idiggory, King of Bards wrote:
Apparently this movie set the record for most promotional tie-ins ever, with over 100 companies paying over $160 million to have their brand featured in the movie.
The previous record was, ironically, set by the Lorax, with over 70. Superman beats it in number of companies, range of products, and revenue.
It sort of makes me wonder just how much further we can go...
I have no problem with promotions when they actually tie in to the movies. But product placement for the sake of placement bugs me. You're going to have a bunch of cars in the movie? Cool, let companies pay you to feature those vehicles in those scenes. There's a scene in a movie theater? Cool, let a company pay you to determine what snacks the theater-goers are eating. Etc.
I just worry that we're starting to enter territory where the movies become big ads ("Nokia is from Sweden!").
I can't comment on how bad this was in Man of Steel, not having seen it, but the promotional ad campaigns around the film are pretty extensive. I'm more worried about future directions than the situation as it is now.
The previous record was, ironically, set by the Lorax, with over 70. Superman beats it in number of companies, range of products, and revenue.
It sort of makes me wonder just how much further we can go...
I have no problem with promotions when they actually tie in to the movies. But product placement for the sake of placement bugs me. You're going to have a bunch of cars in the movie? Cool, let companies pay you to feature those vehicles in those scenes. There's a scene in a movie theater? Cool, let a company pay you to determine what snacks the theater-goers are eating. Etc.
I just worry that we're starting to enter territory where the movies become big ads ("Nokia is from Sweden!").
I can't comment on how bad this was in Man of Steel, not having seen it, but the promotional ad campaigns around the film are pretty extensive. I'm more worried about future directions than the situation as it is now.
That is an interesting tidbit. I don't mind product placement so much as long as it's not blatant (e.g. not actually pointed out in the movie). The commercial tie-ins that I keep seeing are kind of annoying though, but I guess not much more so than any other bad commercial.