CARU Asks Disney to Stop Advertising 'Pirates of the Caribbean' to Kids
According to Broadcasting & Cable Magazine, the Children's Advertising Review Unit of the Council of Better Business Bureaus has asked Disney to stop marketing the PG-13 'Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest' to children on Nickelodeon.
A self-regulating arm of the ad industry, CARU made a formal complaint about ads that ran in tandem with the film's theatrical release in June, three months after they had aired. Disney responded by saying they had no plans on rerunning the ads, and stated that they had relied on Nickelodeon's clearance department to ensure proper ad placement.
CARU frowns on advertising PG-13 films to children under 12 because the MPAA rating indicates the presence of content that "may be unsuitable." However, as the B&C notes, 'Pirates of the Caribbean' toys, games, food and a whole bevy of other licensed products are heavily marketed to children despite the film's rating.
It will be interesting to see how close and timely CARU's scrutiny will be when Disney launches the third installment of the franchise next year, and what changes Disney will make regarding ad buys on younger-skewing channels. As reported for Q3 2006, the Disney Consumer Products division’s income rose 70% over the previous year to $105 million, much of which was due to sales of Pirates-themed merchandise.
New CBS Series 'Smith' Finds Ad Partner with Warner's 'The Departed'
 According to Zap2it, CBS has partnered with Warner Brothers for the premiere of the new crime drama ‘Smith.’ The pilot will be solely sponsored by the upcoming Scorsese film The Departed, with “limited commercial interruptions.”
The Warner Brothers sponsorship of the ‘Smith’ pilot takes care of a tricky scheduling dilemma faced by CBS. With the premiere running over an hour before commercial breaks, CBS would have had to trim down the episode, limit commercials, or run an extended premiere.
'The Departed,' a hard-boiled crime drama in the vein of Scorsese’s past work, is a natural fit for 'Smith.' The series also stars Ray Liotta, who had his big breakout role in the Scorsese classic Mafia hit 'Goodfellas.'
‘The Departed’ features an ensemble cast including Leonardo DiCaprio, Jack Nicholson, Matt Damon and Martin Sheen, among others, and will premiere in theaters on October 6th.
Disney to Bow Massive Roadblock for the 'Chronicles of Narnia' Trailer
According to a Disney press release, the company is buying a massive "roadblock" on broadcast, cable, online and other media to launch the 'Chronicles of Narnia' trailer. Touted as the "largest audience ever for a theatrical trailer debut," the ads will reach an estimated 200 million+ viewers in 32 countries, 13 languages, across five continents and spanning over 12 time zones.
Here's more from the release:
The worldwide "roadblock" will be anchored by the U.S. broadcast debut of the "Chronicles of Narnia" trailer on Saturday, May 7th during ABC's network premiere of "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets" (available in over 106 million households) along with online visitors to America Online Web sites (including AOL Welcome Screen, AIM, Moviefone, etc.), and Verizon Wireless V CAST customers. The trailer will also air simultaneously on Disney Channel, and on four channels across the Starz Entertainment Group network. Verizon Wireless customers will also be able to access the trailer through the company's V CAST wireless multimedia service.
Within a 48-hour period surrounding this domestic launch, the international "roadblock" (dubbed in over 11 languages) will similarly introduce the trailer around the world, with simulcasts on popular programs in such countries as the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Mexico, Korea, and Latin America. In addition to the broadcast launches, each territory will partner with print and online outlets to maximize exposure.
More to come...
[Via Yahoo! News]
Warner Bros. to promo 'Batman Begins' during 'Smallville' Finale
According to Brand Republic, Warner Brothers will promote the upcoming release of 'Batman Begins' during the season finale of the hit series Smallville.
The finale, which will air on May 18th, will be showing an exclusive clip at some point during the show:
The eight minutes of footage will air within the 90-minute season finale of 'Smallville'. The two [Batman and Superman] have always been linked in comic book fiction and bringing the Man of Steel and the Dark Knight together is designed to further explore the relationship on the screen of two most popular superheroes in the history of American pop culture.
We've seen the broadcast of exclusive clips become an integral part of the movie marketing process over the past year, but none have been so topically on the mark as this one.
Batman begins is due out in theaters on June 17th.
[Via Brand Republic]
NBC Universal's Promotional Planning Efforts Pay Off
According to an article in today's Mediaweek, the promotional synergies planned by the NBC Universal Marketing Council have been paying off. The council, which is an internal task force comprised of key marketing executives from NBC and Universal, have been coordinating efforts to maximize promotional opportunities. The article cites three films -- The Bourne Supremacy, Meet the Fockers and Along came Polly -- that the Council focused on where they had attained positive results:
For Bourne, all dayparts on NBC, Bravo, USA and the other company-owned cable units ran promo spots leading up to the premiere, which resulted in a $52 million opening. And for Fockers, the NBC-owned stations held contests in their local markets, where viewers with the last name Focker were invited to a Focker Family Reunion at the Universal Orlando theme park. NBCUs Access Hollywood ran a show on the reunion promo, and, along with the NBC O&Os, premiered the movies trailer.
According to Mediaweek, the council devotes between 100-120 gross rating points per week to the current promotional effort.
It would be interesting to see if Time Warner or Fox uses an approach similar to NBCU -- they are decidedly less vocal about it if they do.
NBC Universal's Cross-Promotion Strategy Pays Off
Showtime goes Online to Promote 'Fat Actress' and 'The L Word'
Showtime announced two new online partnerships today. In the first deal, Showtime is teaming up with iVillage, a women's portal geared at the 18-54 bracket, to promote the series 'The L Word'. Promo centers around an iPod-a-day giveaway (didn't the losing team on the apprentice just try that?)
The second promo is the "Big Fat Job Sweepstakes" with job portal Monster.com. The contest will promote the new Kirstie Alley series 'Fat Actress', and one grand prize winner will get a walk-on-role plus $10,000 in cash.
According to Len Fogge, Showtime Networks Executive Vice President of Marketing & Creative,
"It's a crowded marketplace and it's become increasingly important for us to extend our reach via non-traditional outlets, and online relationships have become a critical component of our marketing strategy. By linking up with such sites as iVillage.com and Monster, we are able to generate huge buzz for our series while targeting them to the people we believe will be most interested in watching them."
Perhaps we're just a bit biased, but is the web still considered "non-traditional" in 2005? At any rate, iVillage has a monthly audience of around 5.9 million per month, and Monster reels in a whopping 15.6 million -- good numbers of highly targeted consumers. And while the iPod giveaway is pretty small potatoes, the interface and scratch game are quite well executed.
SHOWTIME Strikes Deals With Popular Online Sites to Promote Network's Signature Series
Movie Marketing Panel Predicts Low Oscar Ratings
Based on the poor box office performance of nominated films, a panel of marketing experts predicts poor ratings for this year's Academy Awards. According to MediaPost:
In his presentation before media and marketing professionals at the first Screenvision Imelda Staunton Insider's Ball, Fred Nelson, vice president for editorial development at Entertainment Magazine, showed a list of movies in the Oscar Best Actress Category and the nominal box office alongside: Annette Bening ("Being Julia"), Catalina Sandino Moreno ("Maria Full of Grace"), ("Vera Drake"), Hilary Swank ("Million Dollar Baby"), and Kate Winslet ("Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind").
The box office of all the movies barely totaled $75 million--a box office stinker for even one major motion picture, Nelson noted.
The "nomination effect" this year has been minimal, and if these predictions turn out to be true, there will likely be little post-Oscar bounce either.
Marketing Panel Predicts Low Ratings for Oscars
Will HBO Clean Up with a Sanitized Version of 'The Sopranos'?
Having successfully re-purposed 'Sex and the City' for basic cable, it looks like HBO is ready to do the same with their 'Sopranos' franchise. According to the New York Times,
HBO has been in talks with six advertiser-supported networks that feature reruns of TV dramas: A&E, FX, Lifetime, Spike, TNT and USA. (There is of course no guarantee that the discussions will end with a deal; HBO may decide against selling the episodes if it does not get a price its executives like.)
The article describes how planning for the eventual shop-around began at the script stage, with the actors recording tamer, safe-for-regular-cable versions of dialogue.
So who'd buying the ad time? Why, its a fine triad of booze, cars and of course, Hollywood movies:
At a minimum, the entertainment industry, which traffics in content as challenging, if not more aggressive, than 'The Sopranos,' will be a natural advertiser," he added, listing movie studios and sellers of video games.
Is this process cheapening the HBO brand? Are we really a nation of prudes, where Carrie bashfully "makes whopee" and Tony Soprano's peppery verbiage is reined in? It will be interesting to see how far basic cable will go. After all, IFC has been running uncut, expletive laced versions of top hits (albeit in the post-10-pm "free zone").
For the indie marketers, note the anticipated re-purposing of content happening -- it's a model all media marketers should live by in this duplicitous moral environment.
The New York Times > Business > Media & Advertising > Advertising: Would a Cleaned-Up 'Sopranos' Be Too Naughty for Sponsors?
Just who the hell is the HFPA, anyways?
I was watching the Golden Globes and my girlfriend asked me, "Who the hell is this 'Hollywood Foreign Press Association' anyways?"
And I realized that I hadn't a clue.
Wanting to learn more, I wandered onto their site, where I found the goals of the HFPA to be:
To establish favorable relations and cultural ties between foreign countries and the United States of America by the dissemination of information concerning the American culture and traditions as depicted in motion pictures and television through news media in various foreign countries.
To recognize outstanding achievements by conferring annual Awards of Merit, (Golden Globe (R) Awards), serving as a constant incentive within the entertainment industry, both domestic and foreign, and to focus wide public attention upon the best in motion pictures and television.
To contribute to other nonprofit organizations connected with the entertainment industry and involved in educational, cultural, and humanitarian activities.
To promote interest in the study of the arts, including the development of talent in the entertainment field through
scholarships given to major learning institutions.
I also found the following story, which coming from a member of the foreign press, ain't looking so good:
TheStar.com - Awards boost industry myth
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