Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 443 Romantic Encounter and Final Holding Hands

Pepsi and Burger King have finally decided to team up.In the future, the beverages in Burger King will use Pepsi-Cola's products.

The two brands with the second largest market share joined forces to challenge the leaders in their respective fields.

This kind of strategic cooperation of large enterprises must be widely advertised on TV, so as to make the KPIs of all marketing managers look good and make achievements in the year-end evaluation.

Although I don't know what effect such an advertisement will have on the sales of the two, Ronald was still favored by the two companies because of the Burger King advertisement he shot, and they invited him to shoot this "engagement" advertisement.

Because it is a cooperation between the two companies, the cost of the project is also shared by the two companies. In this way, Ronald can only give advice to the actors representing Burger King, while the actors representing Pepsi have their own plans.

"Which actress are you going to invite to appear?" The creative director of the advertising company, Ronald's old friend Maguire, is also responsible for half of the production of this advertisement.

"Lee Thompson is better." Because it was a temporary project, Ronald wanted to find an actor who had worked with him before. Lea Thompson's acting skills flowed more naturally, and Elizabeth Sue had already gone to Wellesley College to study.

"Lee Thompson doesn't accept this kind of advertising business anymore," said Eddie, who was her agent. "She has a very good prospect in the film industry now. Jaws 3D is about to be released, and she has received another contract with Tom Crewe. We will no longer advertise fast food and fizzy drinks in 'Step by Step', which he co-starred in."

"Then... why don't you contact Elizabeth Sue?" Ronald still likes to work with experienced people. Sue, who has acted in several Burger King commercials, doesn't need to be adjusted when he is caught temporarily.

Elizabeth Sue agreed to appear in the new version of the commercial, and she just wanted to earn money to meet various social expenses in college.Being able to perform this kind of commercial can not only make money, but also become a social celebrity in the school.

"So should we meet romantically, or hold hands in the end?" Creative director Maguire was still in a male suit, and asked aggressively to the male director of Pepsi's advertising service provider.

"Although it's not the first time our two clients have cooperated, I still tend to meet romantically. After all, this is an advertisement for the youth market."

"I disagree, as you said, this is not the first time the two companies have cooperated. There are many consumers in the audience. They will laugh out loud when they hear that the two brands that have cooperated before want to meet romantically. "

Ronald looked at the magazine beside him, ignoring the quarrel between the two directors.The creative directors of two multinational companies, in this kind of cooperation project, want to compete for the dominant position.

Their disagreement is very simple. This ad was filmed in an anthropomorphic way. The young man in the uniform of Pepsi and the young woman in the uniform of Burger King represent the brand image and a romantic love, representing the relationship between the two big companies. strategic cooperation.

So should we film the romantic encounter between the two (Meet Cutes), or the final hand in hand (Together At Last)?
This is a term used in two romantic comedies, where a romantic encounter refers to a situation where the hero and heroine meet for the first time.They must be arranged in an interesting or embarrassing meeting scene, so that the two people can find a certain characteristic of the other party that resonates with themselves at a glance.

And the final holding hands is the final ending of a romantic comedy. The hero and heroine either get married, or live together, or finally date.That is the favorite of American audiences, "they lived happily ever after".

"What do you think, Ronald?" Maguire asked Ronald after arguing with the other party to no avail.The creative director hired by Pepsi also looked over.

"Why don't you all make a compromise and openly admit your relationship to your friends. Anyway, it's not the first time you have cooperated, it's just that you lack a strategic agreement. This advertisement is mainly to announce to the world that the two are finally together Isn't it?"

The two directors exchanged opinions and agreed with Ronald's idea.

A few days later, Elizabeth Sue arrived at the studio in Los Angeles. After putting on her Burger King uniform and hat, she met Ronald.

"Hi, Lisa. How was college life at Wellesley?" Ronald was delighted to see her.

"I've already transferred to Harvard."

"Oh yeah? Congratulations. Should I say congratulations?" Ronald was a little surprised when he heard that the little girl went to one of the three best universities in the United States. It seemed that she was really a very smart girl.

"I accept your congratulations. Although there is a transfer agreement between Wellesley College and Harvard, it still requires application and multiple rounds of interviews. Moreover, my advertising shooting experience added a lot of points to my application. Thank you, Ronald."

"You deserve it. Is the actor from Pepsi here? It's called Andrew." Ronald was very busy, and turned to ask the assistant.

"Come here, come here" A tall handsome American guy came to the set, with slightly long hair and a baby face.It was Pepsi ad actor Andrew McCarthy.

He is a little different from the typical American handsome guy, he doesn't look like a sportsman or a social madman, but rather a nerd, but his temperament is obviously that of a rich man, with a preppy style cultivated in a college preparatory school.

"Hello, Ronald. Rob Lowe often told me about you, he said you are a great director." Andrew McCarthy offered to reach out to Ronald.

"Hello, Andrew," Ronald shook hands with him, "I'll take my seat here then."

Andrew McCarthy and Ronald's old acquaintance, Rob Lowe, who played the second brother "Soda Pop" in "Urban Boy", completed the filming of another movie "Student".

Ronald had heard Eddie say something about the movie, that "Student" is a sex comedy.Jonathan, played by Andrew McCarthy, and Skip, played by Rob Lowe, are two college students who share a dorm room.

Jonathan has been bullied by Skip, making fun of him in various ways.Skip also makes Jonathan do all sorts of outrageous things to get into the college's most popular fraternity.The condition he put forward was to let Jonathan pick up a beautiful woman and end his virginity.

In the end, Jonathan went to the bar, picked up Skip's mother by accident, and had a year-end relationship with her.

This kind of male teen sex comedy is also a kind of exploitation film, but the difference in this movie is that "Orion" invested 500 million, and Mama Skip was directed by the British beauty Jacqueline Race. special starring.

Bett played the sexy and glamorous Duchess Andre in "Murder on the Orient Express", and Ronald was subconsciously jealous of McCarthy who had a sex scene with her.

In the studio is a set for the movie "Mother and Daughter", which is exactly what Ronald wanted.A small wooden house in southern style, outside the white wall, there is a small step leading to the main entrance.

After the busy lighting and positioning, Ronald began to stare at the camera and watched the whole rehearsal for the last time.

"Action!" Ronald started the first shot.

"We have something to tell you." Elizabeth Su sat with Andrew McCarthy on the wooden steps. After she said a word, she looked at McCarthy lovingly.

"I've made progress", Ronald thought to himself. During the filming, Elizabeth showed a good line skills and a natural emotion.Compared with when she was filming Burger King's Christmas commercials before, her acting skills have improved significantly.

The camera starts to move to the left, and then slowly approaches the two young men.

"We can't keep this secret any longer."

"Tsk, this line speaks without emotion." Ronald felt that Elizabeth's performance completely overwhelmed McCarthy's. If the gap was too large, it would look incongruous on the TV screen.

Fortunately, it was a TV commercial and a night scene, so the audience didn't pay much attention to the facial expressions of the actors.There was no need for Ronald to interrupt and start over.

"So now it's time for everyone else to know," Andrew McCarthy said to the camera.

The performance of the close-up is not bad. McCarthy shows a little shyness in front of the beautiful Elizabeth, which makes Ronald very satisfied.He squatted next to the camera, watching the performance of the two without moving.

"Burger King has turned to Pepsi." Elizabeth Sue finally said the "secret" they wanted to tell the world. When she said this line, she also showed a girl who wanted to tell all her friends about the news of her love with a handsome guy. expression.

"After going to college, my acting skills really improved a lot." Ronald thought to himself.

"So together in the end?" Elizabeth said to McCarthy.

Andrew McCarthy paused for a second and said curtly, "Together at last."

This pause is good, maybe he learned it in the acting training class, but the expression still makes people feel very awkward, not like the way a man and woman in love see their lover.

"Giggle" Elizabeth laughed at the mature pause.

"Cut!" Ronald called to stop the shooting, and this unexpected improvisation at the end was surprisingly good.At least neither of them expected the other's reaction, so their own reaction was very natural.

Ronald took a few more shots, and finally chose the first one in the editing room.

"Although McCarthy's performance may not be the best among several, but it is full of emotion and natural reaction. His improvisation was beyond my expectation, and Elizabeth's reaction was also very instant."

"Okay, you are the director." Both Maguire and the creative director of Pepsi nodded in agreement.

A super close-up shot of the Pepsi cup with a lot of ice water outside, and the Burger King burger model spinning and touching.Finally, there is another Burger King theme song to end.Ronald edited all the samples, took out two copied master tapes, and handed them over to the two creative directors for approval.

"Why does Burger King use Pepsi?" Ronald asked Maguire, who was trailing behind.

"Don't you know? Pepsi has launched a full-scale offensive and defensive war against Coca-Cola. Not only is it strategically cooperating with Burger King, they also spend huge sums of money to hire the most popular pop musicians to shoot commercials."

"who is it?"

"MJ? Have you seen his moonwalk and spacewalk? After it was broadcast on TV, girls all over the country screamed for him." Maguire also showed a rare smile of a fan girl.

"Why is Pepsi so rich all of a sudden?"

"They have always used this strategy. At the same price, Pepsi has more capacity than Coca-Cola, and they are also willing to spend money on marketing to hire big stars to shoot advertisements. That's why they can get a market share second only to Coca-Cola. Maybe Did they discover a weakness in Coca-Cola?"

Maguire gave Ronald a minimalist marketing lesson.

"Things are cheaper and there are more advertisements, but the sales are not as good as Coca-Cola?" Ronald also came to a very simple conclusion in his mind.

When he got back to the apartment, he called the accountant Lawrence, "Hey, Lawrence, what do you think of Coca-Cola's stock? Can my recent income increase my position?"

(End of this chapter)