Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 758 Advertisements that break the rules

“So in your opinion, we need a story that highlights what Diet Pepsi is selling? Right?” asks Ronald’s longtime friend, creative director Darcy Maguire.

"Yes, I have seen all the recent advertisements of Diet Pepsi. You have invited many Hollywood stars, but you always highlight the stars themselves. The product of Diet Pepsi is actually not well understood by the public, so why not highlight the product itself , what about the features that young people love?" Ronald replied.

Nisita contacted Ronald's old partner, and Darcy Maguire was very happy to learn that Ronald was able to return to the arena. He immediately contacted the Pepsi project and asked him to come out and direct a small TV commercial.

Her current major client is Pepsi.Recently, Pepsi has fired the old marketing director, and began to reorganize the advertising ideas and re-select the advertising agency. She really wants to keep this big client.

"Which star do you think would be right, Ronald? They got Billy Crystal last year," Maguire asked.

"I heard that Pepsi's advertising slogan is 'the choice of the new generation'? Why did you find a middle-aged comedian? Wait, find a celebrity to appear in the advertisement, and their budget is very large?" Ronald suddenly realized the problem.

"Hahaha, yes. Pepsi is beating Coca-Cola so hard now that they want to spend more on advertising and really be the winner of the Coke wars. This is a good chance, Ronald, if you do, I'll win the new season." The possibility of an advertising contract is very high."

"Of course, we've known each other for a long time, so I'll be frank, the release budget for new films is a little tight on cash right now, and I hope to be able to pay as soon as possible."

It turned out that Coca-Cola launched a new flavor of Coke last year. After the sales rose in the first few months, it began to decline as a whole.

The formula of New Coke has softer and smoother sweetness. This new taste is loved by consumers who often drink Coke in big cities such as New York and Los Angeles.Market research shows that their willingness to buy New Coke has not changed much from that of Old Coke.

However, in the southern states, the sales of New Coke suffered from Waterloo, and Pepsi largely occupied the original stable market.

The "Chicago Tribune", where film critic Gene Sisco belongs, also published a special report on the cultural resistance of the new flavor of Coke in southern states.

Those states belonged to the Confederacy during the Civil War, and the Coca-Cola Company, headquartered in Atlanta, has always been regarded by the Southerners as one of the few products that can conquer the Northern Yankees.

The new flavor of Coke was seen by the Southerners as a capitulation act based on Yankee tastes.Consumers in many southern states originally thought that Coca-Cola represented the South, while Pepsi, headquartered in New York, represented the North.

The new flavor adds sweetness, it's Pepsi from the Yankees, it's surrender to the Yankees, it's the Yankees who conquered the South again.

"This is too exaggerated. How can Coke be related to the Civil War?" Ronald actually doesn't like New Coke, but he is just used to drinking the old taste. What is the conflict between the North and the South? What is the cultural inheritance? Relationship?

"It's even more exaggerated. Some southerners think it's a Cuban conspiracy."

"Huh? What's going on?" Ronald was dumbfounded.

It turned out that the new flavor of Coke dissatisfied the residents living in small southern towns. Unlike the residents of big cities such as New York and Los Angeles, they often drink other flavors of beverages, and they applaud the ability to bear innovative flavors.

Coca-Cola is a carbonated beverage that the townspeople drink for a lifetime.

After the old taste that they drank half their lives was replaced, they didn't feel right, so many conspiracy theories surfaced.

The Coca-Cola Company, who led this taste change, is the company's chairman and CEO Roberto Guzueta. He is a descendant of Cuban immigrants. His father escaped Fidel and took his family to Florida. .

So the residents of those states close to the Caribbean began to spread that this is the conspiracy of Cuban leader Fidel to destroy the capitalist tradition of America.

The Coca-Cola Company has a hotline to handle orders and complaints.After the new flavor was launched, the number of complaint calls per day rose from 400 to 1500.

Others were said to have been emotional, as if a loved one had died in the family, and wept bitterly over New Coke's betrayal of American tradition.

"Those people really like conspiracy theories," Ronald shook his head when he heard that.Conservative evangelical religious forces are growing rapidly in the Deep South, and many farmers and small-town residents who are scornfully called "rednecks" in big cities do not have cable television or the popular magazines common in big cities.

They are ignorant of the news, and many things they cannot understand are often attributed to the conspiracy of anti-Christians.

"It's ridiculous to say that, in fact, Fidel of Cuba even publicly issued a statement expressing his dislike for the taste of New Coke. He called New Coke a symbol of America's depravity. Coca-Cola was originally one of the few favorites in this imperialist country. Things were also destroyed."

"Didn't Pepsi make a lot of money?"

“Of course, otherwise how would they have put out a full-page ad in the New York Times saying Pepsi had won the decades-long Coke war.”

Darcy Maguire gave Ronald a newspaper, which made Ronald laugh.

Above is Roger Enrico, head of PepsiCo's North American operations, declaring a company-wide holiday to celebrate winning the Coke Wars.

"Pepsi's sales have increased by 14% year-on-year, so they want to increase investment in one fell swoop to defeat Coca-Cola.

This year, they are focusing on promoting the sugar-free Diet Pepsi (Diet Pepsi), which is a new trend in big cities that has started in the past two years.Start with diet to solve weight problems. "

"Pepsi's slogan is the choice of the new generation. In short, Billy Crystal can't use it anymore. You have to find a star who can represent the image of young people to do this advertisement. Your advertising company should have survey data. Who in the past two years Is he the most influential star in the minds of young people?"

"Michael J. Fox, of course, but he's a movie star now, and movie stars don't advertise."

Maguire replied that some advertising companies had contacted Fox, wanting to borrow his influence among teenagers, but without exception, they were all rejected by his agent.

"Wait a minute, don't say no so quickly, I'll give him a call."

"Hi Ronald, how are you? I hear your new film is finished editing?"

Michael J. Fox has a good relationship with Ronald. His famous work "Back to the Future" was Ronald's proposal to change roles and give him a chance.After receiving the call, he deliberately found a time to meet and chat with Ronald.

"good……"

Ronald exchanged pleasantries with him, "I'm here this time to persuade you to participate in the Pepsi commercial."

"Hey, I actually don't care about these. The price offered by PepsiCo is very good, but my agent said that the advertisement will affect my personal image, which is not good for my future filming. So my attitude towards TV commercials is to shirk of."

"Why? Although everyone else said so", Ronald knew that this time he had to challenge the old iron law of Hollywood, otherwise Michael J. Fox would not agree.

"Isn't that the same thing? The image of a movie actor should be used in movies. If there are too many appearances on TV, the audience will get too familiar with the actor's image, which will have a negative effect on playing a movie role."

"Michael, this reason may be valid for other people, but it is completely untenable for you."

"Why?" Now it was Fox's turn to ask.

"You are a TV actor, have you forgotten? God. The audience watches you every day on TV. Your image has long been stereotyped as an independent, smart, and street-smart young man who has gone to the big city to work hard."

"Haha, yes." Michael J. Fox laughed.He became famous by acting in the TV series "Family Bond" first, and "Back to the Future" came later.

"There used to be a legend in Hollywood that you can't play TV series when you are in a movie, and vice versa. The two ways of acting are very different, and actors can't do both. But, haven't you achieved great success across film and television?"

"You're absolutely right," Michael J. Fox took out a new cigarette and lit it with the old one. "I can promise, Ronald. But you have to make sure that you are the one who will guide me. I don't want to Shoot the kind of commercials that are simple and repetitive, I hope it is a commercial with a story, similar to my screen persona, Marty in 'Back to the Future'."

Fox snuffed out his dying cigarette on the sole of Ronald's upturned leg. He smoked a lot, one after another, a hangover from a TV show rush.

"I'm all ready. Here's the script. You can read it." Ronald looked down at the scar on the sole of his shoe, which was burned by a cigarette but fortunately, no one saw it.

"Ah, ha ha ha..." Michael J. Fox was very happy after reading the short three-page script.Ronald wrote this script according to his own star image, and it is in line with the concept of Pepsi's younger generation.

"I took it, this script is very interesting, it is equivalent to a reprint of the 'Secret of Success' short story. No problem." Fox took another puff of cigarette, "By the way, who do you plan to cast as the heroine? Are you looking for her? girlfriend Helen? That’s not bad, it’s like a teaser for our movie.”

"This...?" Ronald didn't expect Fox to mention Helen, and he couldn't deny that he wanted to find her every time. After all, Helen Slater was asked to replace the heroine at the time, in the name of his girlfriend, to invite Michael. J. Fox helped, "I'll call Helen."

……

"Ronald, why did you think of asking me to act in this commercial?" Helen received a call from Ronald and rushed to Ronald's apartment at night. With big blue eyes, she looked at Ronald in a daze. .

"Don't you know that movie actors don't accept TV commercials?" Helen pointed Ronald with her finger, "I know, hee hee. Do you regret that you didn't direct me to make a movie, and you want to use this commercial to Make up for your regrets a little?"

"Ah..." Ronald could only touch his beard, this cannot be denied.

"You are so romantic, Ronald." Helen put her hands around Ronald's neck happily, "I know that you regret that you didn't direct 'Secret of Success', right? Although I am a movie actor... but you That said, I'd like to go."

"Um..." Ronald looked at Helen. Anyway, Helen's acting potential is limited. After several movies, Ronald has basically confirmed that she can only play roles that match her true colors.

Although she is full of Broadway and acting theories, and even set up an experimental theater troupe with her best friend Helen Hunt, her real acting skills are far from these proficient theories.

"Well, anyway, this character is similar to your screen image." Ronald replied.

"Well, I still want to try some different roles. My acting skills have improved a lot. However, the character in this commercial is similar to 'Secret of Success', so I will take it as a warm-up for the movie's release. ’ replied Helen.

"it is good……"

Ronald was about to say something, but swallowed it back.Helen herself is still very pursuing.

But it doesn't matter, for a one-and-a-half-minute commercial, Helen's acting skills can always find a way.And the heroine I wrote is actually more like a vase.

As for the height difference between Helen and Michael J. Fox, anyway, I have also considered that Fox is always shorter than the actress, so I tried my best not to let him and the heroine appear in the same scene during the storyboarding.

"Ronald, for your script, Fox and I don't have the same frame. When you wrote the script, did you write it according to my image, so as to prevent me from bending over and stepping in the ditch so that I could be as tall as him?" Wait, right?"

"This...probably, perhaps, is the case."

"I never thought someone would treat me so romantically." Helen closed her eyes, intoxicated in her imagination, and then she approached Ronald, imitating the dance position in "Dirty Dancing", using her crotch movements in front of Ronald. Rubbing Ronald's waist, "This is your reward, dear."

"Oh……"

Ronald also imitated the male lead, and after a minute, he couldn't stand the teasing anymore, and picked Helen into the bedroom.

"By the way, who are you going to use for the actress at the end?" Helen was lying on her side, asking Ronald with a flushed face, and she was a little short of breath.

Ronald lay beside him leisurely, "Let CAA audition, many actors and models who have just debuted will be willing."

Soon, Pepsi found a weekend and started shooting the advertisement.

Michael J. Fox was only free on the weekends, so he didn’t have to shoot TV shows, and Ronald also prepared everything else in advance. There was only one day on the weekends, and he had to shoot all the shots.

"This is Christy, this is Director Ronald Lee." Nisita led a tall beauty to Ronald.

Ronald stepped forward and shook hands with the female number two in the ad.This is the advertising company, Pepsi, and CAA three-party audition, and the final candidate is Christie Turlington, who has just signed with the Elite Model Agency in New York.

"Very well, is your hair originally dark brown?" Ronald lifted up her hair and looked at it. Under the light, it was slightly golden-red.

"Yes, I have dyed blonde before. I can dye it back as required." Christie Dullington replied quickly, she didn't want to lose this opportunity because of the details of hair color.

"Have the stylist and the director of photography check that if it doesn't have a golden red in the film, it's fine."

There are two heroines in the whole ad, and Helen has always been blonde (Blonde) since she played "Supergirl".So the second beauty needs to have brown hair (Brunette) to balance it out.

"Hi, Honey!" Ronald sent Christie Turlington away, and turned to greet Helen Slater who had put on makeup.

"In the morning, we mainly shoot the interior shots. Your dress and makeup are all close to the 'secret of success'. When you act, you also look for the feeling in the movie."

"OK!"

"Action!"

"Tuk Tuk..." There was a knock on the wooden door in the studio. Michael J. Fox was wearing a white shirt and gray woolen vest, jeans and running shoes, very similar to the dress in the movie "Secret of Success" Yuppie style.

The door was opened a crack by Fox, and the beautiful face of a blonde girl came in from the door.

The camera retreated along the pre-laid track, and kept shooting close-ups of Helen's face as she flashed in through the crack of the door.

"Hi, I'm the new next door neighbor and I was wondering, can you lend me a can of Diet Pepsi?"

Helen's voice is very nice, and the recording pole on the scene recorded all her conversations.

"Cut!"

Ronald stopped, stepped forward and whispered into Helen's ear, "You made a mistake, talk to Fox, not to the camera."

"Oh, I thought it was a frontal close-up." Helen knew that Ronald wanted to defend himself.

"It's okay, let's do it again."

After filming a few scenes of Helen indoors, Ronald sent Michael J. Fox to the dressing room for a touch-up.

"Christie?" Ronald called Christie Durrington. "Wait for Michael to say the 'Danny?' line before you slip in from behind the door."

Christie Turlington seemed a little nervous, but nodded in agreement.

"Pay attention to your appearance, you will regard the camera as your favorite fashion designer, and you want to show him your modeling ability, understand? Try it." Seeing her a little nervous, Ronald quickly stepped forward to tell her Talk about the distribution of attention.

As long as this young beautiful model has enough imagination, she can perform good visual effects.Anyway, she is a prospect, and she doesn't need more advanced acting skills.

"Action!"

Michael J. Fox's head was sprayed with water from the dressing room, and it was wet like rain.

Holding a can of Diet Pepsi, panting heavily, he appeared in front of Helen and handed it over, "Your Diet Pepsi!"

"Tuktuk..." There was another knock on the door.

"That must be my roommate, Danny." Helen gently took the Diet Pepsi and said to Fox.

"Danny?" Michael J Fox had a look of embarrassment on his face.Could it be that he worked so hard to help the beautiful neighbor find Pepsi, and she actually lives with her boyfriend Danny?

"Hi, my name is Danielle", Christie Turlington walked in the door with a catwalk, with one hand on her waist, a standard appearance action for a model on the catwalk.

"Do you still have Diet Pepsi?"

"Of course", Michael J. Fox's expression immediately changed to happy.

"Cut!"

Ronald stopped, "Very good, let's do it again."

Soon, all the scenes of the two actresses were filmed in the morning.While Ronald was discussing the upcoming shoot with Michael J. Fox, Helen came over to say goodbye.

"Honey, I'm leaving first, there is still an acting training class in the afternoon."

"Okay, I'll see you off." Ronald greeted Fox and sent Helen outside the set.

"Hmm..." The two kissed goodbye, and Helen got into little Bud's car and left.Ronald looked back just in time to see Christie Turlington standing beside her.

Christie Turlington smiled when she saw Ronald looking over.She is different from other models, and she seems to have received a relatively good education in temperament.

"Are you waiting for the car?" Seeing her smile, Ronald responded with a smile.

"Yes, I called a taxi."

"Taxis in Los Angeles are quite expensive. I'll ask the crew assistant to take you there." Ronald turned around and entered the studio, continuing to shoot Michael J Fox's action scenes.

The crew moved to another studio next to it, and the entire studio was covered with black cloth to cover the windows and roof, simulating the street scene at night.

Michael J. Fox had only a large bottle of Diet Pepsi in the refrigerator at home. He had to open the window and climb down the fire escape to avoid embarrassing himself in front of his female neighbor.

"Action!"

In dim lighting, the set simulated a street, and the camera shot from behind Michael J. Fox, across the road from a Pepsi vending machine.

Then it was Fox who overcame the traffic on the road and jumped and climbed from the roof to cross the road.

After jumping off the roof, another dog stuck its head out the window of a car and barked at him.

"Cut!"

Ronald raised his hand to signal that the animal trainer was doing well.

The set crew started clearing the cars off the road, and the motorcyclists got ready.

A time machine in "Back to the Future", the DeLorean sports car was pushed down to serve as the background, which is a small easter egg.

Fox then encounters a group of leather-clad thugs and men in dame costumes emerging from steam on motorcycles.Full of the style of noir street movies like "Streets of Rage".

Michael J. Fox brushed his hair, walked through them in spite of his fear, walked to the vending machine, dropped a coin, and bought a can of Diet Pepsi.

"Cut!"

Within a day, relying on good preparation, Ronald finished shooting all the clips of the commercial.

"I'm looking forward to seeing your finished film, it seems to be very interesting." Michael J. Fox said goodbye and left.

The next day, the print of the negative was developed and went back into the editing room.

Ronald and several assistants cut the Pepsi advertisement together.

In this section, the scene of Fukes feeling proud and going to buy Diet Pepsi for his beautiful neighbor seems to be a bit similar to the emotion of "Top Gun".

Ronald picked up the phone and contacted composer Kenny Loggins.

"I have a Pepsi ad and I want to use your 'Danger Zone', are you okay? Well, I'll tell them to contact your agent and buy the right to use it."

"Boom...boom...boom..."

The familiar "Top Gun" opening scene when the F-14A fighter jet took off on the aircraft carrier, the background music was used in the scene where Fox went to buy Pepsi.Great sense of humor.

……

"Here's the 90-second version, here's the 60-second version, here's the 30-second version..."

Ronald transcribed the edited film into a video tape and showed it to creative director Darcy Maguire.

"Oh, what you shot is like a trailer for a movie."

Maguire is very satisfied with Ronald's performance.

"I think so, so I tried to absorb some elements of popular movies. Fortunately, Michael J. Fox himself is the leading actor of 'Back to the Future' and 'Secret of Success', so there is no problem with borrowing elements."

"And you are also the director of 'Top Gun', Pepsi's money is really worth it. I'll show it to Pepsi's marketing director."

"Okay, I'll just wait for your transfer check, hahaha."

Soon, news came from Pepsi's headquarters.Ronald's ad was well received there.They all felt that finding Ronald and being able to persuade two well-known film actors to agree to condescend to appear in commercials was a huge bargain.

So payment is very fast.The next day, Ronald received the transfer check, which was a good supplement to the lost product placement and solved most of the problems.

"Fox and Helen's remuneration has also been paid, and Pepsi is very happy. This 90-second commercial will premiere on this year's Super Bowl. Then the 60-second and 30-second versions will be rolled out on major public TV stations."

"Very well, I am also very satisfied. Michael J. Fox, and his good friend John Candy, are both fans of the Super Bowl. You can make some arrangements."

After receiving a hint from Ronald, Darcy Maguire immediately went to discuss with Pepsi, and presented two Canadian actors with a good position at the Super Bowl scene. During the intermission, after the advertisement was released, the camera just cut to Fox. , come to a linkage.

"A very good cooperation, Ronald, do you want to shoot other commercials? I also have McDonald's, Burger King, Green Arrow, Unilever, Procter & Gamble..."

"Except Procter & Gamble," Ronald interrupted.I need cash now, and there are short, flat and quick projects, why not make some money.

"Ronald," Nisita knocked on the door and came in, interrupting Ronald and Darcy Maguire's planned fortune.

"What's wrong?" Ronald frowned when he saw him.

"There is a problem with the rating, Eddie has already dealt with it, you have to be prepared," Nisita said softly in Ronald's ear.

Ronald also frowned, and he turned back and asked in Nisita's ear, "Is it the trick of the old Jew?"

"I'll leave first. When you're free, we're talking about further cooperation." Darcy Maguire looked at the faces of the two and knew that there was a big matter to deal with, so he wisely proposed to go first.

"Okay, thank you, I'll contact you when I have news."

Ronald, who sent Maguire away, came back and closed the door, and immediately asked, "What's going on? Who is making trouble? Is there any news from Michael Douglas?"

"Don't worry, I had a big phone call with Michael Douglas and he said his father Kirk wasn't doing anything. It wasn't necessarily a Jewish thing. MPAA bullying small producers, small distribution companies is common.

It's just that you were so careful this time. You didn't have any frontal exposure shots, and you were rated R. It's a bit unexpected. We still have a chance to appeal for revision. "

"Damn it, how can we be bullied as an independent production company and an independent distribution company? It's also hard to determine whether the Jews have used their influence."

In the evening, Ronald called Eddie, the general manager of Daydream, Michelle Cannold, the release manager, and others to have a meeting to discuss countermeasures. "

"What if we cut out a little bit of the explicit sex scene?" Michelle Cannold asked.

"Don't be naive..." Eddie replied.

"Yeah, I participated in an 'Endless Love' movie before, and I was the heroine when Brooke Shields was popular, and because the distributor was a newcomer to the industry, Polygram, I was called back five times in a row."

"Have you ever thought that if the rating is R, it may also be a gimmick to attract the audience?" Michelle Cannold spoke again.

Everyone looked at Ronald together.

"Hmm... not appropriate," Ronald thought for a while, and denied this opinion, "It is feasible to use R ratings to attract audiences, and it is feasible for those movies that are originally aimed at adult audiences. But our 'Dirty Dancing' is aimed at teenage girls aged 14-18. If it's not PG-13, it won't work."

If a movie aimed at teenagers is rated R, it will almost certainly mean that the box office will be cut in half. In many movie theaters in big cities, many teenagers will not go to see R-rated movies that require the company of adults.

"Why is this happening? I watched Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark, and there were many unsuitable shots in it. Wasn't it also rated PG in the end? Later, a PG-13 rating was added to give hints to these , a film that doesn’t expose.”

Michelle Cannold's assistant, Dolly Bernstein, chimed in.

"That's different, Universal and Columbia, they have people in the MPAA..." Nisita said, explaining that these distribution teams from Weston are used to the video tape market distribution, and these regular theater distribution Operation, still learning and groping, often speaking layman's terms.

"Well, are we there?" Dolly Bernstein asked Ronald.

"Yeah, I have someone too..."

Ronald suddenly realized, why didn't he use these relationships in advance?It seems that he is still too unfamiliar with the operation of distributing movies.

"Let me make a few calls."

(End of this chapter)