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These cars want to be in pictures
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Automakers are hiring Hollywood talent scouts and spending millions of dollars to get choice spots for their cars in blockbuster action films.
Aston Martin has bumped BMW from the next James Bond movie, Die Another Day, due in November. Mercedes-Benz is in the Men In Black sequel, opening July 3. Lexus has a futuristic car in the Tom Cruise action movie Minority Report, out June 28.
With new TV services that can skip commercials, automakers see movies as an attractive alternative. And a movie has a longer lifespan than a commercial. From its theater opening, to video release, to cable TV showing, to in-flight entertainment to network TV broadcast can take several years.
"Automakers are looking for any way to get awareness," says Eric Dahlquist, president of Entertainment Resources and Marketing Association, which represents Hollywood agents seeking to get products in movies.
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Dahlquist says every automaker has hired at least one agent to find roles in movies for their cars.
But industry watchers warn that audiences may tire of an overused vehicle brand in movies.
"We will see people have less tolerance when you realize that the plot has been changed so that they could fit in a product," says Michael Kamins, University of Southern California associate professor of marketing.
Automakers refuse to say how much money they are spending. But recent reports say British automaker Aston Martin, now owned by Ford Motor, pledged $70 million to MGM studios to be in Die Another Day. Bond will drive the $229,000 Aston Martin V12 Vanquish. Jaguar, another Ford brand, is also in the movie.
Aston Martin, which was in the first three Bond movies, was determined to return to the series, says spokesman Simon Sproule. "It was almost spiritual. James Bond is a big part of the company's heritage."
To get the redesigned 2003 Mercedes-Benz E500 in the movie Men in Black II, the automaker promised Columbia Pictures it would spend several million dollars on commercials, private screenings and other promotions. The E500, on sale in September, morphs into a spaceship for the stars in the movie.
Mercedes will run TV commercials with video clips of the E500 from the movie. And, in a first, it is letting its three-pointed star logo be used on a toy, a spaceship that's a promotional item from the movie.
Dave Schembri, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz USA, says that when the automaker considers participating in a movie, it makes sure its vehicles are shown in a positive light.
Lexus, Toyota's luxury brand, helped Twentieth Century Fox design the car of 2054 that Cruise uses in Minority Report. Lexus will also run TV commercials and other promotions linked to the movie.
Meanwhile, Toyota has signed a $100 million, five-year deal with Universal Studios Hollywood for "first look" rights to use Toyotas in movies, home video and DVD releases. Universal interactive games also will use Toyotas.
Some in Hollywood say automakers may have unrealistic expectations about what an appearance in a movie will mean for a vehicle.
"Sometimes they expect an immediate blip on the sales radar screen," says Dahlquist. "And they have to be careful not to be mesmerized with the entertainment industry."