A new low: Legally Blonde product placements- Page 3

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 7:55pm

I was being serious Ben, but I was also interested to see what others who had seen LB thought. I was watching the show with my kids and resented the Red Bull plug. It sounds like it didn't bother many other people. I'm very surprised to hear that Red Bull isn't a sponsor.

I understand that Legally Blonde is filled with pop culture references, and of course this has to include mentioning products. The UPS logo and Red Bull commercial crossed the line from pop culture reference to planted advertising in my opinion. The Match.com bit, the Jet Blue and the others were gags that I thought worked better.

My real point is that if shows are going to try to work their sponsors into their books it has to be done with a lot more artistry and cleverness than this. I don't care how flashy the souvenior stand is, I don't care how many magazine spreads, promotional websites or department store tie-ins there are, but we can't stand for letting the insaitable hunger for advertising dollars screw up the actual show.

If I notice a product placement (unless the placement itself is the actual gag) something is wrong.

[Shawk]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 7:59pm

Well, outside of the fact that the UPS thing was very much in the movie, I think "the hot UPS guy" is pop-culture shorthand at this point.

The Red Bull thing, which was not in the show when I saw it in SF, sounds a little more suspect.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 8:05pm

Okay, maybe I'm splitting hairs. I really was curious to hear what others thought about this issue.

What bugged me about the UPS guy was Andy Karl's first entrance, where he comes out holding a package with a huge UPS logo on it right up to the audience. I've never seen a package from UPS with one of those logos on it. If Karl had just come out wearing the brown uniform carrying a package with a normal UPS address label we'd all know who he was and it would have been just as funny.

Does anyone here think that big UPS logo would been given such a prominent feature without lots of advertising dollars coming in? This doesn't bother anyone?

Updated On: 5/1/07 at 08:05 PM

[Producer2]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 10:15pm

And Rose promotes chinese food to Mr. Goldstone in Gypsy!

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 11:19pm

Logically, I just assumed that the UPS logo had to be big otherwise the people in the last row would not be able to see it. And if product placement in Broadway musicals is needed to keep new shows opening each season then I'm all for it as long as it's not obnoxious. But, a show like Legally Blonde, because it's a comedy, can make up its own rules on how far they want to take it.

[Fosse76]

Posted: 5/1/07 at 11:56pm

"A lot of college students fly JetBlue, so it made sense to make them fly JetBlue."

The rich ones don't. And I don't believe your generalizations are true that a lot of college students fly JetBlue. In fact, a majority of college students commute or live within a day's driving distance. I believe obly the Ivy League and elite schools have a large population of students who would have to fly. And I'm sure most of them aren't flying JetBlue. And after their illegal imprisonment of passengers two months ago I'm surprised anyone would still fly them.

[Anakela]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 12:13am

I love jetBlue! jetBluuuue! I'm going to Vegas for my birthday, and for New Year's 2008, and possibly one additional time this year, and they're all gonna be on jetBlue. jetBlue!!!!


I've seen LB twice now- still don't like Red Bull without vodka, still like FedEx better than UPS, still have never used match.com. And I completely missed the Olive Garden plug altogether! Still waiting for all the LB product placements to come get me.

"I have a...package!" heh.

[millie_dillmount]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 12:44am

"The rich ones don't. And I don't believe your generalizations are true that a lot of college students fly JetBlue."

JetBlue's target audience is teens and college-aged students. Although I understand there are quite a number of college students that come from wealth, there are a large portion of them who don't have that advantage and are trying to budget their money. Maybe not all college students fly JetBlue, and maybe the rich ones don't, but its target market is still college students. If you go to Jet Blue's website, it has an overall younger appeal as opposed to United Airlines and American Airlines websites.

Because of that, it makes more sense to have the Jet Blue reference/joke in the show especially when the show is aimed for teenagers.

Posted: 5/2/07 at 7:52am

i think its dumb to debate the quality of the products referenced in the show (ex: RED BULL™), thats not the point. the point is the product placement itself.

i dont mind the UPS™ placement, as its integral to the source material (tho i wonder if it was funded placement at that stage).

the product placement didnt "ruin" the show for me; it just felt kind of dirty & weirdly manipulative. particularly in the RED BULL™ scene, when Elle shrieks "IT GIVES ME WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINGS!!!!!!!"

but what actually bothered me more is how the audience reacted to each product reference; as if they'd just heard the name of an old friend...now, *that* is creepy.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 8:20am

I agree, the UPS guy is integral to the source material, and it has to be UPS to reference the "hot guys calendars". That doesn't mean the UPS logo has to have its own big entrance. I've been watching the growing trend of product placements in movies and TV for years, and my skin crawls every time a prominent corporate logo interrupts the flow of a story. I never had this feeling at a Broadway show until this past Saturday at LB. I would hate to see this become the norm for Broadway.

A number of people have replied along the lines of "if this is what it takes to fund new shows, fine". My concern is that blatant product placements have not been a part of Broadway shows until now. If we just sit back and let this become an accepted practice investors and sponsors will expect and demand it. (Are these really the people you want writing the gags for new musical comedies?) Even though Broadway audiences are small compared to TV they are the most coveted demographic in terms of income.

I dread the idea of seeing one new musical after another with sets painted in corporate colors (remember the "Target Red" Grinch sets?) covered in corporate logos and with plentiful references to sponsors in the lyrics.

Updated On: 5/2/07 at 08:20 AM

Posted: 5/2/07 at 8:25am

...& i imagine that the script will change as newer, hotter products & larger corporate bids come along.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 8:32am

Ya know what this thread reminds me of?

MASS PRODUCTION
WILL SWEEP THE NATION.
A SIMPLE NOTION,
THE WORLD'S REWARD.
EVEN PEOPLE WHO AIN'T TOO CLEVER
CAN LEARN TO TIGHTEN A NUT FOREVER
ATTACH ONE PEDAL
OR PULL ONE LEVER
FOR HENRY FORD!
HENRY FORD!
HENRY FORD!
HENRY FORD!
GRAB YOUR GOGGLES
AND CLIMB ABOARD!

Ragtime playing at the Ford Theatre.

[TechEverlasting]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 8:53am

I always said Garth Drabinsky was ahead of his time.

[JumpJumpJumpSoHigh]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 9:58am

Elle never says "It gives me wings." She shouts "It gives me energy!!!" as she's changing behind the curtain, in a reallyreally hyper voice that makes Emmett get an "...ookay" look on his face. It's pretty hilarious, where as a play on the "gives you wings" slogan would have been really, really annoying.

~JJJ

Posted: 5/2/07 at 10:21am

i apologize for mis-hearing.

[SeanMartin]

Posted: 5/2/07 at 10:40am

Considering the show's roots, references to pop culture icons like Red Bull and UPS wouldnt be that far out of line, just more "wink-wink" kind of stuff. Let's face it: we live in a time when everything is merchandized one way or another, and advertisers are always looking for new ways to get their products out there. We accept it on a daily basis, which is why Times Square has turned into the horror that it is. (And yeah, guys, it is: a fun horror, but a horror nevertheless.) So why should we surprised when a musical that makes fun of Corporate America has a few glancing references to the target of its absurdity?

Now, to be sure, somehow I dont think Moon for the Misbegotten could be as blatantly underwritten by, say, Home Depot without howls of scorn. Nor would Company get away with references to Stolie vodka. But the whole point of LB is to make fun of "The Man", so why not do it big?

And I'd be willing to bet that, on some nights, she does indeed say "It gives me wiiiiiiiings!" I'd find that far funnier than the lame alternative.