Revenge of the Sith marketing

[annathepiper]

Who in the name of all that's holy thought that a Slave Leia Pet Costume and a Darth Vader Sprinkler are good ideas? Never mind the inherent goofiness of a sprinkler shaped like a Star Wars character in general--but one shaped like Darth fregging Vader?! Yeah, "power-possessed evil Sith Overlord who spend his entire adolescence as a whiny, self-absorbed little nit" is exactly the whimsical touch I want on my lawn.

Who the hell would BUY THESE THINGS? I mean, call me old fashioned if you like, but when I think "reasonable level of marketing", I think "script novelizations" or "collector's edition soundtracks" or "extended DVD releases" or even "reproductions of jewelry worn by characters" (e.g., Arwen's necklace thingie in LotR, though I do wonder who on earth would want to wander around wearing a reproduction of the Ring ;) ). Not stuff like this. My credulity is even strained by marketing gimmicks connected to food--and don't get me wrong, dark chocolate M&M's actually sound really tasty to me, but the commercials I've seen just make me twitch.

George, George, George, have the huge mounds of unpurchased Jar-Jar figures taught you NOTHING?

Comments

[kirbyk.livejournal.com]

I have to admit, though, that I had to pause the TiVo because I was laughing so much when I saw the Burger King vs. Darth Vader ad. So surreal.

I also kind of wish I'd gotten a Darth Potato Head.

But yes, the marketing campaign is well into self-parody by now.

[annathepiper]

I have somehow managed to miss the Burger King/Darth Vader ads, for which I am immensely grateful. The new Burger King alone just makes me twitch, and never mind teaming him up with Star Wars marketing! I suppose there are advantages to watching minimal TV. ;)

[kaseido.livejournal.com]

*shudder*

Yes, the King is deeply disturbing. Thankfully my CRT Which Only Recieves BSG Episodes doesn't pick up most of this stuff...

[annathepiper]

That one commercial where he kept getting closer and closer to the poor schmuck in the house? CREEPY! I don't want to set foot in a Burger King if that apparition is going to be lurking behind me, that's for sure!

[solarbird]

[annathepiper]

AGH! *twitch* *shudder*

[kaseido.livejournal.com]

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!

[solarbird]

My work here is done.

[boxer-ferret.livejournal.com]

I noticed all the Star Wars crap the last time I walked into Wal Mart. It's all over the place. Though the Star Wars franchise is pretty much where all this movie tie-in merchandising began, is it not?

[annathepiper]

Oh sure... though I'm trying very hard to remember if we've seen this insanity-making level of marketing crap with any of the prior movies. It could, I suppose, have been there and I missed it entirely--I have admittedly memories of all the marketing blitzes connected with the original trilogy, but I'm genuinely not remembering anything even remotely this goofy. And I was only paying scant attention for the new flicks!

[annathepiper]

It's not the marketing push per se that annoys me, though yeah, I'm mostly "all right already, there's a Star Wars flick coming out, I GET IT" about it all. It's more the sheer stupidity of items such as the ones I've linked to being things that the Star Wars marketing machine is actually trying to sell. They're just... dumb. They aren't things I'd want to buy, and they do not encourage me to actually want to see the film. And the commercial spots such as "Sith Happens" are dumb, too.

[tinlail.livejournal.com]

I think you may however be ignoring the ablity of pet owners to spend money on silly things.

The sprinkler, got me there.

[annathepiper]

Joe, I am a pet owner, remember? Maybe I'm missing the "buy silly costumes for my pets" gene, or something. ;)

[darthhellokitty.livejournal.com]

I, however, have it like MAD.

Calvin WILL be Yoda for Halloween, if I have to taxidermize him to make him keep the hat on.

[annathepiper]

...... I love you anyway, honey! ;)

(Wait, how does a HAT figure into a doggie Yoda costume, or is this one of those questions I just don't want to know?)

[annathepiper]

*snort* :)

[wiredwizard.livejournal.com]

Why wouldn't people buy JarJar figures? They're most excellent for target practice...

[annathepiper]

*snicker!* True enough! ;)

Me! Me!

[poodlgrl.livejournal.com]

In fact, wrapped in some paper Violet colored herself, I brought to the 5 year old's birthday described here (http://www.livejournal.com/users/poodlgrl/66444.html) not ONLY the Darth Vader sprinkler, but also a Darth Vader Slip N' Slide (http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/sr=1-4/qid=1116458131/ref=sr_1_4/602-2436035-5782233?%5Fencoding=UTF8&asin=B00067IE3M) too! Of course, being the savvy birthday-going mom, I bought them each at Target for $9.99 EACH, rather than paying $18.99 on some licensed website. YES, I AM THE ANTICHRIST!!

Re: Me! Me!

[annathepiper]

Antichrist? Hardly. I still think it's a stupid marketing idea, but hey, I'll cheerfully grant that 'for the entertainment of my children' is a perfectly good reason to buy such a thing.

However, for any kidless grownup? Ah... no. :)

Re: Me! Me!

[poodlgrl.livejournal.com]

These things are marketed to children. Or parents stupid enough to shell out for them. This is why all the fast food tie-ins, etc. Honestly, the only thing that struck me as the kids ripped opening the packaging on that sprinkler was how terribly phallic it was. I'm sure only even more so with water pouring out.

Re: Me! Me!

[annathepiper]

LOL! Yeah, I can just imagine.

And that's the whole thing that just baffles the heck out of me, 'cause yeah, I get targeting the marketing at children. But marketing that specifically features the evil character? I mean, what?

Dara and I did have to admit, though, that the idea of an Artoo Detoo sprinkler would be cute. ;)

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm. I miss vector graphics...

[annathepiper]

Er, what, she asked blankly? :) (Humor me, it's midnight!)

[sarekofvulcan.livejournal.com]

I was referring to the Star Wars video game (http://www.klov.com/S/Star_Wars.html). :-)

[annathepiper]

Ah! Comprehension dawns. ^_^

[kgbooklog.livejournal.com]

Who the hell would BUY THESE THINGS?

What, you didn't rush out to buy the Nazgul snowglobe?

I mean, call me old fashioned if you like, but when I think "reasonable level of marketing", I think "script novelizations"

One downside of working in a library is getting exposed to things like the "Cat in the Hat" novelizations. Yes, plural.

and don't get me wrong, dark chocolate M&M's actually sound really tasty to me,

They are.

[annathepiper]

Nazgul... snowglobe...? *shudder* Yeah, I want to hit somebody with a Nerfbat for that, too.

Also, Cat... in the Hat... novelizations? I think my brain just tried to execute one of those emergency bypass maneuvers it pulls on me every so often, to protect me from a thought for my own good. ;P :)

[llachglin.livejournal.com]

Nazgul snowglobe! I want it.

[cruisedirector]

You know, I expect this from Star Wars and it doesn't bother me at all, it just sort of cracks me up when Darth Vader is doing those lottery ads. The Harry Potter Marketing Machine of Death bugs me more, as it's targeted at younger children and I think interferes with the experience of reading for its own sake -- I have given up trying to explain the concept of movies for their own sake to my own kids!

[annathepiper]

Oh, it hasn't exactly bothered me for any of the previous movies, that's the weird thing for me. :) But yeah, the whole oddity of Darth Vader being the focus behind so much of this marketing just boggles my mind! Especially for things like the sprinkler--I'm all, 'SINCE WHEN IS THE EVIL DARK LORD the one being used to sell products?'

It just... diminishes the whole thing for me. And the saddest part of it is, it's for movies that just aren't going to be on the par of the original trilogy. >_< Siiiiiiiigh.

But oh yeah, I can get where the Harry Potter marketing would twig you, too.

[backrubbear.livejournal.com]

You might be rather amused that my friend Tomak that I've mentioned in my LJ (www.nethercraft.com) is whoring himself out making reproductions of the Leia slave costume for fen. It apparently sells well, unlike the rest of his (IMO) much better art.

[annathepiper]

*giggle* Oh, I'm much more sanguine about people wearing that costume than I am dogs. ;)

[janne.livejournal.com]

*cough*. Well, I do have my very own Official Solid Silver One Ring -- The solid gold one looked better, but it was a bit too pricey even for the moderately LOTR-obsessed.

I think I'll pass on the Darth Sprinkler, though.

[annathepiper]

A solid silver One Ring? Hrmm. Does that make you only a little evil? Inclined to take over just your city rather than the entire world?

Which would, of course, lead one to conclude that the Bronze One Ring makes you want to take over your neighbor's house.

Sith on sale..

[(Anonymous)]

Here(Kentucky)the marketing is fairly light..there's the M&Ms and Burger King commercials,and few odd items(mostly junk foods,and some toys) in WallyWorld, but the flood of stuff I expected hasn't really appeared-yet. The only thing I've bought is a cheap all-plastic Darth Vader watch(because I have a character watch collection..)Scott

Re: Sith on sale..

[annathepiper]

I am informed further up the thread that the dark chocolate M&M's are actually tasty, so I suppose I will have to succumb--ONCE--and try some.

But I'm still only going to go see the movie as a matinee. ;)