Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ronald, in addition to Pepsi, there is another organization that wants to add an advertisement to the videotape of "Top Gun" and wants you to direct it."

"Oh? Which company?" Ronald received a long-distance call from producer Bruckheimer in Hollywood. Since AT\u0026T was split, telephone companies in various regions have operated independently, and the cost of indoor calls and answering machines has been reduced a lot. However, the price of long-distance calls has increased instead of decreased, and Ronald has to talk to multiple people about creative projects frequently, and his monthly phone bill has skyrocketed.

"It's not a company, it's the American Navy. They want to add a recruitment advertisement to the videotape. Because the Navy has a strict bidding procedure, it has been issued to all 4A advertising companies, but they strongly hinted that you are their favorite candidate. As long as you nod, you will definitely win the bid."

"Well, that's fine. If any 4A advertising company wins the bid, let him contact Eddie, the general manager of my Daydream Productions."

The two Navy investigators quickly discovered that Ronald's movie portrayed the work of the Navy as very attractive.

In addition to pilots being able to pick up girls, fight MiG pilots, play volleyball on the beach, and fly cool fighter jets like Tomcats, even ground crew members were portrayed by Ronald as good job options.

Whether dancing to rock music on an aircraft carrier or working in the tower of a base, communicating with pilots by radio, these are all very desirable jobs (Ronald did not film the scenes of working with oil and wrenches under the sun).

In the second week of the movie's release, the Navy found that the inquiry rate of the recruiting office had increased by more than 300%. The bureaucrats in the Pentagon were already worried about the continuous decline in the number of recruits each year. In order to seize the opportunity, they overcame the red tape of the bureaucracy and quickly opened recruitment points in movie theaters in major cities across the country.

Ever since the Vietnam War made American civilian families cry for their children who died under the conscription system, a major issue in the election has been to change the conscription system to the volunteer system. After the voters got what they wanted, the Pentagon quickly discovered that they could no longer recruit soldiers from middle-class families.

No one wants to serve in the army, be humiliated by the instructors, and have the chance to die on the battlefield. Soon, the composition of the army changed dramatically. Blacks and various ethnic minorities began to rapidly exceed their respective proportions in the total population and became the largest source of soldiers for the army.

The worst are the Air Force and the Navy. These two branches of the military need a large number of people with higher education to serve as high-tech soldiers. However, American society has gradually regarded being a soldier as a place with no future. Because the navy has to serve at sea, away from land and family, it has surpassed the Air Force and become the most difficult branch of the military to recruit soldiers.

Originally the most honorable branch of the military in the United States, the first choice for the children of many senators' families to join the army, is now gradually beginning to suffer from serious difficulties in recruiting soldiers.

If soldiers are not for the honor of the elements, but completely for a job and a way out, the quality of soldiers will soon become worse and worse.

This time, "Top Gun" brought an unexpected surprise. Young people soon discovered that being a soldier is not only a job, but also a very "cool" job. The sense of honor and the fact that they could always get away with it by showing off their identity as naval pilots when picking up girls made young people begin to dream of joining the army again.

Ronald soon felt this trend. In nightclubs and bars, some people began to rent naval uniforms and wear Ray-Ban sunglasses to pick up girls. The boat caps and badges made the girls crazy, although Ronald guessed that many of them were fake naval officers.

Going to the nightclub was proposed by the advertising company hired by Pepsi, and Ronald also met an old acquaintance, Darcy Maguire, the former creative director of BBDO.

Ronald's former agent Eddie in New York took over the general manager duties of "Daydream Pictures". Pepsi gave him a lot of creative freedom and a large amount of production costs.

Their only request was that Ronald combine the iconic scenes in "Top Gun" to promote Pepsi's latest "Sugar-Free Pepsi"

Along with the huge amount of agricultural subsidies and food stamps for the poor, one side effect is the large increase in fat people. Urban residents like to chase trends. The rich have started to exercise in the gym, while the middle class has no money and no time. They prefer to find comfort from products.

Pepsi-Cola launched "Sugar-Free Pepsi" in the 1960s, and it was once again popular with consumers in the mid-1980s.

Last year, Pepsi also found the quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, Joe Montana, to endorse Sugar-Free Pepsi. In addition, they tasted the sweetness of sponsoring the Los Angeles Olympics in 1984, and this time they also sponsored the Lillehammer Winter Olympics.

This time Tom Cruise showed his muscular figure several times in the movie. Pepsi was originally very interested in such a movie that has great appeal to young women (Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, etc., muscular and shirtless, also wearing cool uniforms) and young men (supersonic jets, air battles, and cool uniforms). The box office in the first two weeks also gave them great confidence.

Pepsi even wanted to find Tom Cruise to shoot commercials. However, this does not match the star positioning that Paula thought of for Cruise. Pepsi settled for the next best thing and took advantage of the situation by finding an actor who looked a lot like Cruise to shoot the commercial.

After discussing with the two producers of the film and Paula Wagner, they readily agreed to use the film and the star's image for the commercial.

Advertising on video tapes will not be broadcast on influential public television stations, but on the other hand, it can increase the film's additional revenue. Neither side had any objections to this.

Ronald wrote the script, which imitated the scene at the beginning of the movie where the Lone Ranger flies upside down above the MiG-28.

He changed the call sign of the actor who looked like Cruise to "Tang", which, like "Averick", means a maverick young man.

During the flight, the sugar-free Coke placed on the drink cup holder was stuck to the cup holder by my companion, making it impossible to take it out and enjoy it. Mustang had no choice but to fly backwards, catch the poured Pepsi Cola in a cup, and drink it all in one gulp.

Ad Ronald didn't do it himself, he was just in name. He found Kathryn Bigelow, who couldn't find a job, and gave her a director's fee. Then he found a special effects ring system built by Cameron on the ground to shoot the shots in the cockpit.

Darcy Maguire gave Ronald's plan the green light. Since the two began working together, their careers have advanced by leaps and bounds in their respective industries. Maguire has become a rare female creative vice president in the industry.

Pepsi-Cola is a major customer and spends tens of millions on advertising production every year. Since Ronald agreed, she was happy to let a female director produce it. The end result delights Darcy Maguire, Kathryn Bigelow's camera language is beautiful, and the end result has a comedic feel that parodies "Top Gun."

"Are you satisfied?" Ronald saw the customer nodding and turned back to congratulate Bigelow.

With the reward from this shooting, she can hang out in Hollywood for a long time. There are not many opportunities for female directors to get independent investment.

"You know, the Navy is also now bidding for a 30-second recruitment advertisement, and they also asked me to bid."

"What do they think? Recruitment ads are actually difficult to shoot, especially now that the American people have not fully recovered from the psychological trauma of the Vietnam War."

"I didn't submit a plan. In fact, your movie is the best recruitment advertisement. There is no need to submit any more creative ideas."

"Ah? Don't you do business if it comes to your door?"

"You don't understand. This is the best strategy. People in the Navy are very cost-conscious. If I can convince them, they will feel that I really care about them, and there will be no shortage of orders in the future."

"So that's it." Ronald felt that these people understood the psychology of their customers very clearly, and they were worthy of running an advertising agency.

"Actually, this is a good opportunity for you. Pepsi's sponsorship of the Top Gun video this time will definitely cause a surge in sales. I watched Top Gun and it was a phenomenal movie. Now your reputation in the fast-moving consumer goods market It is completely established.

I guess Coca-Cola will want you soon too. Even other giants in the snack industry will want to try their luck on you. The higher your movie's box office is, the more extra Pepsis you'll sell, and the greater your reputation in the advertising industry will be in the future..."

Darcy Maguire described his business prospects to Ronald. Ronald thought it was a good opportunity, and his daydream also required more shooting opportunities that were not so demanding, to train technicians and artistic staff, and when the opportunity came, he could start shooting low-cost exploitation films. .

Week two, the big Memorial Day weekend is over.

The box office statistics are out. In the second week, when there was basically no increase in the number of theaters, the box office increased instead of decreasing, rising to 10.5 million. The box office of a single theater increased by more than 10%, and the total box office exceeded 22 million.

"Oh..."

This result really shocked Paramount.

Although the box office champion was surpassed by "Bra" starring Stallone, which was signed by Minahan Golan for more than 10 million yuan, it only ranked second.

But Minahan found Warner Bros. Distribution, and in order to support the first movie of the first superstar he signed, he arranged for it to be released in more than 2,100 cinemas.

Just like that, it's only slightly higher than the weekend box office of "Top Gun."

Ronald used 1,000 theaters and almost tied the box office of others with 2,000 theaters. And it's the second week that usually has a box office decline, versus Stallone's first week.

Paramount distribution manager Sid Ganis went crazy and went to president Ned Tanen with a very radical plan. An additional 1,000 copies will be printed, and starting in June, the film will be screened in 500 theaters on an emergency basis. Let the number of screening theaters increase to more than 1,500.

"This is a very feasible plan. We had generously anticipated the appeal of Ronald's movie and the influence of Tom Cruise. But we still underestimated their charm.

The second week's box office can significantly exceed the first week's box office, which shows that the audience this time is those who did not go to the cinema very often. This kind of opportunity is rare. We predict that this movie can be screened for a long time and can be launched as a new film in the summer season in June. "

Tanin quickly signed the document and agreed. This Ronald gave him endless surprises.

"The next international premiere will also depend on their international appeal. How do you predict it?" Tanin asked.

"We expect that we will achieve good results in all English-speaking countries, including Britain and Australia. We will also sell well in Japan and South Korea. In addition, we will also make certain progress in Xiangjiang on the other side. The fierce scenes of fighter jets and dog fights do not need Language can also be transmitted.

And anyone with eyes that are not blind can see the charm of McGillis and Cruise. "

"You guys have worked hard. We have replaced all their hotels with penthouse suites. How are the arrangements for the royal premiere in Britain going?"

"The royal office said that the princess will attend the premiere, and the queen is also trying to get her. She will also meet with new lordships and outstanding representatives of cultural undertakings."

"Very good, keep in touch. If Her Majesty the Queen can come to the premiere in London, we will add a public relations fee to let our guys show their faces in the British media."