The new “Fast & Furious” roller-coaster ride took over the iconic Hollywood sign on a mountain top, lighting up digital media with reactions as well.
Universal Studios Hollywood mounted the advertising stunt a week ago, projecting imagery from the blockbuster movie series at night. The Hollywood sign became a giant outdoor billboard visible across Los Angeles (actual photo above with the movie title “Fast & Furious” on the letter “W”.)
It’s a “stunt,” meaning a one-time event that’s unusual and not easily repeatable. In 2013, Universal mounted a publicity stunt floating a themed giant blimp over an awards show in Los Angeles to promote “Despicable Me 2.”
The Hollywood sign takeover generated significant news coverage on entertainment insider TMZ, Yahoo Entertainment, posts on Reddit and Instagram, and YouTube videos. Numerous TV news outlets also reported, given the visual is intriguing of briefly changing the face of a geographic icon. Hollywood and entertainment business news outlets also picked up.
The famed Hollywood sign, which sits at 1,700-foot elevation on Mount Lee above in what is called the Hollywood Hills, was created as a real estate promotion in 1923. It drummed up interest to sell vacant lots for home building.
Fast-forward to today, there is some criticism that the Hollywood sign is being used as an advertising vehicle, but influencer Landon Reid of And_Mayhem_Ensued on Instagram disagreed with those detractors. “The Hollywood sign has always been an advertisement,” Reid pointed out, referring to its history.
The roller-coaster ride is a form of licensed merchandise, with the merchandise being the “service” of a theme-park ride that charges admission. So, not all movie merch is physical products. Other movie merchandise services include themed sailing cruise experiences, arena shows and exhibit tours. “Fast & Furious” generated another merch service with a restaurant at Universal Studios Hollywood.
Today’s roller-coaster ride is an all-Universal entertainment affair, and NBC/Universal is owned Comcast. Sprawling theme park Universal Studios Hollywood licenses the movie intellectual property from sibling major movie studio. Universal Pictures originates the 11 “Fast & Furious” street-racing series of theatrical films. Those flicks have grossed over $7 billion in boxoffice (there’s a 12th spinoff movie too).
In 2004, the chamber sought trademark ownership, but the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office rejected the application. A raft of objectors warned granting intellectual property ownership to a geographic landmark would set a bad precedent.
The Los Angeles landmark is today administered by the non-profit Hollywood Chamber of Commerce. The chamber declined to say how much Universal Studios Hollywood paid (with the theme park presumably handling expense of image projection).
While the Fast & Furious stunt required permission because of altering the Hollywood sign and its purely commercial use, copyright does not confirm ownership of intellectual property rights for simply showing locations in non-commercial uses. For example, nobody controls exclusive imagery rights to the Statue of Liberty or the Eiffel Tower, which are landmarks like the Hollywood sign.
No past similar takeovers of the Hollywood sign are remembered, though the landmark has appeared in the background scenes of numerous movies, TV shows and the like. It’s also been used in unauthorized marketing ploys. For instance, actress/influencer Sydney Sweeney flashed some sultry and unauthorized photos of herself in January at the Hollywood sign to market her personal brand of brassieres. Sweeney appears to have not suffered any repercussions.
As a passive background prop, the Hollywood sign has been “seen in everything from ‘Seinfeld’ to ‘Beavis and Butt-Head Do America’ to ‘The Day After Tomorrow,’” says a Deadline.com story. “It’s been featured in promotional photos for Paramount’s 1992 film ‘Cool World,’ ‘The Muppet Movie,’ and band photos for Fleetwood Mac and Blondie.”
The Hollywood chamber also administers the Hollywood Walk of Fame, which embeds large terrazzo-and-brass stars in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood. Each tile is devoted to an entertainment person or icon, and it’s a tourist attraction. The chamber charges recipients $85,000 for being honored. Hollywood itself is a district of the city of Los Angeles.
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