The great Sony Pictures email leak truly is the gift that simply keeps on giving.
Along with lifting the lid ever-so-slightly on some of the (frankly) lunatic-like behaviour that goes on behind the scenes in some of Hollywood‘s biggest studios, it provided a veritable plethora of information, from the development of unlikely film franchise crossovers, to Channing Tatum‘s propensity to type in all-caps, very few stones were left unturned from the leak.
And today’s interesting little titbit of information directly affects all of us out here in ‘Straya.
It turns out that in the lead-up to the release of The Amazing Spider-Man 2, Sony had conducted focus group studies involving Australians to help them better market the film out here. And some of the resulting proposals were straight-up wild.
For starters, it turns out Sony was well across the fact that we, as a people, can sometimes find corny American humour to be a bit… well… shit. The latest email revelations reveal that, whilst discussing potential trailers to be released in out here, “Australians are acutely sensitive toward cheesy elements. They quickly age down the perceived audience down to pre-teen and younger. The scenes involving Spidey holding up the police car [and saying] ‘Need a hand’ or ‘you’re a terrible driver’ are perceived for young kids. Avoid them when targeting males 13+.“
They were also wary of putting too many action shots into the trailer, with audiences preferring slow-motion sequences that showed off a particular stunt or effect.
In a subsequent e-mail, Los Angeles-based executives praised a TV spot for the film that had been cut after the focus group’s results had been taken into account.
“This is a ‘ripper’ (Aussie for great) spot for our male audience. It has all the elements we want. No corny humour. I’m excited to see the film now.“
But the plans to market the film went further. A proposal to instal a fibre-optic billboard for the movie was rejected by a Melbourne council who considered it to be dangerous and a distraction to other drivers.
And, even more bizarrely, there was at least some talk of attempting to temporarily re-brand AFL team the Sydney Swans as the Sydney Spider-Men. Now, this would not have been the first time an AFL team readjusted their look for the sake of corporate sponsorship.
In 1997, Carlton donned a light blue strip after a partnership with M&Ms was struck for a one-game deal.
North Melbourne followed suit in 2000 with a god-awful orange number after pairing with Orange telecommunications.
St Kilda took it one step further by wearing a light yellow away strip between 2001 and 2003 to promote Pura Light Start milk.
So it probably would not have been the biggest stretch in the world to have seen the Swans trot out onto the field wearing something that looked a little like this.
And why stop there? The possibility for quick marketing tie-ins with Australian sporting teams are endless!
The new Star Wars film is coming out later this year. Why not tie it in and have the Melbourne Stormtroopers run around in the NRL for a match this year?
The new Jurassic World film is out soon too. Give cricket a boost by putting the Bushrangers in khaki and call them the Victoria Park Rangers for a round or two.
Why limit it to just film, though? Pimp out the Bruce Springsteen vinyl re-issues by balling with the Darkness on the Edge of Townsville Crocodiles. Spread awareness for Taylor Swift‘s impending tour with the Adelaide 1989ers. Use Ice Hockey to advocate for drug rehabilitation programs with the Melbourne (Please Don’t Do) Ice.
The possibilities! They are endless!
via SMH.
