The Force and the Footlong: “Star Wars” and the integration of movie ads

(The Late Show With Stephen Colbert, 2015)

In the Fall and winter of 2015, “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” promotions and product tie-ins were everywhere. It was impossible not to see an advertisement, product, or update on the movie. In some areas it made sense, T-Shirts at the USC Bookstore with Yoda saying “Fight on you must” (promoting both George Lucas’s affiliation with the school as well as the movie), a funny viral video from Jimmy Fallon’s show, even Duracell.

However, there were other areas that the movie joined forces with that did not seem as seamless. Does the “Star Wars” partnership with Cover Girl, Subway, or Crysler have anything to do with either brand’s mission, culture, or goals and what’s wrong with simply promoting the movie without tying into another brand?

When movies tie into products or brands, it is an advertisement for both parties and by partnering with a variety of other brands, the movie can now advertise to a larger audience. In the case of “Star Wars”, the movie’s popularity means that the brands need the movie’s help more than the movie needs theirs (Greenberg, 2015, para. 2). Disney can control the content but doesn’t need to pay a lot; if anything; in this advertising and the brands can hopefully increase sales by offering products with a Star Wars connection (Schwindt, 2015, para. 4). So some brands may welcome the partnership with the movie in the hope that consumers will buy things with the “Star Wars” brand on it.

Subway; while there may not have been an initial obvious connection between a ham sandwich and Han Solo; integrated the movie and the Subway brand pretty well. They offered kid’s meal bags and large soda upgrades that included a “Star Wars” collector cup, making the marketing more integrated and natural. Whereas products like Cover Girl makeup only offered the same makeup products yet displayed “Star Wars” logos and advertising on the products and in advertisements.

Disney says they chose these brands because of their standing and influence in their markets (Vizard, 2015, para 1) which may be marketing speak for brands with a giant reach who can gain more “Star Wars” consumers. While “Star Wars” may have overreached in their marketing by working with brands who were not connected to the movie, it clearly did not make a difference in movie ticket sales. As Schwindt says, the brands needed “Star Wars” more than Star Wars needed the brands and “Star Wars” went on to make $764.4 million in the United States (McClintock, 2016, para. 3).

References:

Greenberg, J. (2015, November 27). Star Wars Marketing Tie-Ins have jumped the gundark. Wired. Retrieved from www.wired.com

McClintock, P. (2016, January 6). Box Office: ‘Star Wars: Force Awakens’ Tops ‘Avatar’ to Become No. 1 Film of All Time n North America. The Hollywood Reporter.: Retrieved from www.hollywoodreporter.com.

Schwindt, O. (2015, December 15). ‘Star Wars’ Mania Awakens The Sales Force: Here are the Movie’s Weirdest Brand Cross-Promotions. International Business Times. Retrieved from www.ibtimes.com

The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (2015, November 18). May the Forced Marketing Integration be With You. [Video File]. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X9ISiLhtHY

Vizard, S. (2015, August 14). The marketing force awakens: Star Wars signs up seven brands for promotional blitz. Marketing Week. Retrieved from www.marketingweek.com