"It’s everywhere! It’s everywhere!"
That paraphrase of the old "Chicken Man" radio show theme has been running through my head as of late. Advertising—in-your-face and subliminal—is inescapable.
For example, the big screen isn’t the only place you can find movie trailers these days. I picked up a latte at a local coffee shop recently, and noticed that the face of actress Lauren Ambrose was printed on the coffee cup sleeve. An ad for the HBO series "Six Feet Under," where she shines as angst-ridden teenager Claire Fisher? Nope, a promotion for "Swimming," a movie she starred in that the sleeve said would make its "world premiere" at a local theater in April.
Intrigued, since Boston isn’t exactly Hollywood East, I logged on to the Web site address given on the sleeve (www.swimmingthemovie.com). Apparently, this film made the festival rounds in 2000 and is now being released across the country, starting first—why isn’t explained—in Boston.
Interested in getting tickets to the opening night, since Ambrose herself was to be in attendance, I looked up the theater’s Web site (points deducted for there being no link on the "Swimming" page). I found a brief description of the film and the opening date. But no information on Ambrose’s appearance was to be found, which wasn’t surprising, considering the theater’s address wasn’t even listed.
Real keen marketing, folks. Lure ’em in—and then let them figure it out for themselves. People, the egg-hunt approach is only acceptable if you’re a bunny and there’s chocolate involved. I see the promise of neither here, unless I’m willing to fork over $5 for a box of M&Ms at the concession stand.
A few days later, I picked up my morning newspaper and read about the rerelease of "E.T., The Extra-Terrestrial." The iconic image of Elliott and E.T. bicycling across the sky accompanied the feature on the cover of the weekend section.
I turned to the movie listings, which seemed to have a hazy Rorschach blotch over them. As I focused, I realized it was the same image of E.T. and Elliott again, overlaid on the page. A nice bit of subliminal promotion, considering the enduring popularity of the scene.
But Universal Studios got an extra bit of mileage with the image, at least in my copy of The Boston Globe. The front page of the weekend section faced the weather map on the last page of the previous section, so the heavily inked image got imprinted over the weather map, making it look like Elliott was pedaling across Canada. Until I realized part of the map was also imprinted on the weekend section, I thought this was a shameless attempt on the newspaper’s part to generate ad revenue any way possible. Aghast, I checked the front page to see if Elliott was cycling across Beirut as well.
In these economic times, one can’t really fault Universal—or anyone—for trying to get creative with their ad placements. I missed Fox’s recent "Celebrity Boxing" TV special (I must have been watching PBS or something), but evidently GoldenPalace.com put its brand on the event. Reportedly, the online casino paid fighters Danny Bonaduce, Todd Bridges and Tonya Harding to wear temporary tattoos promoting their business.
Fox wasn’t happy about this unapproved ad placement, and was reportedly considering legal action. I can see whey they’re upset. It’s a shame that something as dignified as former child stars and skaters slugging each other for cash would be sullied by such crass promotion.
