Weirdest marketing tie-in ever?
 

Greg Yaitanes (Sci-Fi: "Dune/Children of" director) regarding the upcoming dvd release.

http://www.tvshowsondvd.com/newsitem.cfm?NewsID=385
I thought this was pretty surreal- obviously this guy needs a reality check or something- and he directed it. He probably didn't even bother reading the books. Either that or it's the lamest attempt at marketing in history.

Any other examples?

I think he was just making a joke. A bad joke, but that's why Dune's not a comedy.

Let's see... weird tie-ins.

Green chocolate syrup for The Hulk. Um.

Valentine cards with X-Men on them. I'm sure someone's touched by Wolverine, claws out, saying "Lookin' SHARP, Valentine!" or Gambit saying "You're my Ace of HEARTS"! Oh, my sides...

The giant "flaming meteorite hole" that was put on some buildings for the release of Armageddon. They stopped traffic. A little more effective than the tie-in candy bar, "Nestle Nuclear Chocolate".

Not so much marketing - after all, the Weinsteins BUY Oscars, they don't sell them - but for the academy screening of My Left Foot, Harvey ponied up for a white chocolate left foot to be placed on each and everyone's seat. If that wasn't bad enough... there wasn't any feet for the wheelchair-bound in attendance...

Yaitanes is dead serious- he's made comments like this before, although nothing quite so strange.

You have got to be kidding. -ohbfrank-

The whole "icepick pen" thingy with Basic Instinct was pretty stupid I thought.

How about that Dick Tracy first day admission with the T-shirt thing? I mean what does Dick Tracy have to do with T-shirts? He wears a long coat.

The Japanese "Hello Kitty" vi... umm... err... "Personal Pleasure Device..." :jawdrop:

I need a link. I don't believe you!

Need more proof!

I think the Powerade/The Matrix tie-in is pretty odd, in that the marketing angle is the bad guys trying to get you to drink Powerade as part of their evil plan. Er...why would I want to help the bad guys out?

DJ

So are you saying that you would AVOID Powerade in order to help stop the bad guys' evil plan?

What about the free punch in the face when you saw Pluto Nash in the theatre?

Or was that just the theatre I went to?

Must've just been you. I went to the special 'knee to the groin' showing.

Works for me...

Allsport was a really good drink back in the day, but for some reason it tastse a lot different today. I remember when they were competing with Powerade, Allsport was superior. But nowadays, it just tastes normal.

Don't ask me. I finally went to see X2 over the weekend, and ended up buying a car for some reason. :)

Can't remember the title offhand, but a horror film released on video back in 80s had a rubber eyeball shrinkwrapped to the video box. oooooo, scary!
(not actually a tie-in but surely weird marketing)

I was working at the ad agency when "Gattaca" was released in 1997. We ran magazine ads promoting the genetic selection process used to determine your childs DNA. We got a ton of calls asking where to go to have this done... we stopped running the ad.

Hey dlavalle...your agency did a terrible job of promoting Gattaca. The promotions for Gattaca were totally misguided. They were trying to protray the film as something it wasn't. It should have done a lot better in the theaters then it did. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Yes! YES! you, dlavalle, are personally responsible for the box-office performance of Gattaca, and should commit ritual suicide right now! :lol:

My favourite marketing ploy was the special edition Fargo VHS that came with one of two different snow globes depicting either the sherrif barfing in the snow, or the partner in the chipper. Just too funny.

As far as tie-ins go, there was a Burger King tie-in for the Freddy Kreuger movie that was in 3D - they had some kind of "blood sauce" (which was like spicy katsup) that you were suppose to splatter over your fries so that they look like.... I'm not sure... like someone killed someone over your fries and their blood splattered on them?

I was confused. The "Freddy Meal" also came with 3D glasses for use in the theatre - the glasses were only available at Burger King, and with the meal.

So it wasn't enough that you had to buy a ticket... and then the damned theatre wouldn't let me bring my Burger King meal into the theatre with me.

And only the last 20 minutes of the movie was in 3D!

What a rip!

-- Jough

Jeez man, lighten up. For all you know, he/she is a janitor or in IT or something.

Oh, and the Powerade Matrix commercials have got to be about the worst commercials on TV right now, except maybe the new Sam Adams commercials.

-ohbfrank-

The "Chicken Run" Burger King tie-in ads were a real stretch. Where the Nick Park characters go to Burger King to buy hamburgers in order to "save the chickens" I mean, were the chicken sandwiches to be dropped from the menu during this poorly thought out promotion, because chickens are worth liberating, and not cows? Using a film that's arguably pretty vegetarian in its theme was a dumb idea.