As the dog days of summer drag on you might wonder what do people who monitor the media do in the summer. The news media has been kind of slow with not much more than the ongoing war in Iraq and the always-exciting horse race coverage of presidential candidates breaking records for money raised this far from the actual election. The only real junk food news has been on Paris Hilton's criminal career. Therefore, I am pretty much left with other forms of media to consume and critique and what better media to discuss than Hollywood's summer blockbusters.
While I don't subscribe to the notion that entertainment media is just an artistic reflection of the real world, I do think that there are kernels of reality that can be found on the big screen. These reflections are written in mid-July, so if you were hoping for comments on The Simpsons Movie or Balls of Fury, I'm sorry to disappoint. This writer hasn't even seen the new Harry Potter film, so there won't be comments on adolescent wizards and dark lords. In fact, I am going to limit my comments to just two of the so-called summer blockbusters - The Fantastic Four and Transformers.
As a kid I grew up watching The Fantastic Four on Saturday mornings and Ben Grimm was always my favorite, no doubt because he just used brute strength to take care of the bad guys. However, it seems that in the movie version of the cartoon/comic book Ben has become to brunt of jokes, the not-so-bright one. His counterpart, Johnnie (flame on) is the egomaniac, forever seduced by the fame and always looking to woo any woman who crosses his path. Johnnie's inflated ego takes on a new role in the latest edition of The Fantastic Four, when the flying torch becomes a pitchman for corporate America.
Early on in the movie there is a scene where Johnnie enters the room and presents a Fantastic Four uniform with numerous corporate logos on the front. His rationale is that it could be another way of financing their operation. Not surprisingly, this is the selling point of much corporate underwriting/sponsorship...to "help" fund fledgling enterprises like public schools across the country. Well, Johnnie's idea is quickly dismissed, not because anyone objects to the idea, rather that they are currently confronted with the destruction of the world and maybe corporate sponsorship is not quite as urgent. A bit later in the film there is a scene where Johnnie and Ben are in a bar feeling a bit depressed because no solution to stopping the Silver Surfer has been found. They are talking about what they would do with their last minutes on earth and right in front of them are bottles of Dos XX beer. Now at first glance it is not unusual for adults to be drinking beer in a bar, however when you think about the broader audience this product placement takes on a different meaning.
According to the Center on Alcohol Marketing and Youth nearly $5 billion dollars was spent on alcohol advertising on TV in the Grand Rapids/Kalamazoo/Battle Creek market alone between 2001-2005, with the bulk of the advertising on channels that target underage viewers - UPN, Comedy Central and VH1. Alcohol ads in movies has also increased in recent years, particularly in films that target teen/college age audiences. The makers of Dos XX are not stupid and recognize that this is a great way to target underage audiences with their product. If the guy that says "Its clobbering time" drinks Dos XX, well...you get the point. It's not that people will automatically drink Dos XX, but it does normalize drinking, especially if super heroes do it.
A more blatant form of hyper-commercialism appeared in the movie Transformers. Every one of the "good" robots transforms into a GM car or truck. The main character of the movie drives a Camaro, but there is also a Hummer, an 18-wheeler, a Pontiac Solstice, a GM truck, and a Mustang. All throughout the movie there are tight shots of the transformation so that the logos or names of the vehicles are prominent. In fact, GM used the release of the film to plug its own summer campaign called the "Transform Your Ride Sale." The campaign is using an "integrated marketing program including 30-second television spots, 60- and 30-second radio spots, print advertising, digital online advertising, Web site homepage grabs and gaming plus other activities. The television advertising, by McCann Erickson Detroit, features a variety of vehicles, including the Chevrolet Silverado and Cobalt, Buick Lucerne, Pontiac G6 and GMC Yukon. The spots incorporate actual scenes from the movie and are directed by Michael Bay," according to a June 25 Press Release from GM. As a side note, it is interesting that all the vehicles feature are high performance...which is a code word for low gas mileage. Just weeks before the film was released Congress voted on new CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency) standards for the auto industry. The US Congress was lobbied heavily by General Motors and other car manufactures in order to keep the current fuel efficiency standards low. The new standards voted on in early June only requires cars to get 27 mpg and trucks 22.5mpg. So much for combating global warming.
There were two robots that did not turn into GM products. The robot Blackout turned into a Sikorsky helicopter and Starscream transformed into a Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor, according to the film's website. So it seems that the US defense industry also got in on the act of advertising in this film. It's ironic, that both Sikorsky and Lockheed Martin, companies that make their living off of US taxpayer subsidized weapons contracts and sell their military hardware around the world, would need to feature their products in a film. It's not that people are gonna run out and buy an F-22 Raptor, but it does serve an important role in that it provides a popular forum for US military hardware to be shown in a positive light.
Indeed, one could argue that the film Transformers was a big promotional piece for the US military. At a time when the US military occupies Iraq and Afghanistan, the film portrays them as being under attack from "outside" forces. The US military is only portrayed as defensive throughout the film and in the end triumphant because of the courage of members of an elite commando squad. At one point in the film the military even recruits young computer programmers who help them decipher the robot code. One could say this was an appeal to the newest generation that their computer hacking skills can serve the interests of the nation. What better way to attract potential recruits than the use of a summer blockbuster. This is certainly in line with the US military's recruiting strategy of using video games and other popular media as tactics to lure young people into the armed forces. As long as there is no draft and the US continues the so-called "War on Terrorism," the Pentagon will continue to employee a variety of tactics to get young people to fight their wars.
