Posted on 07/18/2006 8:39:56 PM PDT by Piefloater
Movies like "The Passion of the Christ" and "Fahrenheit 9/11" have blurred the lines between movie marketing and political campaigning. So perhaps it's no surprise that the latest politically tinged pic has smudged the line even further. If you live in a hotly contested election district, you're likely familiar with "robo-calls" -- the prerecorded pleas from pols that litter answer machines in the weeks before an election.
But on July 7, around 300,000 people in Gotham and four other cities received calls from Al Gore urging them not to vote but to see his global warming pic "An Inconvenient Truth."
Several execs say it's the first time they've heard of the technique being applied to a film.
"Hi, I'm Al Gore. The fight against global warming is not about right vs. left, it's about right vs. wrong. That's why the Sierra Club and I are asking you to see my film, 'An Inconvenient Truth,' this weekend," is how the 38-second spiel began.
(Whether the calls worked is hard to say: The pic earned $1.2 million for that weekend frame, lifting its cume to just over $15 million.)
A rep for Paramount Vantage, the doc's distrib, says the calls were a joint effort between the studio and Sierra Club.
On the call, the former VP also pitched that higher B.O. returns on "Truth" would translate into stronger political support for climate regulations.
"The more of us who go, the louder and more powerful our voice will be in Washington," he said.
The robo-calls are not, of course, the first time movie marketers have borrowed a few plays from their political counterparts. Tracking polls, for one, are used by both political and movie release campaigns.
So, should you expect a call from Will Ferrell urging you to see "Talladega Nights" or Leonardo DiCaprio plugging "The Blood Diamond" in coming months?
Marketing execs say it's not such a far-fetched idea.
"We're always looking to politics or anyone else who runs successful campaigns to steal ideas," said one studio exec.
"The Passion of the Christ" was a political film?
Only in a moonbat liberal's tiny mind.
That's not necessarily helpful. My Father, a Goldwater man from way back was totally unimpressed by a Robo-call from Jesse Jackson.
So...if this film is not political, then theoretically it should fall under the do not call list.
Right?
Is Algore going to run into troubles with the Do Not Call registry? This sounds like a commercial call rather than an (unfortunately) allowed charity or political call.
I can't see how the Passion was political. And even if it was , the Prince of Peace speaking the Truth is a lot better than Michael Moore (low cal food be upon him) spreading lies and distortions.
The way the film is going at the box office it may be considered to be a charity call.
Excellent point - perhaps the sequel will be "An Inconvenient Lawsuit" from irritated do-not-call list members...
Everyone who even vaguely believes Gore should watch South Park's manbearpig episode. That was much closer to the truth than his own film.
WTF??? Passion = Fahreheit???
What a wankeroid suggestion!!
Only one who worships the devil, could think the passion of Christ is political.
OPS4
jeez, the man already has less inflection than a robot...
Just in from the American Department of Redundancy Department of America...
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