TheSadDebaser
08-19-2006, 07:08 PM
So I didn't really think too much of it when Jenny Conlee was interviewed for the Lucasfilm website, except that it was sort of a weird choice on both parts.
And I probably wouldn't have thought it was weird if I had read their article in Magnet with them touring "Skywalker Ranch" and standing around Yoda.
But then, in their latest issue, Magnet printed what could only be described as a BLATANT advertisement for Lucasfilm in their letters section, which even went so far as to mention the website to ensure that curious readers know where to go.
Furthurmore, the letter is a blatant attempt to make Lucasfilm seem "hip" in their hideously corporate market branding method: "I was already a die-hard Decemberists fan, but after seeing their flattering tribute to the Skywalker family, and meeting them in person, I have to say the Force will always be with them."
What I'm wondering is if the Decemberists have some sort of marketing deal with Lucasfilm or if they're just totally oblivious at how they're being used as part of a marketing scheme.
Suggested reading: http://www.punkplanet.com/archives/00000034.html
Scene For Sale by Anne Elizabeth Moore from PP70
“We thought it would be a great way to reach out to our fans, especially ones that are into underground street culture and music,” Bonnie Burton—zinester, writer, and Lucasfilm, Ltd. employee—tells me about the street art promotional campaign she helped commandeer for Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. The posters, stencils, pinbacks, avatars, and stickers Burton helped distribute and popularize were only part of the campaign that made this episode of the series unapologetically ubiquitous last summer, even if you were a committed member of the underground, exclusively dedicated to DIY media. “It’s great to gain awareness from zines and such that usually get ignored by other film houses and media outlets,” Burton concludes.
She’s right, of course: zines, stencils, and wheatpasted posters are a great way to reach out to the underground. That’s why we use them, here in the underground. That the Star Wars promotions team would feel comfortable misappropriating these methods, despite its dedication to the perpetration of generic, mainstream media, isn’t surprising either: zinesters, skateboarders, and rock-poster artists alike grew up with Yoda, Darth Vader, and Leia. We claim Jedi Knight as our religious affiliation on our tax forms and have perfected the gzzzt light saber sound effect as if it were a different word for combat.
Then again, Star Wars is not alone in usurping the underground for big corporate promotions: Tylenol and Nike adopted similar strategies, both also evident last summer. Other companies are following suit. And somehow, this time, the underground is allowing itself to be usurped.
And I probably wouldn't have thought it was weird if I had read their article in Magnet with them touring "Skywalker Ranch" and standing around Yoda.
But then, in their latest issue, Magnet printed what could only be described as a BLATANT advertisement for Lucasfilm in their letters section, which even went so far as to mention the website to ensure that curious readers know where to go.
Furthurmore, the letter is a blatant attempt to make Lucasfilm seem "hip" in their hideously corporate market branding method: "I was already a die-hard Decemberists fan, but after seeing their flattering tribute to the Skywalker family, and meeting them in person, I have to say the Force will always be with them."
What I'm wondering is if the Decemberists have some sort of marketing deal with Lucasfilm or if they're just totally oblivious at how they're being used as part of a marketing scheme.
Suggested reading: http://www.punkplanet.com/archives/00000034.html
Scene For Sale by Anne Elizabeth Moore from PP70
“We thought it would be a great way to reach out to our fans, especially ones that are into underground street culture and music,” Bonnie Burton—zinester, writer, and Lucasfilm, Ltd. employee—tells me about the street art promotional campaign she helped commandeer for Star Wars III: Revenge of the Sith. The posters, stencils, pinbacks, avatars, and stickers Burton helped distribute and popularize were only part of the campaign that made this episode of the series unapologetically ubiquitous last summer, even if you were a committed member of the underground, exclusively dedicated to DIY media. “It’s great to gain awareness from zines and such that usually get ignored by other film houses and media outlets,” Burton concludes.
She’s right, of course: zines, stencils, and wheatpasted posters are a great way to reach out to the underground. That’s why we use them, here in the underground. That the Star Wars promotions team would feel comfortable misappropriating these methods, despite its dedication to the perpetration of generic, mainstream media, isn’t surprising either: zinesters, skateboarders, and rock-poster artists alike grew up with Yoda, Darth Vader, and Leia. We claim Jedi Knight as our religious affiliation on our tax forms and have perfected the gzzzt light saber sound effect as if it were a different word for combat.
Then again, Star Wars is not alone in usurping the underground for big corporate promotions: Tylenol and Nike adopted similar strategies, both also evident last summer. Other companies are following suit. And somehow, this time, the underground is allowing itself to be usurped.