Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"So in your opinion, we need a story to highlight the selling point of Diet Pepsi? Right?" Ronald's old friend, creative director Darcy Maguire asked.

"Yes, I've seen all the recent Diet Pepsi ads. You invited many Hollywood stars, but you always highlight the star power of the stars themselves. In fact, the public doesn't know much about Diet Pepsi. Why not highlight the product itself and the characteristics that young people like?" Ronald replied.

Nicita contacted Ronald's old partner. Darcy Maguire was very happy to know that Ronald could come back. She immediately contacted Pepsi's project and asked him to come out and direct a small TV commercial.

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

"Which star do you think is more suitable, Ronald? They found Billy Crystal last year." Maguire asked.

"I heard that Pepsi's slogan is 'The Choice of a New Generation'? Why find a middle-aged comedian? Wait, find a star to star in the commercial, their budget is sufficient?" Ronald suddenly found the problem.

"Hahaha, yes. Pepsi is now beating Coca-Cola very hard, and they want to increase their advertising budget and truly become the winner of the cola war. This is a good opportunity, Ronald, as long as you are willing to make a move, I will have a very high chance of winning the contract for the new season's advertising."

"Of course, we are old acquaintances, so I speak frankly. Now the cash budget for the release of the new movie is a bit tight, and I hope to pay as soon as possible."

It turned out that the new flavor of cola launched by Coca-Cola last year began to decline overall after the sales volume increased in the first few months.

The formula of the new cola has a softer and smoother sweetness. This new flavor is loved by consumers who often drink cola in big cities such as New York and Los Angeles. Market research shows that their willingness to buy new cola is not much different from that of old cola.

However, in the southern states, the sales of New Coke suffered a Waterloo, and Pepsi occupied a large part of the previously stable market.

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

During the Civil War, those states belonged to the Southern Confederacy, 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 regarded by the Southerners as a surrender based on the taste of the Yankees. Many consumers in the southern states originally believed that Coca-Cola represented the South, while Pepsi, headquartered in New York, represented the North.

The new flavor increased the sweetness, which was Pepsi learning from the Yankees, surrendering to the Yankees, and the Yankees conquering the South again.

"This is too exaggerated. How can Coke be related to the Civil War?" Ronald didn't like New Coke very much, but he was just used to the old flavor. What does it have to do with the North-South conflict and cultural heritage?

"There are even more exaggerated ones. Some southerners even think this is a conspiracy of Cubans."

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

It turned out that the new flavor of Coke made the residents living in the southern towns very dissatisfied. Unlike the residents of big cities such as New York and Los Angeles, they often drink beverages with other flavors and are not tolerant of innovative flavors.

The carbonated beverage that small town residents drink all their lives is Coca-Cola.

After the old flavor they have been drinking for half their lives was replaced, they felt something was wrong, so many conspiracy theories emerged.

The person who led the change in the flavor of Coca-Cola Company was Roberto Guzueta, the chairman and CEO of the company. He is a descendant of Cuban immigrants. His father fled to Florida with his family to escape Fidel. .

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

Coca-Cola Company has a hotline to handle orders and complaints. After the new flavor was launched, the number of complaints per day increased from 400 to 1,500.

It is said that some people were so emotional that they cried bitterly, as if their relatives had died, because New Coke betrayed American traditions.

"Those people really like conspiracy theories," Ronald shook his head. In the Deep South, the conservative evangelical religious forces are growing rapidly. Many farmers and small town residents who are despised by big cities as "rednecks" do not have cable TV or popular magazines commonly seen in big cities.

They are isolated from the news, and many things they cannot understand are often attributed to the conspiracy of anti-Christian elements.

"It's funny to say that Fidel of Cuba actually made a public statement that he didn't like the taste of New Coke. He said that New Coke was a symbol of the degeneration of America. Coca-Cola was originally one of the few things that people liked in this imperialist country, and it was also destroyed."

"Then Pepsi made a lot of money?"

"Of course, otherwise how could they publish a full-page advertisement on the front page of the New York Times, saying that Pepsi won the decades-long cola war."

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

The above is Pepsi's North American business director Roger Enrico, announcing that Pepsi will give the entire company a holiday to celebrate winning the cola war.

"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 diet Pepsi, which is a new popular trend in big cities 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 be used anymore. We 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 is the most influential star in the minds of young people in the past two years?"

"Of course it's Michael J. Fox, but he is a movie star now, and movie stars don't do advertisements."

Maguire replied that some advertising companies had contacted Fox before, hoping 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 call him."

"Hi, Ronald, how are you? I heard that your new film has been edited?"

Michael J. Fox has a good relationship with Ronald. His famous work "Back to the Future" was Ronald's suggestion to change the role and give him the opportunity. After receiving the call, he specially found a time to meet and talk with Ronald.

"Not bad..."

Ronald exchanged a few words with him, "I came here this time to persuade you to participate in the Pepsi advertisement."

"Hey, I don't care about these things. The price given by Pepsi is very good, but my agent said that the advertisement will affect my personal image and will be detrimental to my future filming. So my attitude towards TV commercials is to shirk."

"Why? Although others say so", Ronald knew that he had to challenge this ancient Hollywood iron law this time, otherwise Michael J. Fox would not agree.

"It's the same thing. The image of a movie actor should be used in the movie. If he appears too much on TV, the audience will know the actor's image too well, which will have a negative effect on his role in the movie."

"Michael, this reason may be true for others, but it is completely false for you."

"Why?" It was Fox's turn to ask.

"You are a TV actor, have you forgotten? God. The audience sees you on TV every day, and your image has long been stereotyped as a young man who works hard in a big city, is independent, smart, and street-wise."

"Haha, that's true." Michael J. Fox laughed. He first became famous for the TV series "The Family Ties", and "Back to the Future" came later.

"There used to be a legend in Hollywood that if you act in movies, you can't act in TV series, and vice versa. The two performance styles are very different, and actors can't do both. But haven't you achieved great success in both movies and TV?"

"You are 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 promise that it is directed by you personally. I don't want to shoot a simple and repetitive advertisement. I hope it is an advertisement with a story, similar to my screen image, Marty in "Back to the Future."

Fox put out the old cigarette that was about to burn out on the sole of Ronald's raised leg. He smoked a lot, one after another, which was a sequelae left by rushing to shoot TV series.

"I'm ready. Here is the script. Take a look." Ronald looked down and saw a scar on the sole of his shoe burned by the cigarette butt. Fortunately, no one saw it.

"Ah, hahaha..." 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 was in line with the concept of the younger generation of Pepsi.

"I took it. This script is very interesting. It is a remake of the story of 'The Secret of Success'. No problem." Fox took another puff of cigarette. "By the way, who are you going to let play the leading actress? Are you going to ask your girlfriend Helen? That's good. It's like a pre-heating advertisement for our movie."

"This...?" Ronald didn't expect Fox to mention Helen. He couldn't deny that he wanted to find her. After all, when Helen Slater was asked to replace the leading actress, he asked Michael J. Fox to help cooperate with her under the banner of his girlfriend. "I'll call Helen."

...

"Ronald, how did you think of letting me play this commercial?" Helen received Ronald's call and rushed to Ronald's apartment at night. She looked at Ronald in a trance with her big blue eyes.

"Don't you know that movie actors don't take TV commercials?" Helen pointed her finger at Ronald. "I know, hehe. Do you regret not directing me in a movie and want to use this commercial to make up for the regret a little?"

"Ah..." Ronald had to touch his beard. This certainly couldn't be denied.

"You are so romantic, Ronald." Helen happily put her arms around Ronald's neck. "I know you really regret not directing 'The Secret of Success', right? Although I am a movie actor... but if you say so, I am willing to go."

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

Although she talks a lot about Broadway and acting theories, and even started an experimental theater company with her best friend Helen Hunt, her actual acting skills are far from these well-versed theories.

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

"Well, I also want to try some different roles. My acting skills have improved a lot. But the role in this commercial is similar to 'Secret of Success', so I treat it as a warm-up for the release of the movie. "Helen replied.

"good……"

The words Ronald was about to say were swallowed back in his stomach. Helen herself is still very pursuing.

But it doesn’t matter, Helen’s acting skills are always good in the one-and-a-half-minute commercial. And the heroine I wrote is actually more like a vase.

As for the height difference between Helen and Michael J. Fox, anyway, I took into consideration that Fox was always shorter than the actress, so when I was storyboarding, I tried my best not to let him and the heroine appear in the same shot.

"Ronald, in this script of yours, Fox and I don't have the same scene. When you wrote the script, did you write it in my image to prevent me from bending down and stepping in the ditch again, so that I can be as tall as him?" Wait, right?"

"This...probably, maybe, this is what happened."

"I never thought that someone would be so romantic to me." Helen closed her eyes and was intoxicated in her imagination. Then she got close to Ronald, imitating the dance in "Dirty Dancing" and using her hip movements to Ronald rubbed his waist, "This is your reward, my dear."

"oh……"

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

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

Ronald lay beside him leisurely, "Let CAA audition. Many newly debuted actors and models will be willing."

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

Michael J. Fox was only free on weekends and did not need to film TV series. Ronald also prepared all other things in advance. He only had one day on the weekend to shoot all the scenes.

"This is Kristy, this is Director Ronald Lee." Niceta led a tall beauty to Ronald.

Ronald stepped forward and shook hands with the second female lead in the commercial. This was a three-way audition between the advertising agency, Pepsi, and CAA, and the final candidate was Kristy Turlington, who had just signed a contract with Elite Model Agency in New York.

"Very good. Is your hair originally dark brown?" Ronald lifted her hair and looked at it. Under the light, it had a slight golden-red glow.

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

"Have the hairstylist and the director of photography check to see if there's no reddish gold in the film, then it's OK."

There are two heroines in the entire advertisement. Helen has always been blonde since she played "Superwoman". So the second beauty needs brown hair (brue) to balance it out.

"Hi, honey!" Ronald dismissed Kristy Turlington and turned to say hello to Helen Slater, who was putting on makeup.

"We mainly shoot indoor scenes in the morning. Your dress and makeup are all close to the 'secret of success'. When acting, you should also look for the feeling in the movie."

"ok!"

"a!"

"Tuk Tuk..." The wooden door in the studio was knocked. Michael J. Fox wore a white shirt and gray wool vest, jeans and running shoes, which was very similar to the look in the movie "The Secret of Success" Yuppie style.

The door was opened a crack by Fox, and the beautiful face of a blonde stretched out from the door.

The camera retreated along the pre-laid track, taking a close-up of Helen's face as she slipped in through the crack in the door.

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

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

"cut!"

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

"Oh, I thought it was a close-up of the front." Helen knew that Ronald wanted to protect himself.

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

After filming several scenes of Helen indoors, Ronald asked Michael J. Fox to go to the dressing room to touch up her makeup.

"Kristy?" Ronald called Kristy Turlington over, "Wait for a moment until Michael says the line 'Danny?' and then you can sneak in from behind the door."

Kristy Turlington looked a little nervous, but nodded in agreement.

"Pay attention to your appearance. You treat the camera as the designer of your favorite fashion. You want to show him your modeling skills. Do you understand? Give it a try." Ronald saw that she was a little nervous and hurriedly stepped forward to give her a Let’s talk about how to allocate attention.

As long as this young beautiful model has enough imagination, she can perform good visual effects. Anyway, she is a long shot, and there is no need for her more advanced acting skills.

"a!"

Michael J. Fox's head was sprayed with water from the dressing room, making it wet, as if it had been rained on.

He appeared in front of Helen with a can of Diet Pepsi, panting, and handed it to her, "Your Diet Pepsi!"

"Knock knock..." Another knock on the door came.

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

"Danny?" Michael J. Fox's face was embarrassed. Could it be that he had gone through so much trouble to help his beautiful neighbor find Pepsi, but she was actually living with her boyfriend Danny?

"Hi, my name is Danielle," Christy Turlington walked into the door with a catwalk, holding her waist with one hand, a standard appearance action of a model on the catwalk.

"Do you have any more Diet Pepsi?"

"Of course," Michael J. Fox's expression immediately turned into happiness.

"Cut!"

Ronald called a halt, "Very good, let's do it again."

Soon, all the scenes of the two actresses were shot in the morning. When Ronald was discussing the next shooting session with Michael J. Fox, Helen came over to say goodbye.

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

"Okay, I'll take you there." Ronald said hello to Fox and sent Helen outside the studio.

"Well..." The two kissed goodbye, and Helen got into Little Bud's car and left. Ronald turned around and saw Christy Turlington standing next to him.

Christy Turlington smiled when she saw Ronald looking at her. She was different from other models, and her temperament seemed to be well educated.

"Are you waiting for a car?" Ronald saw her smile and responded with a smile.

"Yes, I called a taxi."

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

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

Michael J. Fox only had a large empty bottle of Diet Pepsi in his refrigerator. In order not to embarrass himself in front of his female neighbor, he had to open the window and climb down the fire escape.

"A!"

Under the dim light, the set simulated a street. The camera shot from behind Michael J. Fox. Across the street was a Pepsi vending machine.

Then Fox overcame the traffic on the road and crossed the road by jumping and crawling from the roof of the car.

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

"Cut!"

Ronald raised his hand, indicating that the trainer performed well.

The set crew began to drive away all the cars on the road, and the motorcyclists began to prepare.

A time machine from "Back to the Future", the DeLorean sports car was pushed down and used as the background, which was a small easter egg.

After that, Fox met a group of gangsters and girls dressed in leather jackets, riding motorcycles out of the steam. It was full of the style of black street movies like "Raging Fire".

Michael J. Fox brushed his hair, and although he was scared, he still walked through them, walked to the vending machine, put in a coin, and bought a can of Diet Pepsi.

"Cut!"

Within one day, Ronald finished shooting all the clips of the commercial with his thorough preparation.

"I'm waiting to see your finished film, it seems very interesting." Michael J. Fox said goodbye and left.

The next day, he developed a copy of the film and went into the editing room again.

Ronald and several assistants started editing the Pepsi commercial together.

In this clip, Fox felt proud and wanted to buy Diet Pepsi for his beautiful neighbor, which seemed a bit like the emotion in "Top Gun".

Ronald picked up the phone and contacted the composer Kenny Loggins.

"I have a Pepsi commercial that wants to use your 'Danger Zone'. Is that okay with you? Okay, I'll have them contact your agent to buy the rights."

"Boom... Boom... Boom..."

When the familiar "Top Gun" opening scene shows the F-14A fighter jet taking off from the aircraft carrier, the background music is used again in the scene where Fox goes to buy Pepsi. It's quite humorous.

...

"This is the 90-second version, this is the 60-second version, and this is the 30-second version..."

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

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

Maguire was very satisfied with Ronald's performance.

"I think so too, so I tried to absorb some elements from popular movies. Fortunately, Michael J. Fox himself is the star of "Back to the Future" and "The Secret of Success", so there is no problem in borrowing elements."

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

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

Soon, news came from Pepsi's headquarters. Ronald's advertisement received a lot of praise there. They all felt that finding Ronald and persuading two well-known movie actors to agree to condescend to shoot the advertisement was a great bargain.

So payment is very prompt. The next day, Ronald got 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. Pepsi is very happy. This 90-second commercial will premiere at this year's Football Super Bowl. Then the 60-second and 30-second versions will begin to be broadcast on major public television stations."

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

After receiving Ronald's hint, Darcy Maguire immediately went to discuss with Pepsi and gave the two Canadian actors good seats at the Super Bowl. During the halftime break, after the commercial, the camera just cut to Fox. , let’s have 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 \u0026 Gamble..."

"Except P\u0026G," Ronald interrupted. I need cash now and I have short-term and quick projects, so why not make some money.

"Ronald," Niceta knocked on the door and walked in, interrupting Ronald and Darcy Maguire's plan to get rich.

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

"There is something wrong with the rating. Eddie has already taken care of it. You have to be prepared," Niceta said softly in Ronald's ear.

Ronald also frowned. He turned back and asked in Niceta's ear, "Is it the Jewish old stubborn that is causing this?"

"I'll leave first. When you're free, we'll talk about further cooperation." Looking at the faces of the two of them, Darcy Maguire knew that there was something big to deal with, so he wisely proposed to leave first.

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

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

"Don't worry, I had a phone call with Michael Douglas, and he said that his father Kirk had no action. This is not necessarily caused by the Jews. It is very common for PAA to bully small production and distribution companies.

It's just that you were so careful this time, there were no frontal exposure shots, and it was rated R, which is a bit surprising. We still have the opportunity to appeal for revision. "

"Damn it, why are our independent production and distribution companies being bullied like this? It's hard to determine whether the Jews are using their influence."

In the evening, Ronald convened Daydream's general manager Eddie, distribution manager Michelle Cannold and others to have a meeting to discuss countermeasures. "

"What if we cut out some of the explicit sex scenes?" Michelle Cannold asked.

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

"Yes, I have participated in a movie called 'Endless Love' before. I was the heroine when Brooke Shields was popular. Because the distributor was PolyGram, a newcomer in the industry, I was rejected five times in a row."

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

Everyone looked at Ronald together.

"Hmm... it's inappropriate." Ronald thought for a moment and rejected this opinion. "This approach of using R-rating to attract audiences is feasible for movies that are originally aimed at adult audiences. But our film 'Dirty Dancing' is aimed at young female audiences aged 14-18, and it won't work unless it's pg-13."

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 big city cinemas, many teenagers will not go to see R-rated movies that require the company of adults.

"Why is this? I watched Spielberg's Raiders of the Lost Ark, and there were a lot of inappropriate shots in it. Wasn't it also rated pg in the end? Later, a pg-13 rating was added to specifically give these hints. , a non-revealing movie.”

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

"That's different, Universal and Columbia, they have people in PAA..." Niceta said, explaining that these distribution teams from Weston are used to distribution in the video tape market, and they are not responsible for the distribution of these regular theaters. I'm still learning and groping about the operation, and often speak in layman's terms.

"So, do we have anyone there?" Dolly Bernstine asked Ronald.

"Yes, I have someone too..."

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

"Let me make some calls."