Crispin Porter + Bogusky Scripting Burger King-Themed Movie

It's well known we in the ad business are just a bunch of Hollywood wannabes stuck creating ads when we'd rather be making movies and hangin' with the celebs. One agency got tired of its wannabe status and is making a movie. The agency is Crispin Porter + Bogusky and the movie is being scripted to take place above a Burger King restaurant. Yes, CP+B is scripting a movie which may or may not star the King. What it will do, likely, is prominent feature Burger King and, if the movie is any good, open up a whole Pandora's box of imitators.

Ads promoting movies. Ads before movies. Ads in movies. An entire movie crafted to be an ad. Is anyone else pulling out their hair right now and screaming, "Stop! Stop! I wanna get off! Please! Is there life on Mars? I don't care, I volunteer to be the first!"? OK, we can't help it. We can't wait to see this movie. But CP+B really needs to come up with a Burger Queen (no the gay kind). The King just doesn't have the right eye candy qualities to attract all those 16 year old boys that frequent movie theaters.

by Steve Hall    Jul-10-06   Click to Comment   
Topic: Product Placement   

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Comments



Comments

This has already been done. It was called "Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle," and it was brilliant.

Posted by: Kevin Glennon on July 10, 2006 2:16 PM

...10:1 says alex has a starring role.

Posted by: brent on July 10, 2006 2:23 PM

If the whole damn movie is an ad, will there be previews, and more ads before we get to the feature-length ad? And will we be expected to pay $10 at a theater, or $20 for a "Collector's Edition" DVD, complete with asinine commentary track?

Steve, please save me a seat on your rocket ship.

Posted by: Pat Smith on July 10, 2006 2:32 PM

Your blog post at Adrants linked to an Adfreak blog post that linked to a blog post at Consumerist, who linked to this article in AdAge: http://adage.com/article?article_id=110369

That seems kind of crazy to me.

You know, you can still link to the actual story AND give credit to the blog that tipped you off: you simply type (via Adfreak) or (via Consumerist) at the beginning or end of the post. I know at least one of your readers who would be happier if you did it that way.

Posted by: sam on July 10, 2006 3:54 PM

Sam, I'm well versed in the ways of "via." usually I link to the original source with something like "AdFreak points to..." but sometimes things get fast and furious around here and I forget to do that. My apologies if I've offended anyone's blogging etiquette sensitivities:-)

Posted by: Steve Hall on July 10, 2006 4:39 PM

The 1999 novel "Syrup" was a cautionary tale on just such an ad-venture. Of course, no one in this industry reads, so the message is going unheeded...

Posted by: Freddy Nager on July 10, 2006 6:16 PM

Syrup? can you topline it for us? sounds cool.

Posted by: ad.guy on July 10, 2006 9:55 PM

ad.guy: go look it up on Amazon. Shows up right on top. Easy.

Posted by: Pat Smith on July 10, 2006 9:58 PM

I was also going to mention 'Syrup'. Max (or Maxx, if you're reading 'Syrup') Barry has some great stuff about the future of marketing (or at least the movie idea was "future" when 'Syrup' was written). I'd also recommend 'Jennifer Government' if you're looking for something else to read.

Posted by: Dave Cheetham on July 10, 2006 11:04 PM

Does any remember The Wizard: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wizard_%28film%29

It was basically a 90 minute ad for Nintendo; and it was quite successful.

This non-sense will stop if people stop going to these types of movies.

Posted by: Peter Y on July 10, 2006 11:29 PM

What do you mean not the right eye-candy for 16 year old boys?

Crap. I thought I was apealling in an all-around way.

But I guess you are saying the female 18-34 demo find me hot?

Posted by: Creepy Plastic Headed King on July 11, 2006 9:19 AM

and Alex won't have a role in it as long as I'm around.

Posted by: Creept Plastic Headed Kinf on July 11, 2006 9:21 AM

Did anyone read the WSJ yesterday (7-10-06) about how Japan is mashing up commercials and tv show content? If you think the US is bad, Japan is far worse. I personally don't think it's inherently bad. What is content anyway? It's a commercial product that requires marketing, just like any other commerical product that appears in commercials before, during and after said content.

Mark

Posted by: Mark on July 11, 2006 3:00 PM

Of course, what was the movie "You've Got Mail" but a giant plug for AOL...

Posted by: Freddy Nager on July 16, 2006 3:20 PM

Mark said it best.

Posted by: michael on July 17, 2006 6:41 PM

AHHHHHHHHHHH! IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD....OF GOOD FILMMAKING, AT LEAST.........AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

Posted by: none@none.com on December 2, 2006 12:29 AM

The King just doesn't have the right eye candy qualities to attract all those 16 year old boys that frequent movie theaters.


I think the 3.2 million people that bought the Burger King "Sneak King" Xbox 360 game in it's first three months on market would disagree.

Also, I think you need to look a bit wider on distribution for this movie. A price point of $5.99 on xbox marketplace, the ps3 download thing, Itunes and any other digital distribution channel could make for a highly successful, highly visible ad campaign.

Posted by: Joshua Van Horsen on March 26, 2007 12:08 PM