Origins of the Pig Skin
OPENING THIS WEEK: “Leatherheads”
Ever wonder how the phenomenon of football got its start in this country? Back before players were paid millions upon millions of dollars through endorsement deals and ‘celebrity’ appearances, the game had a much more “rough around the edges” kind of feel. The new movie “Leatherheads,” which stars George Clooney and Renee Zellweger, cost $58 million to produce but seeks to profit from that as the probable top movie opening this week. This PG-13-rated Universal flick will be definitely trying to play the field and span two completely different segments as both a sports comedy and romantic comedy. In order to get the full reaping from this film, the marketing team had to go above and beyond relying simply on star-power and get the movie out there.
Plenty of traditional advertising has been done in order to connect audiences with the film’s release, including billboards and tons of out-of-home advertising plastered with the shinning faces of the movie’s numerous stars. In addition, the marketers have also really played up the football-field slapstick in much of their broadcast advertising in order to help pull in younger patrons. Although, despite the rough and tough sports aspect of the flim, there is still plenty of romantic banter to be accounted for between the extremely compatible duo of Clooney and Zellweger. Also not to be over looked though is the rising new star John Krasinski from “The Office.” With an extremely loyal fan base to the hit show, it would only make sense for Krasinski to make short promotional spots to be shown on the movie’s behalf throughout “The Office” marathon shown last night on NBC. What better way to get noticeable, effective prime time advertising than to have it promoted by one of the shows lead characters!
The star pair though on the other hand was busy with a whistle-stop tour last week to promote the film in such smaller markets as Duluth, Minn.; Maysville, Ky.; Salisbury, N.C.; and Greenville, S.C. These small towns are the setting for which much of the movie takes place in. (Source) Unfortunately, just recently the film faced a bit of controversy as George Clooney actually substantially downgraded his membership from the Writers Guild of America (WGA) after the union rejected his request for a writing credit on the movie. He tells Variety.com, “When your own union doesn’t back what you’ve done, the only honorable thing to do is not participate.” (Source) I feel it is important that credit is given where credit is due, especially for such a talented man that dabbles in multiple facets of the movie business including writing, producing, acting, and directing. I would hope though none of this would come off to audiences as smug or arrogant, but something tells me the movie will end up doing just fine.
