tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post114867319135448836..comments2024-03-26T22:42:06.412-07:00Comments on TAG Blog: The High Price of Selling OutSteve Huletthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05537689111433326847noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-1148952515713298572006-05-29T18:28:00.000-07:002006-05-29T18:28:00.000-07:00Kevin,I see what you're saying. There's a hypocric...Kevin,<BR/><BR/>I see what you're saying. There's a hypocricy there-- or maybe a divide-- between the creative ideals and the realities of the market place.<BR/><BR/>I think with all the press about Walmart's prices coming at the expense of it's employees, it's hard to feel good about shopping there. But when the average family is so pinched that making a well-balanced meal depends on how much you spend on socks that year, well, you get the idea… That extra five bucks goes a long way. It's a kind of consumer trap, really.<BR/><BR/>Plus there's the issue of white noise. With all the super-marketing tactics folding in on themselves these days, no film is really making any kind of splash anymore. <BR/><BR/>Too much white noise. <BR/><BR/>Time to get back to basics, methinks.:)<BR/><BR/>(So where's the new masthead, huh, boys?)Chrlanehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17658592845808601075noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-1148693374010149202006-05-26T18:29:00.000-07:002006-05-26T18:29:00.000-07:00I haven't seen the Cars State Farm ads. My first ...I haven't seen the <EM>Cars</EM> State Farm ads. My first reaction is that it's disappointing, and a bad idea. If I experience those characters first as corporate shills, I'm going to have a harder time sitting down in a darkened theater, seeing the movie, and just enjoying it for the story that Pixar has labored so long to tell. It will have become something else. <BR/><BR/>Maybe I'm unusual, but I think people in general have a negative reaction to this kind of stuff. It's similar to obvious, forced examples of product placement -- when I notice those, I'm a little pissed ("Hey," I think, "wasn't my $10 ticket enough for you?"), but even worse, I find myself wondering about the marketing deal instead of enjoying the film. It's instant buzz kill.<BR/><BR/>I remember a while back when there was going to be a Chester Cheetah cartoon show, and the idea generated tremendous negative publicity. Now, Chester Cheetah would probably have made a better cartoon lead then most of the crap being made at the time, but the integration of marketing and entertainment was just too obvious for many people to stomach. Oddly, I think it's more honest to take a character created to be a marketing icon and then try to do stories with that character, than to create a film that is meant to be a world unto itself and, before the audience has even experienced that, have those characters sell you stuff.<BR/><BR/>I realize I'm rambling, but there are two things I'm complaining about. One, because the company paying for the ad (Wal-Mart, State Farm, whomever) is first and foremost selling shit, they will call the shots on the ad, and their needs will override the need to effectively advertise the film as a film. If the film is already out there and widely known, then those kind of ads may not matter too much. But if they're the first things you see for that film, you're likely to get a bad impression (and in the case of <EM>Hedge</EM>, I think those ads made the characters look particularly unappealing). So as information, it's bad information.<BR/><BR/>Secondly, I think there's a widespread antipathy towards overwhelmingly commercial and mercenary ventures. It creates negative emotion. Yeah, we all know the film was made with a profit in mind. And marketing tie-ins are as old as animation itself. But there's a point where too much is, well, too much, and people start to turn off.Kevin Kochhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14678528568112279975noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22906998.post-1148691748761756312006-05-26T18:02:00.000-07:002006-05-26T18:02:00.000-07:00What about the State Farm ads featuring Cars chara...What about the State Farm ads featuring Cars characters? Cars hasn't even been released yet either and these ads are playing. How do you feel about this?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com