Goofy TV commercials with Will Ferrell as part of a movie tie-in promotion helped lift car sales for Dodge vehicles.
Ferrell, in character for his movie “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” is the presenter in real advertising for the 2014 Dodge Durango, whose sales soared 59% in October and up 50% for the year. The Ferrell ads started Oct. 5.
This is reminiscent of the car sales boom sparked by the “The Italian Job,” which is the 2003 heist movie with Mini cars in a starring role. Product placement executive Brad Brown of Brown Entertainment in Los Angeles negotiated with Paramount on behalf of BMW, which owns Mini. Brown recalls the movie got 32 cars and two mechanics to modify and maintain the cars vehicles for the grueling shoot, though no money changed hands.
“The new Mini-Coopers were being introduced and dealers were just taking orders but the film’s popularity caused an increase, so car production was raised to meet this demand,” recalls Brown, who then was at Davie-Brown Entertainment.
Says the third edition of book “Marketing To Moviegoers”: “Because the cars were selling briskly and already were in short supply, there was no promotional investment in ‘The Italian Job.’ The Paramount Pictures release generated a robust $106.1 million in domestic box office in its remake of a 1969 film.”
Ferrellís company Funny or Die shot the current Dodge car commercials and collected a lot of footage. “There are 70 ads for the Durango that we will all have to watch,” writes Elizabeth Durand Streisand in Yahoo Movies. “Anchorman 2” premieres Dec. 20.
Related content:
- Ron Burgundy Responsible for Huge Increase in Car Sales
- Ron Burgundy and Chrysler Appear To Be ‘Match Made in Heaven’
Leave a Reply