for ''WesternAnimation/RugratsInParis'' had DonLaFontaine [[spoiler:proudly introduce Kimi as "the newest Rugrat",]] therefore cluing the viewers in [[spoiler:on how the movie ends (Chuckie's dad marries her mom) and her incorporation into the show]].
* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' with an old [[ShowWithinAShow Radioactive Man]] film reel. A giant missile heads towards Earth, and cuts to a freeze frame while the announcer says "Will Radioactive Man save the planet Earth? Find out next time!" The freeze frame shows ''Earth being split in half with a giant mushroom cloud.''
** That's more a parody of old adventure serials. They routinely ended with something terrible happening (e.g., the hero's car skids off a cliff) and an admonishment to see the next installment to find out how the hero would avoid his terrible fate. Invariably, the next installment would be a [[CliffhangerCopout total cheat]] (e.g., the hero jumps out of the car before it reaches the edge - even though he was ''clearly'' in the driver's seat as the car went over in the previous installment).
** The promos for the episode "How Munched is That Birdie in the Window" spoiled the whole plot of Bart adopting a wounded pigeon and Santa's Little Helper eating it.
** The trailers for ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsonsMovie'' show the exchange between Homer, Bart, and the EPA agent near the end of the movie with the "treasure of I'm a weiner" joke. This spoiled the joke of "To be continued" followed by "right now" as the latter takes place before the former in the movie, showing there is more.
** In the syndication promo for "When Flanders Failed" had Bart facing the bullies with his "karate skills".. The announcer asked "Will Bart get a black belt or a black eye?", followed by a cut to Bart hanging from a basketball hoop by his underwear.
* Okay, Creator/DisneyChannel may be the all-time king of this trope. In a ''WesternAnimation/FishHooks'' episode "Fail Fish", Milo has to pass a test in order to prevent himself from being held back a grade. This would have been taken as a surprise, if only they hadn't shown him [[spoiler:holding the test in his hand while he shouts for joy, implying that he has passed it!]] You might not be able to catch it if you're not paying attention, but it's still there.
* Another one, the ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'' episode "Candace Gets Busted". In order: It starts off as an intimate get together, she has no problem inviting a few more people, but then it becomes a party, Linda calls the house and says they're coming home. Then guess what happens? [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin "Young lady, you are so busted!"]] ...Yeah, you get the idea.
** To be fair, if you couldn't guess that was going to happen based on [[SpoilerTitle the title]], well...
*** Then there's "Minor Monogram" where the commercials literally only showed the ending where [[spoiler: Vanessa falls for Monty]].
* Not a trailer, but the original lobby card for the classic WesternAnimation/DaffyDuck short, ''WesternAnimation/DuckAmuck'' flat out reveals who the mysterious animator is. It shows Bugs Bunny's hand with a paint brush tormenting Daffy.
* The original trailer for ''[[WesternAnimation/TotalDramaIsland Total Drama World Tour]]'' (back when it was still being called ''Total Drama the Musical'') spoiled Leshawna's elimination; also, if you look quick, it also spoils Ezekiel's elimination as well, as you can see he doesn't get a bag of airline peanuts after DJ.
* ''WesternAnimation/StarWarsTheCloneWars'' has restrained themselves fairly well when it comes to foreshadowing Anakin's eventual transformation into Darth Vader, so naturally, Cartoon Network was eager to promote an episode where Anakin has a vision of what he will become. They show us some pretty sweet clips in the promos, but when the actual episode was aired, you realized they showed you the whole scene!
* The identity of the new character in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanMaskOfThePhantasm'' was revealed [[http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/1c/Phantasm-actionfigure.jpg by the action figure that came out at the same time with removable mask]].
* Black Phantom's defeat from the ''HeroFactory'' TV special was spoiled, shot for shot, on an on-line promo vid advertising the cartoon and characters (and their toys) on the Franchise/{{LEGO}} website.
* [[http://www.flickr.com/photos/kerrytoonz/2679457672/ This]] print advertisement for ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' special "Hollyrock-A-Bye-Baby" shows that Pebbles will have twins.
* Pick a trailer, any trailer, for episodes of ''WesternAnimation/AdventureTime'', ''WesternAnimation/RegularShow'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheAmazingWorldOfGumball''. There. You've basically saw the entire episode in under 30 seconds, ending on a cliffhanger.
* The trailer for the season finale for ''WesternAnimation/TheLegendOfKorra'' was shown when there was still one episode to go before it, and spoiled that [[spoiler:the Equalists will get control of the city and begin mass bending removal]].
* Nickelodeon Australia once had a commercial for back-to-back episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheAdventuresOfJimmyNeutronBoyGenius'' that played this for comedy, with a narrator trying to summarize EVERY episode in a single breath so the viewers wouldn't have to wait to try and watch all of them. He outinles about three episodes before becoming exhausted, and instead suggests they just tune in to watch back-to-back episodes.
* [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV66QJTtGtQ This trailer]] for ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales: God Wants Me to Forgive Them?!?!''. If only they didn't include the clip of Junior forgiving The Grapes...
** And the trailer following it for ''Dave and the Giant Pickle'' also spoiled that Dave knocked out Goliath with a peanut.
* The trailer for the series finale of ''WesternAnimation/DannyPhantom'', "Phantom Planet", was almost completely spoiled just through the commercials. In ''one commercial alone'', it was spoiled though being ''outright stated by the narrator'' that Danny loses his powers, gets them back again later, gets together with Sam, and enlists the help of every other ghost in the series to stop the Disasteroid.
* A promo for the ''{{WesternAnimation/Motorcity}}'' episode "Like Father, Like Daughter" spoiled the ending in which [[spoiler:Julie agrees to take over [=KaneCo=] should something happen to her father]].
* A teaser for ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooMysteryIncorporated'' clearly depicts [[spoiler:[[BigBad Professor Pericles]]]] going OneWingedAngel.
* The trailer for "Heather Report" in ''WesternAnimation/DragonsRidersOfBerk'' completely reveals that Heather is TheMole working for [[BigBad Alvin]].
[[/folder]]