Picking Up the Spare: X-Files, Pineapple, Vicky, Step Brothers, Mamma Mia and Bottle Shock

Posted by Chris

August 20, 2008

X-Files: I Want to Believe

20th Century Fox has partnered with Apple to create a couple of limited-series iPods featuring artwork from the movie’s poster, as well as the ability to have your own name or personalized message added to it. These will set you back a little bit more, but are kind of cool and if you’re a hard-core fan of the series this might be the time you choose to upgrade the iPod you bought three or four years ago.

Pineapple Express

Promo Magazine gets around to the issue I wrote about last week, the debut of high-definition ads for Pineapple Express on YouTube. AvatarLabs, the agency that put together the new unit, created a similar takeover ad for use on MySpace.

John Ratcliffe-Lee sent me this pretty funny spoof of the PE trailer:

Huey Lewis shrugs off the writing of a title song as something that was both familiar and a fun challenge for him and the band, but also doesn’t expect it to launch the band back into the Top 40 or anything like that. He also lets it drop that the band is in the early stages of writing a new record, which is great news.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona

Karina rightly points out that Allen’s use of sex to sell whatever his latest movie is isn’t exactly new. She also defends late-era Woody in general and I agree with all her points about Allen’s overall thematic explorations as a filmmaker.

Step Brothers

Don’t tell anyone, but Step Brothers has quietly amassed over $100 million at the domestic box-office, which is kind of a big deal when you think about this being a mid-level comedy. As Karina says, this sort of “Oh my, did that really succeed?” movie is one of many reasons that studios have been shutting down their specialty divisions that deal in movies that require marketers to actually “think” and “put together a plan.”

Mamma Mia

Universal is re-releasing Mamma Mia in a special sing-along format that encourages audience participation. The studio will distribute prints that have subtitles with the lyrics to audiences can join in the action. As is not unusual, Pete has the best commentary on this development.

Bottle Shock

As much as I liked the campaign and would like to see the movie, it’s unfortunate to read accounts like this of some comment marketing practices that are very much not in line with the best practices that have been established and are employed by many of the top social media marketing practitioners.