3. Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (1989)
Tagline: “Why Are They Putting Seatbelts In Theaters This Summer?”
Not only is it one of the worst movie taglines of all time, but it sort of creates grounds for a lawsuit. The Star Trek movies of the ’70s and ’80s were notoriously hit-and miss, but Star Trek V: The Final Frontier was the biggest miss of all. With a weird pseudo-religious plot and laughable script, it’s simply not a good movie.
It also boasts a tagline so terrible, it lives on in infamy. “Why Are They Putting Seatbelts In Theaters This Summer?” was an actual tagline printed on posters for the movie, despite the fact that it’s… well, a lie. They were not, in fact, putting seatbelts in theaters that summer, which is a big marketing misstep.
The implication is that the film is so exciting that the audience will need seatbelts. Well, it wasn’t, but it also creates a case for false advertising, which is considered a crime in certain parts of the world. Not only was it a bad tagline for a bad movie, but it was potentially criminal. Yikes.