Sony's 'Talladega Nights' Comedy Is a Product-Plug Rally By KATE KELLY and BRIAN STEINBERG Wall Street Journal
July 28, 2006; Page A9 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB115404723983119898.html?mod=hps_us_editors_picks Over two long days last summer, marketing executives paraded through a trailer at a Chicago racetrack, the site of the USG Sheetrock 400. There, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing was pitching its top sponsors on a tempting proposition: the chance to lock down high-profile product placements in a feature film about Nascar racing in the works at Sony Corp.: "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby." Sarah Nettinga, managing director of film, television and music entertainment for Nascar, had pored over the movie script and identified every page with a potential promotional opportunity. In Chicago, she approached the organization's existing sponsors, including Sprint Nextel Corp., Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., Coca-Cola Co. and Unilever, on the cross-promotional possibilities within the movie, ranging from logos on the racers' suits to the burgers and pizza served at one character's dinner table. Sony says it didn't make advertisers any promises, but Ms. Nettinga's offer indicated the company was remarkably open to suggestions. "It was literally, 'The producers pitched the story, and do you have any thoughts on where you would like to fit in?'" she recalls. Her role became so important to the making of the movie that it garnered her an executive-producer credit. Nascar also offered the filmmakers wide-ranging advice on the cars and racing, but it doesn't share in any profits. The resulting film, a comedy starring Will Ferrell that opens in U.S. theaters next Friday, is one of the most in-your-face efforts ever to cross-promote consumer brands in a movie, and vice versa. Just as Nascar itself blankets every inch of its cars, drivers and racetracks with ads and logos, so does "Talladega Nights." There are 10 "promotional partners" whose brands make a prominent appearance in the film -- not necessarily more, but definitely more obvious, than the product placements in a typical movie these days. And in a bow to an unusual request from a key sponsor, Mr. Ferrell appears as Ricky Bobby, at times fumbling with his cellphone in the shower and in bed, in three Sprint television commercials and five promotional videos for cellphone users. "We requested the commercials with Will in them," says Sprint spokeswoman Angie Read. Having him in a national commercial, she says, "is huge." Sprint says it didn't pay Mr. Ferrell for his appearance in the spots, but it did make a charitable donation on his behalf. It's all part of the effort to sell "Talladega Nights," made at a cost of $73 million, to a mass audience and bring burgers, cellphones and sports drinks along for the ride. At a time when audiences are tuning out traditional ad campaigns and online marketing is intensifying competition between brands, the spirited I'll-plug-your-product-you-plug-mine behind "Talladega Nights" could be the pace car for a new wave of cross-promotional vehicles. "Our job is always to find a unique way to make sure that the public is listening to our message," says Valerie Van Galder, president of marketing for Sony Pictures Entertainment. "At this point, it's anything you can do to cut through the clutter." Mr. Ferrell's Sprint spots are but one aspect of the promotional juggernaut. As Ricky Bobby, Mr. Ferrell wears a racing suit festooned with more than half a dozen brands, including Wonder Bread, Goodyear and Coke's Powerade. His archnemesis, a French racer named Jean Girard, is backed by Perrier. Meanwhile, plugs for "Talladega Nights" are starting to multiply on products and in stores. Grocery stores are now stocking shelves with "Talladega" and Nascar branded hot dogs. Displays at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. from Unilever's Country Crock spread plug the movie, too. Nascar's online store is peddling "Talladega" merchandise, including a free poster with orders of caps, T-shirts and other Nascar gear. The blitz comes as movie audiences have grown weary of -- if not offended by -- the current of logos and branded products that runs through many movies. Helping power the stream is the common fear among movie stars that hawking consumer goods in the U.S. is bad for their image -- a theme that was the basis for the popular 2003 film "Lost in Translation," about a disaffected American actor in Tokyo to film commercials for a Japanese liquor. Mr. Ferrell entered the ad blizzard with his eyes open. He decided it was OK to appear in the Sprint spot in the context of his bumbling character, says Jimmy Miller, the actor's manager. "As long as [the ads] were the kind of comedy Will likes to do, it was easy," he says. Marketers who worked on "Talladega" say Nascar's unapologetic embrace of advertising in real life -- where cars, racetracks and drivers' suits are wall-to-wall logos -- helped make the film an ideal forum for high-profile plugs. "If it didn't have a lot of brands or logos on it, then it wouldn't be considered authentic," says Tom Meyer, president of Davie-Brown Entertainment, an Omnicom Group Inc. company that specializes in linking advertisers with movies. Executives at Sony Pictures approached Nascar, based in Daytona Beach, Fla., about being involved with the film well before principal photography began. "They instantly got it," recalls George Leon, head of consumer marketing at Sony Pictures Entertainment. Nascar officials identified the existing sponsors who might be interested in "Talladega" placements, he says -- and "from there it was a tag team." Sony was open to almost any sort of cross-promotional idea within the movie or its prerelease marketing campaign, Mr. Leon says. But there was one option that was never on the table: paying cash in exchange for the movie exposure. Sprint and others "didn't get to hand select where their placement was," he says, "but they knew that they would be part of this recreation of the Nascar world." Sprint's Ms. Read says the company is thrilled with its brand's part in the movie. But if the outcome had been less appealing, she adds, the company could have spoken up about it. "If we weren't happy with our placement, we could have had the ability to negotiate additional ... or different placement," she says. Checkers Drive-In Restaurants Inc., of Tampa, Fla., agreed to have its logo appear in a scene that might have made other advertisers balk: a car crash. Checkers says the opportunity for national exposure was worth taking the risk. "We thought it would have been fine as long as it didn't involve death or injury," says marketing Vice President Richard Turer. But the biggest get of all the "Talladega" advertisers may well be Interstate Bakeries Corp., whose familiar blue-yellow-and-red logo for Wonder Bread is emblazoned across the chest of Mr. Ferrell's racing suit and across the hood of his car. Wonder Bread, which isn't an existing Nascar sponsor, hasn't had such a prominent placement in a movie before, says Norm Marshall, chief executive of NMA Entertainment, which negotiated Wonder's appearance. Long before detailed discussions with potential sponsors began, Adam McKay, who directed and co-wrote "Talladega Nights," had already written the all-American white bread into the script. With the company's blessing, Wonder Bread appears on Ricky Bobby's uniform and in movie-related merchandise. "That's accidental fortune," says Davie-Brown's Mr. Meyer. ================================ George Antunes, Political Science Dept University of Houston; Houston, TX 77204 Voice: 713-743-3923 Fax: 713-743-3927 antunes at uh dot edu Reply with a "Thank you" if you liked this post. _____________________________ MEDIANEWS mailing list medianews@twiar.org To unsubscribe send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
