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They scrutinize scripts sent to them by producers, and decide in which television shows and movies their clients will appear. Copies of Variety and The Hollywood Reporter sit on their desks, chronicles of an industry these men know inside and out. Big-time Hollywood agents? Studio executives? Not quite They are public relations experts who are in charge of motion picture and television vehicle placements for the various automobile manufacturers and import companies. Their "clients" are cars.
If you thought it was by shee
r accident that Larry (J.R.) Hagman drives a Mercedes-Benz on "Dallas" or that Lee Majors drives a GMC pickup on "Fall Guy"-think again. Highly visible placements in toprated TV shows and hit movies are much sought after. Publicity like this instills product awareness in millions of viewers and, in some cases, actually sells cars and trucks.One of the most profitable placements ever was the black-and-gold special edition Pontiac Trans Am driven by Burt Reynolds in the "Smokey and the Bandit" movies. Director Hal Needham worked directly with the Pontiac Division in Michigan to arrange for the cars.
It's hard to pinpoint exactly how many special edition Trans Ams were sold as a result of the car's spectacular stunts in "Smokey" because overall Trans Am sales had really begun to take off the year before the release of "Smokey I" in December of
1976, according to Pontiac. But at least some of the success story of special edition sales in 1977 (13,706 sold compared to 2,590 the previous year) can be attributed to the publicity generated by the first "Smokey" film.Special tie-in promotions aided sales as well. Through 1981, nearly 31,000 black-and-gold Trans Ams were sold, many of them to fans of the Bandit. Of course most appearances of vehicles in movies and television shows will neither be this visible, nor will they result directly in sales. Although such featured treatment is desirable, it comes along only once in a great while. For the most part, placing cars and trucks in the entertainment media produces a more subtle effect: product awareness. But it is still a powerful message
Eric Dahlquist, president of The Vista Group public relations agency in Sherman Oaks, CA, handles the placement of some 120 GMC trucks and Oldsmobiles. As Pontiac's West Coast P.R. representative, Vista has also placed some of that division's cars as well. Dahlquist likens this effort-what he terms "product exposure management"-to the traditional public-relations objective of getting the company (or product) name into the news media.
"Any exposure in an editorial format, or use in a dramatic situation, is better than advertising," according to Dahlquist. He says a study showed that brand awareness of the GMC name jumped noticeably since their program began in 1976, with "nothing else to point to that might have affected it." Dealer feedback, he adds, has been very positive. "Our philosophy is that these kinds of things multiplied over the years provide brand identification," says Dahlquist. "It can't hurt." Dahlquist places vehicles in top shows like "Lou Grant," "Hill Street Blues," "Magnum, P.I." and the serials "Dallas," "Flamingo Road," and "Knots Landing." The new series "Fall Guy" displays several GMC vehicles-including a specially designed pickup driven by Lee Majors.
Vista Group's film placements have included "Smokey and the Bandit" (Parts I and II), "Cannonball Run," "Any Which Way But Loose," "Any Which Way You Can," "Coast to Coast," and "Sharky's Machine." "We review all the scripts before we commit," Dahlquist explains, adding that they specifically place each car with each particular character in the movie or TV shows.
Since the idea is to put the product in the most positive environment possible, he says the "unwritten rules" are no X-rated movies, only a few R-rated movies (Clint Eastwood films are exceptions) and no horror movies. He adds that producers can, of course, rent the vehicles from other sources.
One example of a film they turned down is "Blow Out," a 1981 release which starred John Travolta and Nancy Allen. A scene at the film's end prominently features a Jeep Renegade driven by Travolta. According to Dahlquist, the role was first offered to a Jimmy. Dahlquist turned it down because he felt that although the scene offered good exposure it was not a positive one. Dahlquist says Vista Group is the only agency which has been active in dealer tie-in promotions, such as celebrity posters and displays for the showrooms. Such tie-ins are usually difficult to negotiate because major stars are very cautious about doing product endorsements, he explains.
Dahlquist says that the excellent relationships Vista has with some ofthe stars have provided them with some unplanned promotions, as well.
When Clint Eastwood was interviewed on television by Barbara Walters, he was shown driving to work in the morning, Dahlquist explains. "He pulled up in a silver GMC pickup truck. Barbara Walters
said, 'Do you always drive to work in a pickup?' and Clint Eastwood said, 'That's what I drive.'
"Barbara Walters didn't say it was a GMC pickup, but during most of the interview they stood in front of it," he notes.
Dahlquist also tells the story of an appearance James Garner made on the "Tonight Show," which "blew everyone's minds" back at GMC headquarters. Garner had been driving a GMC pickup on loan to him during the filming of "The Rockford Files," and Johnny Carson made a sarcastic crack about Garner driving a truck. According to Dahlquist, Garner said, "It's a GMC half-ton pickup. I love it; it's a great truck." A paid endorsement wouldn't have been as effective as a comment like that, says Dahlquist.
Almost all of the cars and trucks that are placed are current models, but Dahlquist says he regrets he can't always fill requests for vintage trucks. "One of my desires is to have a fleet of these vehicles available," he says, explaining that "the continuity of the name" is an important concept. "It means a lot whether it's today or yesterday. It's the idea that we were in the truck business then and we're in the truck business now."
With the rise of cable television, and the subsequent decline of the mass television market, Dahlquist believes there will be "a deCline in the opportunities a manufacturer has to get the product out there." Placements in movies and TV shows will be all the more important then, he adds. If there are fewer opportunities for advertising, "the only way to be there is to be in the particular movie they're watching," he comments.
Larry Brown, head of the Los Angeles public relations office for Volkswagen-Porsche-Audi, works with a Van Nuys, CA-based agency, Studio Services, in arranging for movie and TV show placements. Brown says in making a decision about a particular script he asks himself, "Does the car fit the character, whether it's a Volkswagen mutually beneficial business of placing cars helps the producers of the show or movie by not having to rent vehicles, as much as it helps the manufacturers promote the vehicles. "Both of us audition," he adds. "Our vehicles audition with the art director and the script auditions with us."
"Dallas" is one series which has met with Brown's approval. Victoria Principal as Pamela Ewing drives a Porsche-the black Targa-and Charlene Tilton as Lucy Ewing has the silver 924. "We're pleased that we have young, dynamic women driving them," says Brown, adding that Porsche would like to broaden its market by appealing to more females.
Placements also approved by Brown are in the series "Magnum, P.I." John Hillerman, who plays the very proper British character Higgins, drives an Audi 5000S, which gets a lot of air time. A specially painted VW Vanagon is also featured in the show.
Brown says he'll loan cars out as background vehicles for one-day shoots "if it makes sense." For example, he says, a country club parking lot might include a Rabbit convertible and a Porsche. They fit into the scene well and even though they're background cars, it's good for image. VWs, Porsches and Audis are regularly placed in movies of the week (a Vanagon was seen recently in "The Kid from Nowhere"), miniseries, individual segments (a Porsche 924 Turbo was the "star" of one "Simon and Simon" episode), pilot shows and feature films.
He's particularly proud of a scene in the 1981 movie "First Monday in October" in which Walter Matthau plays a Supreme Court justice. After the camera shows a long line of limousines, Matthau pulls up in a Brazilian brown metallic Rabbit, says Brown
"One thing we haven't done-and we've had the opportunity to do itis load the program with cars," says Brown. "We would rather place one or two with key characters. It's more realistic," he notes.
"We probably turn down better than 80 percent of the scripts we look at. It's strictly a judgment call," he says, adding they "wouldn't absolutely say no to an R-rated film. It's a matter of taste." He also noted that although the Porsches appear on "Dallas," they don't place cars on any of the other evening soaps. "We didn't want to get branded," he comments.
Brown tells the story of one movie he turned down-"Looker." But the filmmakers rented a Porsche for the scene anyway.
"It was a 928 and the driver was a Beverly Hills plastic surgeon, one of an Audi," Marshall comments.
Specialty car and conversion companies, which can't afford the kind of national advertising themajor manufacturers have, can benefit greatly from being placed in a movie or television show, says Marshall. One of his big placements for the spring season is the Cabrio
Mustang convertible (from Intermeccanica) which Angie Dickinson will drive on the series "Cass.ie and Company." According to Marshall, "it looks like a real winner."
Calvin S. Beauregard, Ford's executive projects manager, handles the company's vehicle placements out of Los Angeles. He formerly held the same position in New York, handling cars for memorable films like "The French Connection," which featured Fords exclusively. His first movie, he says, was "Fail Safe." "We've been in it for a long time," says Beauregard about the Ford program. "In New York it was mainly motion pictures; out here it's mostly television." The advantage in using television, he states, is that the vehicles appear about six weeks from the time they're shot. Movies, however, can take a year or longer to actually reach the theaters, and by that time the models aren't current anymore.
Ford and Lincoln-Mercury products have been in television series for many years, including "The F.B.I," "Barnaby Jones" and "Cannon." Fords were also featured in "Hawaii 5-0," "Kojak," "Starsky and Hutch" and "Charlie's Angels," among others. Beauregard says the red-and-white Torino in "Starsky and Hutch" produced a lot of dealer feedback. Ford made 5,000 cars with that paint treatment as a direct result of demand created by the show. Since all three "Angels" drove Fords on that popular show, Beauregard says it "did a lot for us with young women." Recent shows in which he has placed Ford products are "Strike Force," "Dynasty," "Knots Landing," "Code Three" and "Hart to Hart."
Beauregard says the Bronco is the most requested vehicle he has. It's featured in the opening of "Real People" and has been in a number of action shows and made-for-television movies. He says a Bronco will be in the new movie "Volcano." People are conscious of the cars they see on television, according to Beauregard, and he believes an exclusive arrangement is better. He feels that if all the cars on a particular show are Ford products,
Brown believes that the effect of vehicle appearances in the entertainment media is usually subliminal and that, for the most part, people are not highly aware of the make and model of cars they see on the screen.
But one movie, which was made before Brown's placement program began, showed that films really can sell cars. The picture was "Middle Age Crazy," starring Ann-Margaret and Bruce Dern. As the husband suffering from mid-life crisis, Dern trades in his Oldsmobile station wagon for a white Porsche 928.
"The 928 is virtually the star of the show. His wife, Ann-Margaret, has a new competitor-that car," says Brown. "Dealers say there's an
Regularly seen on "Magnum, P.L," a brightly painted Volkswagen Vanagon is driven by the character T.C., who runs a helicopter charter service.
impact on sales every time 'Middle Age Crazy' runs."
He adds he also has had positive dealer feedback on "Magnum, P.I." and "First Monday in October."
As far as tie-in promotions are concerned, Brown sees them as being limited to "special circumstances," because cars are rarely featured so prominently that tie-ins would be appropriate.
Studio Services, the firm Brown works with in placing vehicles, is the "largest provider of vehicles to the !entertainmentj industry," according to President Howard Buck. They have a fleet of rental trucks used by crews for transporting cameras and miscellaneous equipment, other rental vehicles like specialty and antique cars, and cars they make available for free on behalf of their manufacturer and conversion-
company clients.
Buck says their car placement business grew overnight when some of the manufacturers got out of it a few years ago. "Chevrolet had a few hundred promotional cars in Hollywood," says Buck, adding that the division pulled, out entirely, and Ford and Chrysler reduced the size of their movie fleets. Buck claims this created a real crisis for production companies trying to obtain vehicles.
According to Norm Marshall, vice president of the firm, "'the manufacturers pulled out because they were abused. They're still being abused," he comments, explaining that too often cars are loaned out for use in Shows and movies and never end up on screen. They're being driven for personal use, he claims, adding that his company will bring in a car for the duration of the shooting and take it right back. Buck says many producers had to turn to rentals when the manufacturers pulled out, and "they all started coming to us, asking, 'how do we get this and how do we get that?' " Studio Services began to build up a "supply" of promotional vehicles, handling placements for Volkswagen and Porsche-Audi, as well as specialty car and conversion companies. They read scripts, make recommendations and provide clients with computer print-outs listing the names of shows and movies for which vehicles were requested, the type of vehicle, the actor or actress, the date, and if it was approved or turned down. They also provide video tapes of placements.
One of the services they also offer is to keep a watchful eye on the productions. "We'll go out there and ask them to get a shot of the name of the car," says Marshall. He says if they come across a negative exposure for one of their accounts, such as a "bad guy" driving a Porsche, he tries to talk them out of using that car. Since he's in the rental business as well, he says he is sometimes in the position of renting the "bad-guy" cars. He chooses the competition, naturally.
Getting the producers to say the name of the car on the air is another goal. Marshall says "Magnum, P.I." has been very good about using the names of the vehicles on the show.
"In one segment, Higgins was going to take a general to the airport in the Audi," says Marshall. "They put two big suitcases in the trunk and then showed suitcase after suitcase being loaded into the trunk," he says, adding that five adults then got into the car. "What better advertising is there than that?" he asks. "When you see something like that, just maybe you'll go out and look at the cars are ultimately more visibleand memorable.
"Hart to Hart" is also a good placement for the company, he says, because although other cars are used in the series, "the Mercedes isn't a competition car for us and neither is the Rolls." Herman Hadler, head of the Los Angeles P.R. agency which bears his name, is responsible for placing the Mercedes-Benz vehicles on "Hart to Hart" along with many other shows
The Harts drive a 380SL, and a 3000 station wagon is also featured in the series. According to Hadler, the show has provided Mercedes with excellent publicity for the wagon, which was not a well-known product for the company.
Hadler, whose company also places Chrysler cars, has been placing vehicles for 25 years. He and his staff (including son Bob) read the trades every day and stay on top of new projects. He has a combined total of 35 units, both Chrysler and Mercedes, in his fleet. Mercedes appear regu larly on 11 shows, including "Dallas," "Dynasty," "Trapper John, M.D.," "Flamingo Road," "Knots Landing," "Falcon Crest," and the new show "Kings Crossing." He says he calculated roughly what this kind of exposure would be worth in commercial air time and came up with the figure of $33 million for one year.
"We're entitled to get this type of visibility because we have given them an incredible product on a gratis basis," says Hadler.
Chrysler vehicles appear regularly on 12 shows, according to Hadler, including "Flamingo Road," "Shannon," "Simon and Simon," "Knots Landing" and "McClain's Law" (which is 100-percent Chrysler). He adds that the Imperial limousine is in the movie "Sharky's Machine" and the new Rock Hudson series, "The Devlin Connection."
Hadler has received calls on the cars that appear on television and in the movies, which he usually refers to dealers. He had a request from Europe for the exact specifications of the Mercedes Richard Gere drove in the mov.ie "American Gigolo." And when the long-running series "Emergency" was on the air, he got calls from fire department personnel all over the country who wanted to know how they could get a Chrysler rescue unit van equipped exactly like the one on the show.
The power of television can't be underestimated, according to Hadler. "Everyone lives a vicarious existence through TV," he comments.
But the Hollywood dream machine is providing more than just fantasy-for car dealers, anyway. Movies and television are helping to create product awareness and, in some cases, they actually contribute directly to new car and truck sales.
It's even something a salesman might bring up in a conversation with a prospect. The fascination with motion pictures, and especially television, is truly an American commonality.
Everybody's tuned in.•