Elizabeth Gilbert’s journey to Italy, India, and Indonesia became a wildly popular book, endorsed by Oprah and beloved by book clubs. This week, the movie starring Julia Roberts opens in theaters, and fans will be able to see the story unfold in the actual locations.
They will also be able to buy many, many trinkets. Sandy Cohen of AP reports that an onslaught of “EPL” merchandise is about to be launched. We are used to the idea that movies for children will have tie-ins on products from snack food to sleeping bags, but this is the first “chick flick” to be turned into an infomercial.
Stores will be flooded with all things “Eat, Pray, Love.” Look for candles and moisturizing creams; jewelry, bookmarks and tote bags; a dedicated shop at Cost Plus World Markets featuring furniture, food and clothing inspired by the film; a branded digital reader pre-loaded with the book; a Republic of Tea blend; a line of designer clothing by Sue Wong; and a weekend special on HSN filled with products pegged to the movie, including prayer beads, scarves and hundreds of other items from the countries the story’s main character visits during her quest for self.
The book, of course, is about transcendence and spiritual values. Anyone who has read it knows that you don’t get satisfaction from cheesy tschotskes. The book is about authenticity, purpose, and meaning and anyone who thinks you can get that with a tote bag or face cream missed the point. Unless you can put in an order for James Franco or Javier Bardem, I recommend you skip it.
The fast food giant’s latest giveaway for preschool boys features eight Marvel comic action figures, including The Human Torch, a man engulfed in flames, and The Thing, which menacingly roars “IT’S CLOBBERIN’ TIME!” at the press of a button.
It’s bad enough to use junk toys to sell children on junk food. But now, for preschool boys, a so-called happy meal at McDonald’s features the horrifying spectacle of a man on fire and a menacing figure that explicitly spurs them to violence.
How do you advertise a scent on television? And how do you make a product that was around in your grandfather’s era and has no connection to a celebrity or fashion label seem cool?
You do it with charm, wit, and low-key sales pitch that lets people discover and re-discover it for themselves. Old Spice, once associated with other antiquated brands 60’s medicine cabinet like Ipana, Brylcreem, and Hai Karate, has had a surprising resurgence, starting with a Super-Bowl ad, followed by viral, interactive videos.
Last week we saw two days that shook the viral marketing world. Old Spice, a long-neglected — if not forgotten — Procter & Gamble brand unleashed a social media blitz that may have changed the rules of social network marketing.
The Super Bowl ad features former NFL player Isaiah Mustafa and it’s theme appears to be addressed to the women in the audience: your man might not look like him, but he can smell like him. Why to women? First, who do men want to smell good for? Second, who actually buys it?
The commercials were appealing, with a light touch.
What really took off happened five months later.
Wieden posted a simple message on Old Spice’s Facebook and Twitter page: “Today could be just like the other 364 days you log into Twitter, or maybe the Old Spice Man shows up @Old Spice.” And show up he did.
As people tweeted questions about manliness to the Old Spice Man, he began posting near-real-time video vignettes responding to the queries, all in character and with no small degree of humor as he stood bare-chested, abdominals front and center in a bathroom set with the creative crew and comedy copywriters of Wieden + Kennedy behind the camera furiously writing jokes and chasing down props.
In a two-day blitz, the team produced more than 180 video “shout-outs,” including a marriage proposal (she accepted) and exchanges with celebrities including Ellen DeGeneres, Demi Moore, Christina Applegate, Alysa Milano, George Stephanopoulos, Olympics speed skater Apolo Ohno, gossip blogger Perez Hilton, tech gadget blog Gizmodo, Stanley Cup champions Chicago Blackhawks and Starbucks (which now has 10 million fans on Facebook).
Instead of spending millions of dollars buying time on the broadcast networks, which recently posted another dispiriting set of eroding viewership numbers, the Old Spice team uploaded them — at no cost — to Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. They quickly got almost 600,000 “likes” on Facebook and seven millions views on YouTube — not people who fast-forward thought an ad as they watch a show on their DVR but people who specifically chose to watch.
Reiss’ shrewd assessment of what works here is well worth reading. In particular, he notes the personalized, interactive, and viral nature of this campaign.
That is at the core of the Old Spice phenomenon. People started competing to be witty or provocative, making their best bets on what would intrigue the Old Spice Man to want to respond to them. Many thousands did not get a response, but it seemed like all of them did. And the ones that didn’t kept trying harder to impress the Man. Also, every blogger or celebrity who did get a response wrote about it. It was a badge of honor.
We can expect many more brands to pick up on this approach — and most of them will find out that it is not easy to be as engaging and innovative as Old Spice, two terms no one would have thought of applying to that brand a few weeks ago. For a trip down memory lane, see below.
I loved the new Shrek Forever After movie. But I was very sorry to see that the lovable big green ogre is not just living happily ever after over in Far Far Away. He is all over the mall selling everything from credit cards and breakfast cereal to junk food and greeting cards to kids and their families. It even includes “limited edition “Ogre Green” filled Twinkies.”
The press release from Dreamworks, explains that Shrek has a wide range of “partners.”
This is of course just another way to help make more money for the studio. But it is detrimental to the integrity of the product itself to commercialize it this way and it is particularly regrettable when it is attached to products that are unhealthy for children.
The Federal Trade Commission has a terrific new online game for kids that will teach them to understand the difference between someone trying to tell them something and someone trying to sell them something. It’s called Admongo.
The FTC’s message to parents:
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, has created the Admongo campaign to help teach kids about advertising. The campaign has four parts:
* a game-based website at Admongo.gov;
* sample ads that can be used in the classroom;
* a free curriculum for use in the 5th and 6th grades, developed with Scholastic, Inc. and
* teacher training videos.
Together, these tools can help teach kids basic ad literacy skills.
As a parent, you can be a valuable partner in this campaign to help equip your kids with the critical thinking skills they need to be smarter consumers. With your help, kids can learn to ask three key “critical thinking” questions when they encounter advertising:
* Who’s responsible for the ad?
* What is the ad actually saying?
* What does it want you to buy, do, or think?
By applying the information they learn through this campaign, your kids will be able to recognize ads, understand them, and make smarter decisions as they navigate the commercial world.
The site also has resources for teachers to help them include media literacy in the curriculum.
The game is not enough to teach kids the difference between genuine opinion and advertising, but if it inspires conversations with parents that are reinforced throughout the week as we model our own responses to the messages in the media, that will remind not only kids but the rest of the family of how insidious these messages can be.
Many thanks to Pat Goslee for showing me this site.
