You’d have to be completely cut off from the world not to hear bout the upcoming release of the Simpson’s movie. The buzz generated from the Simpsons/7 Eleven partnership has made headlines for multiple weeks. What’s surprising is that 20th Century Fox has lined up only four tie-in partners for what is considered to be one of the summer’s biggest films. And only one partner—Burger King—will be buying television ads to support the film. The other three partners—7-Eleven, JetBlue, and Vans shoes are running nontraditional promotional programs that, while they generate headlines, are not the multimillion-dollar media buys typical of much-hyped films.
Compare this with the other blockbuster films of the summer. For instance, Sony Pictures lined up seven partners for “Spider-Man 3” that reportedly spent more than $100 million on co-branded media alone. Disney teamed up with 13 partners for “Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End,” the most partners for the studio to ever have for one film. And DreamWorks/Paramount Pictures partnered with eight brands for “Transformers” that reportedly spent $100 million-plus in media and marketing support.
In a press release announcing 7-Eleven’s promotion of the movie, Lisa Licht, the studio’s executive vice president of global marketing partnerships, said the promotional strategy was to “partner with companies that would execute programs that have never been done before. This decision may reek of missed opportunities to some, but this decision keeps true with the spirit of the Simpsons. The show, since it’s inception has frequently and consistently taken jabs at corporate America. What credibility then, would the movie have, if Fox had taken twelve partnerships and bombarded consumers with Simpson’s-related media?
In a true example of life imitating art/pop culture, 7-Eleven made national headlines when it announced that it had transformed a dozen of its stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the convenience store frequented by the Simpsons in the show, and that it would be selling real-life versions of such fictional “Simpsons” product favorites as KrustyO’s cereal, Buzz Cola, Squishees (Slurpees), pink frosted Sprinklicious donuts and a special edition of the Radioactive Man comic book read by Bart. 7-Eleven believes that this promotion marks the first time a “major company has partnered with a fictional entity to bring it to life.” So far, the 7-Eleven promotion has been a huge hit, with many Kwik-E-Mart/7-Eleven stores reporting a doubling of traffic and sales, according to a company spokeswoman.
Whenever you watch The Simpsons, you see Bart Simpson skateboarding his way across Springfield in the opening scene. After watching this for so many years, it seems that skateboarding has become an integral part of The Simpsons. Vans shoes, the iconic shoes of skateboarding, has also partnered with the Simpsons Movie and hired 12 underground artists, including David Flores, Futura, Gary Panter, Geoff McFetridge, KAWS, Mr. Cartoon, Neckface, Sam Messer, Stash, Taka Hayashi, Todd James and Tony Munoz to design 14 styles of limited-edition “Simpsons”-inspired sneakers depicting their own interpretations of the animated characters. In total, only 1,400 pairs of shoes will be created. They will go on sale July 14 for $100 a pair at 10 boutiques in Los Angeles, New York, Las Vegas, San Diego, Long Beach, Calif., Boston, San Francisco, Chicago and Honolulu. Vans expected to sell out of the shoes the weekend after the shoes are released.
Simpson’s Move partner JetBlue, labeling itself “the official airline of Springfield”, and also noting that the discount airliner “shares a sense of humor” with the Simpsons. The JetBlue campaign is slightly more traditional, including an online sweepstakes and direct mailings, but will also be devoting an entire in-flight channel of their airline television to play only Simpsons for the month of July. But don’t let their strategy fool you—the site http://www.jetblue.com/ has integrated the Simpson’s characters and motifs into their website, including character-recommended destinations and a Mr. Burn’s “flightlog.”
Liz Kerner (that’s me as a Simpson Avatar, you can do the same at the movie’s site)
I can’t stand all the overwhelming adverts and promos. they should save their money and just show more “spider-pig” clips.