Vancouver

MOVE OVER MISS DAISY

By RUSSELL SCOTT SMITH
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June 2, 2003 -- SURE, Keanu Reeves has a pretty big role in "The Matrix Reloaded." And Hugh Jackman is a major part of "X2."
But the real stars of these summer blockbusters - at least from an advertiser's point of view - have four wheels, an engine and mega-horsepower.

Take the Mazda RX-8.

When Wolverine (Jackman) needs to to make a quick getaway in "X2," he hits the X-Men's parking garage. There, he bypasses rows of Porsches, Ferraris and other expensive sports cars - and heads right for the RX-8.

Mazda paid $8 million for that bit of product placement, and the gamble seems to have paid off.

Since "X2" came out last month, Mazda says it's received a constant stream of calls from consumers hoping to order the RX-8 (base sticker price: $25,000), which hits the street next month.

That sort of response has made summer blockbusters an essential part of the advertising year for automakers, which will shell out some major dough in exchange for screen time.



The current record holder is Ford Motor Company, which last year spent $35 million to put three Ford brands - the Aston Martin Vanquish, the Jaguar XKR and the Ford Thunderbird - into the James Bond thriller "Die Another Day."

Now Miramax wants car companies to sign for at least that much - if not more - for "The Green Hornet," a superhero picture due out in 2005.

As part of the deal, Miramax would receive its "hero car" and lots of extra marketing dollars.

Most deals between car companies and movie studios work like this: Instead of a straight pay-for-play deal, automakers agree to co-promote a film through additional television, print and Internet campaigns that also plug their cars.

Whichever company lands the "Green Hornet" deal would have a hand in the movie's script, which has yet to be written.

Their car will no doubt play an important role - as did the Hornet's 1966 Chrysler Imperial sedan, "Black Beauty," in the original "Green Hornet" TV series.

"It's an unbelievable placement opportunity," says Miramax promotions executive Lori Sale, who says she is having "lots of meetings" with interested car companies.

"The film warrants the biggest marketing budget in film history."

But many automakers have balked at the price tag.

"It's a big chunk of money," said Julie Roehm, director of Dodge Marketing Communications.

"I would want to see immediately what the studio is doing, and the value they plan to deliver.

"The old adage of, 'We're the movie theater, people will be seeing you,' doesn't cut it anymore."

Car companies are especially wary because of General Motors' experience with "The Matrix Reloaded."

The company got big play in the movie - a nearly 15-minute long highway chase with a black Cadillac Escalade EXT pickup truck in pursuit of a silver Cadillac CTS sedan.

But a planned $50 million GM/"Matrix" ad campaign fell apart when the movie's co-stars, Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss, demanded extra money to appear in the spots.

GM scaled back its "Matrix" campaign to print ads and special pullout sections in newspapers. The company has already passed on Miramax's "Green Hornet" deal.

"That's an awful big amount," says Steve Tihanyi, GM's general director of marketing alliances.

"The partnership would have to be so incredible. To me that sounds a little outrageous, quite frankly."

- with Post wire services

Wolverine

Mazda made a wise choice indeed. Their investment will pay big dividends in the long run.

Vancouver

I disagree. Mazda spent a ton of money on a brief placement, in a movie many people will never see, and with a suped-up car that one can't even buy. The money should, in my view, have been spent elsewhere - a driving (get away) movie or local placements. The only real beneficiary of this placement was the movie production company which got a huge down payment on its production costs.

Elara

In the overall advertising scheme of things, $8 million isn't a great amount of money. In terms of movie advertising, that's peanuts for large companies.

I do wish Mazda would get a move on with the advertising though. Our production manager was looking at some animations by the company that did the 360 degree view of the RX-8 on the Mazda website, and wanted to know what kind of car it was. And this is out PRODUCTION manager, who watches and listens to TV and radio commercials for a living.