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Remember the mass advertising of TPM?

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George Lucas heavily advertised and merchandized all of the PT movies, but particularly for TPM. Remember all that damn advertising? Taco Bell, KFC, & Pizza Hut were bought into joining in the advertising of TPM and it was just nuts how much crap Lucas shoved down people’s throats.

During that time you couldn’t go anywhere, anytime without being hammered with merchandising on TPM. It seemed like all the TV commercials were designated to that movie during that time and they were all these really annoying, stupid, cringe inducing commercials that made me want to throw something at the screen and shoot george lucas. He had everything imaginable merchandized for this piece of crap. I remember TPM fruit snacks, T-shirts, shoes, flip flops, toys galore, posters, backpacks, pictures of characters from the movie displayed on every Pepsi product, and a jar jar binks popsicle type thingy with his tongue sticking out like GL wants children to give him blow jobs. There were countless other things too. It was sickening.

GL should be ashamed of himself for putting so much money into advertising instead of better things, especially from such crappy movies. He is just a greedy, selfish, arrogant man and he should be embarrassed. Makes you wonder how often he gets out of his ranch (or perhaps that new facility he has in San Diego). Think of the pollution generated from all that crap, physically and mentally.

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I remember that most of TPM crap ended up at Big Lots for a fraction of the original price because nobody wanted it. Gee, I wonder if that's because the movie sucked?

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Yeah, there's been a lot of crap. I didn't compare among movies, but if there was truly more for TPM than the others, I guess you could think that maybe Lucas was trying his damndest to get Star Wars back in the public eye. And I'm sure the retailers and licensees remembered how profitable Star Wars was and were begging for a piece of the pie after a 16 year movie hiatus.

There is no lingerie in space…

C3PX said: Gaffer is like that hot girl in high school that you think you have a chance with even though she is way out of your league because she is sweet and not a stuck up bitch who pretends you don’t exist… then one day you spot her making out with some skinny twerp, only on second glance you realize it is the goth girl who always sits in the back of class; at that moment it dawns on you why she is never seen hanging off the arm of any of the jocks… and you realize, damn, she really is unobtainable after all. Not that that is going to stop you from dreaming… Only in this case, Gaffer is actually a guy.

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Sure, there was a lot of advertising but that was bussiness as usual after the Batman movies. Calm down a bit.

"Now all Lucas has to do is make a cgi version of himself.  It will be better than the original and fit his original vision." - skyjedi2005

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God Keith, why are you such an unhappy little camper all of the time?
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The first two paragraphs were going somewhere. the last makes this thread lockable.
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Originally posted by: BadAssKeith
George Lucas heavily advertised and merchandized all of the PT movies, but particularly for TPM. Remember all that damn advertising? Taco Bell, KFC, & Pizza Hut were bought into joining in the advertising of TPM and it was just nuts how much crap Lucas shoved down people’s throats.

During that time you couldn’t go anywhere, anytime without being hammered with merchandising on TPM. It seemed like all the TV commercials were designated to that movie during that time and they were all these really annoying, stupid, cringe inducing commercials that made me want to throw something at the screen and shoot george lucas. He had everything imaginable merchandized for this piece of crap. I remember TPM fruit snacks, T-shirts, shoes, flip flops, toys galore, posters, backpacks, pictures of characters from the movie displayed on every Pepsi product, and a jar jar binks popsicle type thingy with his tongue sticking out like GL wants children to give him blow jobs. There were countless other things too. It was sickening.

GL should be ashamed of himself for putting so much money into advertising instead of better things, especially from such crappy movies. He is just a greedy, selfish, arrogant man and he should be embarrassed. Makes you wonder how often he gets out of his ranch (or perhaps that new facility he has in San Diego). Think of the pollution generated from all that crap.


Another fantastic post.

"Among many things I have to be thankful for are you, the fans. I know that some of you haven't liked every single thing that I've done with the saga, and that you have a strong sense of ownership over all things Star Wars. But take that passion and devotion and channel it into a creative project of your own."
-George Lucas
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Originally posted by: JediRandy
Originally posted by: BadAssKeith
George Lucas heavily advertised and merchandized all of the PT movies, but particularly for TPM. Remember all that damn advertising? Taco Bell, KFC, & Pizza Hut were bought into joining in the advertising of TPM and it was just nuts how much crap Lucas shoved down people’s throats.

During that time you couldn’t go anywhere, anytime without being hammered with merchandising on TPM. It seemed like all the TV commercials were designated to that movie during that time and they were all these really annoying, stupid, cringe inducing commercials that made me want to throw something at the screen and shoot george lucas. He had everything imaginable merchandized for this piece of crap. I remember TPM fruit snacks, T-shirts, shoes, flip flops, toys galore, posters, backpacks, pictures of characters from the movie displayed on every Pepsi product, and a jar jar binks popsicle type thingy with his tongue sticking out like GL wants children to give him blow jobs. There were countless other things too. It was sickening.

GL should be ashamed of himself for putting so much money into advertising instead of better things, especially from such crappy movies. He is just a greedy, selfish, arrogant man and he should be embarrassed. Makes you wonder how often he gets out of his ranch (or perhaps that new facility he has in San Diego). Think of the pollution generated from all that crap.


Another fantastic post.


Thank you. I hope you're not being sarcastic?
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I think this is another reason why a lot of the people didn’t like the prequels. I don’t know how much merchandising and advertising went on for the OT (wasn’t born when they came out) but I bet there has been a lot more for the PT than the OT. It’s not that I don’t like advertising it’s that LFL over did it with too much stupid stuff and wouldn’t shut up about it on TV. It’s another case of lack of subtlety. The infamous problem Lucas has. If LFL were more subtle advertising these movies maybe people wouldn’t have expected so much from them. I don’t mind him selling action figures and stuff like that but when it’s inescapable every time you go in a retail store or watch TV then it gets on your nerves.

One of the reasons why I was so fascinated with SW back in the late 90’s is because I didn’t hear much about them and it made me curious to see them and I wasn’t disappointed. They were just as good as I thought they would be.
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Dude, it's been 7 years. Get over it. Personally, I don't think that Lucas can be fully to blame. When it was anounced that a new Star Wars film was coming out, every company in the world wanted to capitalize on it. Retailers over invested in it thinking they will clean up. However, most of the stuff produced was crap. It's like there was no quality control. "Just smack the Star Wars logo on it and it will sell". Well, people are smarter than that. I also agree that all the hype, in a sense, hurt the movie.
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I remember being ten years old at the time, and always wanting to go to Taco Bell because my little brain associated it with Star Wars-y goodness.

Is that why I like Taco Bell so much now? Probably not because of my Jar-Jar toy I got there. Although the Anakin/Darth Vader transforming mini-bank was pretty cool.

My stance on revising fan edits.

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Originally posted by: BadAssKeith
I don’t know how much merchandising and advertising went on for the OT (wasn’t born when they came out) but I bet there has been a lot more for the PT than the OT.

There was a TON of product placment advertising for Return of the Jedi, almost as much of a barrage in its day as the crap for Episode One was in its.

The effect and the numbers were both stronger for Phantom Menace, but it was hardly unprecedented in the annals of Star Wars publicity mongering.

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Originally posted by: BadAssKeith
Originally posted by: JediRandy
Originally posted by: BadAssKeith
George Lucas heavily advertised and merchandized all of the PT movies, but particularly for TPM. Remember all that damn advertising? Taco Bell, KFC, & Pizza Hut were bought into joining in the advertising of TPM and it was just nuts how much crap Lucas shoved down people’s throats.

During that time you couldn’t go anywhere, anytime without being hammered with merchandising on TPM. It seemed like all the TV commercials were designated to that movie during that time and they were all these really annoying, stupid, cringe inducing commercials that made me want to throw something at the screen and shoot george lucas. He had everything imaginable merchandized for this piece of crap. I remember TPM fruit snacks, T-shirts, shoes, flip flops, toys galore, posters, backpacks, pictures of characters from the movie displayed on every Pepsi product, and a jar jar binks popsicle type thingy with his tongue sticking out like GL wants children to give him blow jobs. There were countless other things too. It was sickening.

GL should be ashamed of himself for putting so much money into advertising instead of better things, especially from such crappy movies. He is just a greedy, selfish, arrogant man and he should be embarrassed. Makes you wonder how often he gets out of his ranch (or perhaps that new facility he has in San Diego). Think of the pollution generated from all that crap.


Another fantastic post.


Thank you. I hope you're not being sarcastic?


Oh, I'm being as sarcastic as the intraweb will allow.

"Among many things I have to be thankful for are you, the fans. I know that some of you haven't liked every single thing that I've done with the saga, and that you have a strong sense of ownership over all things Star Wars. But take that passion and devotion and channel it into a creative project of your own."
-George Lucas
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Originally posted by: 20th Century Mark
Dude, it's been 7 years. Get over it. Personally, I don't think that Lucas can be fully to blame. When it was anounced that a new Star Wars film was coming out, every company in the world wanted to capitalize on it. Retailers over invested in it thinking they will clean up. However, most of the stuff produced was crap. It's like there was no quality control. "Just smack the Star Wars logo on it and it will sell". Well, people are smarter than that. I also agree that all the hype, in a sense, hurt the movie.


I thought it was more of the case of LFL distributing their products to retailers everywhere because they wanted to take every possible opportunity to make money and take retailers to the cleaners. Retailers would’ve had to pay a hefty price to buy and sell products from LFL.

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Originally posted by: BadAssKeith
Originally posted by: 20th Century Mark
Dude, it's been 7 years. Get over it. Personally, I don't think that Lucas can be fully to blame. When it was anounced that a new Star Wars film was coming out, every company in the world wanted to capitalize on it. Retailers over invested in it thinking they will clean up. However, most of the stuff produced was crap. It's like there was no quality control. "Just smack the Star Wars logo on it and it will sell". Well, people are smarter than that. I also agree that all the hype, in a sense, hurt the movie.


I thought it was more of the case of LFL distributing their products to retailers everywhere because they wanted to take every possible opportunity to make money and take retailers to the cleaners. Retailers would’ve had to pay a hefty price to buy and sell products from LFL.


Yeah, LFL just mailed a bunch of Star Wars cups to Taco Bell without telling them... I heard there was a Post-It note on the box that said: "Put your soft drinks in these OR ELSE!"

Taco Bell, fearing the wrath of the Dark Side, agreed without question.

News of the "Taco Bell Soft Drink Threat" spread through the retail grapevine like wildfire, causing Frito Lay to Google images of Jar Jar Binks for use on their packaging and Toy R Us to stock their shelves with these new "Star Wars" toys nobody ever heard of.

LFL is like the Mafia.



"Among many things I have to be thankful for are you, the fans. I know that some of you haven't liked every single thing that I've done with the saga, and that you have a strong sense of ownership over all things Star Wars. But take that passion and devotion and channel it into a creative project of your own."
-George Lucas
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Well, to be fair, Taco Bell, Pepsi and the rest paid hefty licensing fees to LFL.

I don't know whether, in any particular instance, the company pursued the license or Lucasfilm peddled the license ... but it's the retailers who took a bath on all that leftover crap. Lucasfilm laughed all the way to the bank with its licensing fees on products for the most disappointing movie ever made.



It was a testament to general Star Wars interest that Episode One made a fortune at the box office ... but while everyone in the world felt they had to see the movie, the reaction to the film did not translate into the trinket sales that a well-liked movie would have.


.
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While I'd agree that the advertising and marketing campaign for TPM was over the top with all the food and tie-ins and other crap, I put all the blame for the mass amounts of action figures on Hasbro (or was it still Kenner?) and the fans. Before TPM came out, they had released so little of the 1997 action figure line that the fans were screaming for more quantities. Yeah, it was mostly brain dead Hasbro (1 Boba Fett per case, you gotta be kidding me!), but when TPM came out, you couldn't escape it. I remember seeing aisles FULL of Jar Jar figures. Gee, did they really think this character was going to be that popular? For a while, I couldn't find anything except Jar Jar. You'd think he was the only character in the movie. But again, I blame that partially on the fans that were screaming for more quantities.

Of course, the rest of the blame lies squarely with LFL and Hasbro.
F Scale score - 3.3333333333333335

You are disciplined but tolerant; a true American.

Pissing off Rob since August 2007.
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I have to agree with Keith on at least the first part of his post. TPM was WAY over-promoted, and the amount of junk merchandise that came out back then was appalling. It really cheapened what little credibility the film had left to see all that junk out there.

But it's true that the original Star Wars movies had probably just as much junk marketed for them. Bedsheets, party napkins, candy dispensers, etc. everywhere you looked. Everything had a Star Wars logo slapped on it.

The big difference I think is this: Star Wars didn't have all that stuff when it first came out. The product was marketed to meet the demand, not anticipate it (at least not with the first film). Remember, there weren't even any Star Wars action figures for almost a YEAR after the film came out. The public wanted Star Wars *anything*, and the market responded. People couldn't get enough.

When TPM came out, most of the merchandising was already lined up, pre-anticipated to sell billions of units. I remember how that felt. The market was flooded, and it just seemed wrong to have them pushing me to buy all this stuff rather than me pushing them to sell me more. There was far more junk (Habro toys especially) than I could ever hope to (or even want to) collect, and it burned me out very quickly. Disappointment in the movie didn't help, either.

If LFL had marketed conservatively at first, and then ramped it up based on demand, I think they would have done far better in the end and earned far more respect. I think they tried to tone it down by the time AOTC and ROTS came out, but it was too little too late by then for many fans.

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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Originally posted by: SKot
But it's true that the original Star Wars movies had probably just as much junk marketed for them. Bedsheets, party napkins, candy dispensers, etc. everywhere you looked. Everything had a Star Wars logo slapped on it.

Don't forget Star Wars UNDEROOS!!!

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I'm still trying to find a copy of the Star Wars Underoos commercial(s) for my commercial preservation project, btw...

"Underwear that's fun to wear!"

And no, I never had any. But not for lack of wanting. I did have Star Trek pajamas though...

--SKot

Projects:
Return Of The Ewok and Other Short Films (with OCPmovie) [COMPLETED]
Preserving the…cringe…Star Wars Holiday Special [COMPLETED]
The Star Wars TV Commercials Project [DORMANT]
Felix the Cat 1919-1930 early film shorts preservation [ONGOING]
Lights Out! (lost TV anthology shows) [ONGOING]
Iznogoud (1995 animated series) English audio preservation [ONGOING]

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I was in Germany and Italy during the lead up to TPM so I missed most of the merchandising. Regardless of that fact there was still quite a bit of merchandise that showed up at the Post Exchange in Wiesbaden. When AOTC came out I was back in the States so I did see the merchandising that accompanied that film, but it wasn’t any worse than the SE merchandise in 1997. I don’t doubt that there was quite a bit of hype leading up to TPM; I just can’t pass judgment on it because I was not in a position to observe the marketing blitz personally.

To be fair I can also remember collectable Burger King drinking glasses for ESB and ROTJ.
"Look, going good against bashers/gushers is one thing. Going good against the living? That's something else."
- Darth-Adroit

“I also thought George could be turned back to the good side. It couldn't be done. He is more CGI now than story. Twisted and evil.”
- Darth-Adroit