The fan-boys were frothing ever since production had begun on a movie based on this lesser, though still venerated, character from the DC Comics universe. In fact the casting of Ryan Reynolds did not bring instant derision from the die-hards, so there was hope this could become a major franchise for Warner Brothers. An initial trailer was released back in last November to middling reception. Then everyone waited. Soon rumblings of unease began.
As the calendar flipped fans waited for the marketing to ramp up but there was a delay. The effects-laden, 3-D projection was said to be undergoing extensive technical work, causing the studio to hold off on promotions In the past few months Warners seemed to be making up for the lost time, overloading the public with advertising and promotions to such a level many longed for those days of limited exposure. The rumors have swirled that the $150 million budget was doubled with all the promotional pushes.And it has led to a measure of backlash, including the non-comic fans finding the cast of characters to be somewhat odd and distancing.
Many have been critical of not only the saturation of ads, but also the blatant product placements in the film. One marketing partner was Hot Wheels, and the toy car brand ran spots featuring the title character using his ring to simulate a Hot Wheels race track in real world conditions. This was done in an effort to promote their tie-in Green Lantern racing set, and branded toy vehicles (including a couple of versions of movie partner Dodge’s Challenger nameplate). But many were slightly disgusted to realize the ostentatious display in the commercial turned out in fact to be an actual scene in the film. It was as subtle as head-shot from Kilowog.
Of course, with any super hero release the toys came out in a flood. But these too have had a harder time than expected finding purchase in the imagination of tykes. Many of the foreign-looking creatures are odd, mutated, endomorphic beings that hardly beg to be taken down from the peg board and freed from their blister-pack cells. More likely they look like something the dog will have dug up in the back yard.
But if these freaks of CGI nature make you distasteful that runs counter to the balance of the licensing for the movie. Putting fans off their appetite seems a poor decision given there is a remarkable amount of food tie-ins with the title. One of the reasons we have become inundated with Green Lantern imagery lately is the almost obsessive amount of commercials run by fast-food partner Subway. The sandwich chain used a two pronged effort for their partnership. First, they incorporated the film into their kid’s meals, employing their usual reusable bags with graphics from the release.
Secondly they used the occasion of the film’s release to promote the arrival of guacamole to their stores as a new sandwich ingredient. You see, guacamole is green, the hero in the film is green – that’s synergy! And very, very forced. But whatever; I’m not a Madison Avenue marketing genius, so who am I to complain? They are also running a sweepstakes during the promotion and you could win a new car from promotional partner Dodge. More synergy.
Then of course when you have a product that is green already you can repurpose it. Behold, Green Lantern Glo-Balls, by Hostess. Frankly the Anthony Weiner scandal has about tapped out this nation’s ability to withstand any more double-entendres with names such as this, so I’ll withhold on all the obvious cracks that this begs to be made. Hostess makes a variety of these cakes in colors specific to various holidays, so just try to pretend these are not the “Lucky Puffs” that are found around the St. Patrick’s Day period.
And hey, since this green connection seems to be the way to go, why not bring Lipton in on the proceedings? They have an expanding line of drinks under their Brisk label, and wouldn’t you know it, they have a new flavor that incorporates – are you ready? – Green Tea! It’s just so perfect. I’ve seen a tag line suggesting you could now drink like The Green Lantern (a dream of many a would-be hero, for sure.) And for the record, The Green Lantern tends to prefer his green tea with mango and dragonfruit added.
Although, I am a little bit dubious about that proclamation about what our bling-laden hero prefers to imbibe. I mean I don’t doubt that he has a hankering for some fruit-infused herbal tea concoctions from time to time, but don’t tell me that is his drink of choice, not when I have also seen him touting the benefits of drinking milk. The milk council has a FLASH-intensive website, www.lanternworthy.com, where you can take a series challenges to find out if you are up to The Lantern’s physical standards. My woman has commanded I spend as much time as possible there in the hopes I can achieve a Reynolds-like physique. She has even taken to buying the milk now with a green cap on it.
While missing out on the green color connection Frito Lays gets in on the consumables bandwagon by having the movie primed on bags of its snack chips, including Doritos, Fritos, and Lays potato chips. (Hey, sometimes you get a green chip in a bag of those!)
Ok, we have not gotten the image of the Canadian star on enough foodstuffs yet. Anyone else up for it? Ah, Reeses will join in the fray. They will also be holding a contest where eaters can win a trip aboard a jet fighter. Also to help you filter through all the gallery of misshapen creatures depicted in this CGI fantasy each wrapper will contain the biography of one of up to 30 characters. I think a pronunciation guide would have helped as well, for those named Naut Ke Loi, and the like.
And the onslaught of Lantern digestibles is not confined to our continent. One of the most intriguing food tie-in products is not found on our shores. The Krispy Kreme donut chain has developed a wholly unique product specifically for the film. But, as has been their practice (the company also made themed donuts for “Hop” available in Mexico) these are mostly found in the Orient. It is bizarre in appearance, with flavors wrapped in mystery. It looks scary as hell while at the same time filling one with wonder and curiosity. It is made of chocolate dough, filled with more chocolate filling, and then topped with a green jelly of indiscriminate flavor.
So you have a belly filled with products across a range of questionable food segments — what’s the next thing to do? Get your bloated carcass strapped into the newest theme park ride, The Green Lantern Coaster. The Six Flags Company unveiled their newest rides at two of their amusement parks to coincide with the film. It is a unique setup in that riders are anchored in the car while standing up.
After all of that eating you certainly will have only one thing left to do, and that is cough up all those products after the dizzying ride. However this may also be a part of the promotional process. After purging your stomach you are likely to leave behind a fetid pile that closely resembles the toy of the main nemesis Parallax.
7 comments
A great article somewhat blemished by an untimely cease-and-desist order.
I am no apologist, but don’t you believe this is the kind of movie to be blatantly using product placement? As you probably know, most, if not all of the companies you mentioned are collectively owned by only a couple of larger companies, who are in turn flagships for gigantic corporations, who either are part ownership of a movie studio or the full-on parent company of a movie studio. In a strictly business sense to these mega-conglomerates, a movie is the byproduct, or sometimes it’s an anchor. The boardroom where the few people decide how money changes hands is a vitally important step to maintaining THE INDUSTRY. Now I am not saying I want to see Michael Shannon eating a Snickers bar and telling Megan Fox how satisfying it is in a Lars von Trier film (strike that – maybe I do!), all I am saying is that I applaud this type of Sell-uloid effort for knowing where it belongs, and what it means to the literally tens of thousands of people it employs in multiple industries. I feel your contempt, but once you accept the existence of necessary evil, you will learn to adapt and don your disguise. You were on to something with the missed window over the early months of the year. I think they recognized the odd disconnect with the movie from early on and knew that the real value was going to start with the tie-ins before the ‘movie franchise’ would profit, so why not have started some earlier promos? Nice article.
Hey Control–
To clarify, I fully understand and agree with your comments. I do not harbor contempt towards the marketing efforts behind films. I am one of those rare types who believes there is a need for commerce within art, mostly in order to perpetuate that art. The purpose of these columns is to show some of the odd or questionable decisions behind a promotional push, but I do not harbor derision towards the practice. I accept and enjoy a large portion of the industry marketing, but I also critique when they overstep an artistic boundry (ill-defined as that is).
Like the Hot Wheels scene mentioned above: as a commercial using movie images it is OK. Even if the movie had that scene absent the prior marketing it might have played as a wry commentary in a way. But by presenting it as is it was almost as if the movie took a break to show a toy commercial.
When product placement is presented in an organic fashion it can be unobtrusive and even augment the narrative, but when artistic content is altered to make way for the commerce I think that is where the art is compromised. (Yes, I’m aware I’m using the term “art” with “Green Hornet”)
Star Wars set the standard for alien creatures selling action figures, and it’s worked for them for several decades. Saying that kids are staying away from the weird creature action figures seems anecdotal at best. Usually monsters sell well. There is a glut of GL product on shelves right now but that has been true with any major toy/film release in the last 6-7 years. Mattel and Hasbro get their product out to stores and they’ve sold their lots, then it’s up to the stores to run through the product which usually ends in a deep discount until every last Kilowog is gone.
Also, not every super hero release is accompanied by a wave of toys. Interestingly, X-Men First Class had almost nothing–a dealer-only wave of Minimates and some Marvel Universe figures called “First Class” but modeled after the comics and not characters in the film are all that I’ve seen. DC is pushing GL toy product heavy through the rest of the year–it’ll be interesting to see if this stuff sells or if some of the later waves don’t even make it to shelves.
In my last column I actually highlighted that Fox had taken a somewhat timid approach with marketing “X-Men: First Class”, at least when shown against most summer hero releases.
By comparison G.L. has seen a monolithic marketing push, and the store shelves reflect it with green objects choking them. They have not enjoyed the same level of sales interest as say the “Thor” objects (the nearest comparable). However, success in this category is subjective, and I doubt in the end the merchants will be crying. This is mostly due to the fact that licensing a toy line is not financially crippling. Mattel paid out a few million for the rights to produce the toy line, and that is a figure they should be able to earn back with relative ease.
Slay-ger,
I’m a pacifist. Let’s not split hairs here. We agreez with each other.
You are doing the right thing to point out how over-reaching the process can be, but you are missing the discussion on the effect. How could, if at all, any of these additional displays have a positive impact on the movie being made, or/and in turn improve all of the industries involved? The purpose of commerce in art should only be to perpetuate art because the better the art, the better the business. There are lots of companies, countries, etc., that somehow don’t seem to know this. I’m not necessarily so interested in that broader discussion in global terms right now, but I do find this layer of the entertainment business and its consequences have gone under the radar long enough. It’s like any other woma– I mean problem, it doesn’t go away by ignoring it. TMZ and the trade papers aren’t the sensations I’m looking for on my search for the right investors/producers. I already know how to deliver a manila envelope with cash in it.
What I am really doing is auditioning the CEO’s of the world and their constituents in order to determine the team I want to build around my zillionaire enterprise. You have made a quick case for yourself to already be considered for a Cabinet position. But seriously. …Food fight!!! Orient-Mystery-Flavored-Krispy-Kreme doughnut is certified genius! My God, there’s a million possibilities. Kind of like this discussion so i am going to leave it there for now.
One last thing… I think it could be something as seemingly minute as X-Men being Ages 8 & Up, and Green Lantern being able to include the 4-7 year olds in their demographic. Believe it!
Wow! Some pretty indepth responses this time.
This is quickly becoming one of my favorite articles on chud, and it’s nice to see some pretty legitimate discussions happening on it. Though, honestly, I just come for the jokes and the pretty pictures.
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