Wreck-It Ralph Took Advantage Of Us??? Couldn't Be Me
Have you watched Disney's "Wreck it Ralph?' It was an O.K. movie in my opinion. I don't think I would necessarily recommend anyone to see it, but it was ight… though, in rewatching it recently, after our recent marketing unit, I've noticed some disturbing things brought to light. Do you recall that one scene where the main characters were traveling to the Ethernet, wellllll, yah. In their travels to the Ethernet, they pass a LOT of name brands that are blatantly advertised in the movie.
Brands shown in the show include: Cisco, IMDb, Mashable, National Geographic, eBay, Amazon, Twitter, Snapchat, MySpace, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Google, and many, many references to other Disney endeavors such as past movies and 'Oh my Disney.' CRAZY RIGHT?
How could Disney get away with so much blatant product placement? I mean, this film was nominated for best animated movie at both he Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards. How could Disney possibly get away with this???
The short answer to the question, they didn't, at least, not with me. Yah, I'll say it. I didn't like the movie for this reason, without this it was ok, but with the obvious advertising, how could any critical thinking student honestly say they still enjoy the movie? My dad(not in Mr. Starace's Critical Thinking class) also dislikes the movie for this reason. Though, without our two monumental votes of approval, how can we argue that Disney's succeeded with the movie. Just Kidding bloggers… but how can we reconcile these two points of view? The over exposure of brands in the movie versus the obvious success in the box office… well, my dad and I didn't represent the target demographics for the movie.
Instead, the target audience for the movie were littluns. This is a generic term that encompasses all kids 5- 16, many of my friends included. You see, this young audience was vulnerable to such manipulation, they were taken advantage of. How can you expect your neighbors kids whom you babysit to see through the advanced ploys devised by such massive and powerful companies as Disney. It bothered me that these modern titans have such control and power over the youth, but the truth is, in our age of media, it is unavoidable.
I'm sure many adults caught on to the numerous advertisements within the massive advertisement that was the abomination of a movie, yet, how could they spoil their child's movie. That would be indecent. So, the parents just cringed and held their tongue as little Jimmy and little Samantha raved about the movie they just watched. Ugh, this behavior from these massive companies like Disney is just repulsive, especially when they have so much influence on our next generation! Well, that's enough of me bloggers, thanks for making it to the end…
Pce out bloggin friendos
-Blogger rEx
Brands shown in the show include: Cisco, IMDb, Mashable, National Geographic, eBay, Amazon, Twitter, Snapchat, MySpace, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter, Google, and many, many references to other Disney endeavors such as past movies and 'Oh my Disney.' CRAZY RIGHT?
How could Disney get away with so much blatant product placement? I mean, this film was nominated for best animated movie at both he Golden Globe Awards and the Academy Awards. How could Disney possibly get away with this???
The short answer to the question, they didn't, at least, not with me. Yah, I'll say it. I didn't like the movie for this reason, without this it was ok, but with the obvious advertising, how could any critical thinking student honestly say they still enjoy the movie? My dad(not in Mr. Starace's Critical Thinking class) also dislikes the movie for this reason. Though, without our two monumental votes of approval, how can we argue that Disney's succeeded with the movie. Just Kidding bloggers… but how can we reconcile these two points of view? The over exposure of brands in the movie versus the obvious success in the box office… well, my dad and I didn't represent the target demographics for the movie.
Instead, the target audience for the movie were littluns. This is a generic term that encompasses all kids 5- 16, many of my friends included. You see, this young audience was vulnerable to such manipulation, they were taken advantage of. How can you expect your neighbors kids whom you babysit to see through the advanced ploys devised by such massive and powerful companies as Disney. It bothered me that these modern titans have such control and power over the youth, but the truth is, in our age of media, it is unavoidable.
I'm sure many adults caught on to the numerous advertisements within the massive advertisement that was the abomination of a movie, yet, how could they spoil their child's movie. That would be indecent. So, the parents just cringed and held their tongue as little Jimmy and little Samantha raved about the movie they just watched. Ugh, this behavior from these massive companies like Disney is just repulsive, especially when they have so much influence on our next generation! Well, that's enough of me bloggers, thanks for making it to the end…
Pce out bloggin friendos
-Blogger rEx
The blatant product placement in this movie just goes to show how our culture is becoming less and less of a culture. The fact that such a huge company like Disney, which 100% knows it's main demographic is children, is using this advertising technique in films while still claiming to be culture just further proves how the American culture is dying to brand deals.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree, and although I haven't really thought of it that way, I guess you are right since they are advertising in a children's movie. I feel that even though it is really obvious that they are advertising (kinda), its also subtle for some reason since I never thought of it that way. When it got to that part of the movie, mainly all I felt was how I could relate to the movie since Disney, the Net in general, etc... is just part of the culture, and the fact I could recognize these brands made the movie appealing. Is it because it could be that the need to be a part of something made this movie more relatable and likable?
ReplyDeleteWHOA REX! YOURE SO RIGHT!! i never thought about the "islands" of brand name media blogs referenced. Because normally, when there is a brand in a movie or a show i feel like the producers try to block out the brand or turn away unless the movie is sponsoring it. This leads me to think like what if Disney sponsored or got sponsored by all of those brands. In my head, i'm picturing Disney making hecka bank from this, or losing a crap ton of money for having to pay for the rights to use those brands in their film. I am not 100 on how sponsorships and stuff work but I feel like big time companies, who are already wealthy, get even more wealthy as some brands want their trademark to be noticed, versus smaller movie companies have to block out companies or lose money having to pay for use of the trademark. Im not sure if this makes sense, but it seems like brands help draw the line and make a bigger gap between "big time" movie companies and "unimportant, small" companies.
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