question of the day: What’s the weirdest movie or TV product tie-in you can imagine?I thought the IHOP/Despicable Me connection was a tenuous one -- you may have seen the ads on American TV in which little yellow blobby Minions are chowing down on pancakes -- but even if IHOP is disgusting, at least there’s something endlessly cute about watching Minions do anything.
But MasterCard prepaid credit cards featuring the characters of The Twilight Saga: Eclipse (from Risky Business via Cinematical). Selling cheap replicas of Edward’s engagement ring present to Bella makes sense, but credit cards? Because we’re not indocrinating our children well enough into the use of plastic? Now, Cinematical’s Monika Bartyzel wonders how far Volvo’s involvement with the Twilight movies can go. Edward drives a Volvo see (in the books as well as in the movies), and as Bartyzel reports: As International Promotions president Linda Swick recounts: "With the first film, there was no advertising budget for the C30, so when Volvo received a spike in sales, they realized it correlated with the release of the Twilight movie and, later, the DVD." Between increased sales and increased traffic in the dealerships, Volvo realized that Stephenie Meyer had written the company one hell of a marketing gift. From which the natural progression, as Bartyzel amusing notes, must be: I would be shocked if they didn't take it to the next level and find a way to have an exclusive Twilight-customized satellite/electronic system. If Edward simply driving a Volvo can inspire a spike in sales with no marketing push, imagine what would happen if their line had the sparkly Cullen, hairy wolves, and human Swans in the mix. As I mused before, Alice would share weather and traffic, while Edward griped about recklessness. Maybe Jacob controls the heat, Charlie tells you to slow down when you're speeding (since radar detectors aren't quite kosher), Rosalie takes care of diagnostics, Carlisle handles the emergency alert system ... they could even get Renesmee involved with some small, laptop-like camera that takes pictures inside the cabin. It’s an idea so crazy that it just might work. What’s the weirdest movie or TV product tie-in you can imagine? Inception-branded insomnia aids? Toy Story sex toys? (I’m afraid to Google that phrase and discover they already exist.) I’m a little terrified to see what you’ll come up with. (If you have a suggestion for a QOTD, feel free to email me. Responses to this QOTD sent by email will be ignored; please post your responses here.) support
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Wed Jul 14 10, 10:46AM categories: movie buzz talk amongst yourselves permalink 10 pre-Disqus comments Disqus comments tip jarshare
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Cinematical Despicable Me IHOP Inception marketing horrors MasterCard Monika Bartyzel qotd Risky Business Toy Story Toy Story 3 Twilight Saga Eclipse Volvo related· retro ad: 1960s Volvo commercial · watch it: “MasterCard Advert with Bonnie Tyler | ‘Thank You’” · watch it: 1960s IHOP commercial · trailer break: ‘Gunless’ · question of the day: Why aren’t there more professional female characters in movies? · calling bullshit on: Owen Gleiberman at EW’s The Movie Critics... · don't blame Tom Cruise for 'Knight and Day'; Hollywood still loves Comic Con; more: leftover links · marketing horrors: the USPS lets Woody and Buzz deliver your mail · Best Buy’s Movie Mode app isn’t the terror I thought it would be (at least not yet) · watch it: “As Seen on TV - a tribute to doing it wrong” bloggyprevious post: Inception (review) next post: trailer break: ‘Alpha and Omega’ |
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pre-Disqus comments
posted by Erik (Wed Jul 14 10, 11:28AM)
I'd be all for the Volvo stuff if it meant that it could greenlight the Torchwood Edition Land/Range Rover. I've wanted that since the first episode of that show.
I'm also waiting for the official line of Dr. Who fezzes.
posted by Ed Duffy (Wed Jul 14 10, 11:41AM)
How can it be appropriate for MasterCard to be represented by a small group of shadowy figures who lure you in with a glamorous, sexy image and end up bleeding you dry? Oh, wait...
posted by Drave (Wed Jul 14 10, 2:44PM)
The weirdest one I can imagine isn't a licensed product, but it also ties in to Twilight. I'll just say it can be found in adult novelty shops, it sparkles, and it is meant to be used chilled. *shudder*
posted by LaSargenta (Wed Jul 14 10, 3:26PM)
I still think the Iron Man men's cologne the oddest tie-in I've ever seen.
posted by Boingo (Wed Jul 14 10, 4:38PM)
The "Barefoot Bandit" doing a commercial for
Nike or Dr. Scholl's when he's released-provided
those companies are still in business.
posted by Lynn (Wed Jul 14 10, 5:27PM)
In terms of actual promotions Disney has done some very bizarre stuff. A friend of mine was showing me the other day how weird the spin offs for the Great Mouse Detective were.
http://www.whatsitsgalore.com/basil/collection.html
Top of the WTF list on that link for me was the fact that they sold a pipe as merch for a children's movie. I'm guessing the pipe wouldn't even make it into the animation today.
Second is the 'Song Series Pin' which has the villain happily dancing while the hero looks on, smirking that has the caption 'Let Me Be Good to You'
posted by Bzero (Wed Jul 14 10, 6:27PM)
Toy Story sex toys? Well, the main characters ARE named Woody and Buzz...
*runs away fast*
posted by RogerBW (Thu Jul 15 10, 9:15AM)
The first credit card tie-in I saw was a Trek Next Gen card at the 1987 Worldcon - around a month before the series launched.
High on my "weird tie-ins" list is anything consumable - cereal, soap, and so on. But I'm a pack-rat at heart.
posted by JoshDM (Thu Jul 15 10, 10:20AM)
Deep Rising branded toilet snake.
posted by James (Thu Jul 15 10, 5:19PM)
Oh hey, look at that - http://i.imgur.com/ik7mb.png