The ”Willow” blitz began in earnest last week, when, according to MGM`s advertising vice president Dick Porter, MGM rolled out ”the heavy guns and cannons.” A third 90-second trailer, utilizing recently completed action and special-effects sequences hit over 1,000 screens. There are more than 115 cuts, says Porter, sometimes two cuts a second, to show more of the film`s scope. ”A world is awakening,” booms the narrator. ”Heroes come in all sizes, but adventure doesn`t come any bigger than this.”
Thirty-second TV spots were aired on network, cable and so-called
”fringe” TV (anything but prime time on local network affiliates). ”We bought wherever the young programming is,” says Lorie.
A final poster, using the wording ”Heroes come in all sizes . . .” hit theaters right before release. The same art is being used in print advertising. This time Willow, Madmartigan and Sorsha`s faces are surrounded by other characters, all of them drawn in the style of an old-fashioned fairy tale.
THE FIRST SCREENINGS
MGM publicists finally started screening ”Willow” in early May, first for Time, Life and Newsweek, and then the key interview outlets. Kilmer, Davis, Howard, Lucas and Joanne Whalley (Sorsha) were made available in Los Angeles and then New York. They gave one press conference on each coast, plus a satellite conference beamed to 20 cities.
They were interviewed on ”The Today Show,” ”Entertainment Tonight,”
”PM Magazine,” ”Cable News Network,” ”HBO” and ”VH-1.” Stories in
”USA Today” and on the Associated Press wire blanketed the country. A free video featurette with behind-the-scenes interviews and footage was supplied to national TV stations. The next wave of publicity will be
”Willow”`s closing night showing at the Cannes Film festival, which will start the international ball rolling.
FUN AND GAMES
Leslie Cain of John Iltis and Associates, a Chicago public relations firm, has been working on Willow since last February. She had no trouble setting up window displays in book and record stores carrying ”Willow”
products, and a crossword puzzle contest in the Sun Times and on WGN Radio. Winners who submit correct crosswords receive tickets to a May 19 screening of ”Willow,” where ”Willow” soundtracks, board game, posters, and books will be given distributed.
”Everyone will walk away with something,” says Cain. ”It`s a $70,000 promotion, which is the most I`ve ever gotten in four years as a publicist.” ASK GEORGE LUCAS
Planning began in February for Lifetime Learning Systems` special 90-day educational promotion, the ”Make Your Dreams Real” contest, which reached 50,000 junior and senior high school art teachers in the United States and Canada, and 4 million students. A winner was selected from each grade, seven through twelve. On ”Willow`s” opening day Friday, the six winners and their teachers will fly to San Francisco to tour Lucasfilm, meet the creative staff and ask questions of Lucas.
The cable channel Nickelodeon will send a crew to shoot the event and will air it on the ”Rated K for Kids” show next Saturday. And Nickelodeon viewers will be invited to compete in their own ”Ask George Lucas a question” contest, mailing in questions to the station. Lucas will answer the six winners. According to Barrett, this kind of promotion helps MGM ”get to one of the difficult areas to reach, young people.”
SAY CHEESE
A period fantasy like ”Willow” doesn`t lend itself to the usual movie tie-ins and promotions, where products like beer are actually showcased within the film. In this case, Wendy`s, Quaker, Ziploc and Kraft are hoping, says Lorie, ”to capture the fancy of the American public.”
”There is more at stake than any other promotions I`ve been involved in,” admits Hein of MGM. ”These companies had family-oriented products with a broad consumer base. They`re wholesome and fit with the personality of the film. We could have gone with more, but we didn`t want to oversaturate.”
MGM worked in conjunction with promotion agency U.S. Communications, which helped coordinate the logistics of the huge national promotions, staggering them so they don`t hit the marketplace all at once. None of them preceeded the film`s release.
According to MGM`s Hein, it is the first time in Kraft`s 70-year history that the food giant has tied in with a motion picture.
Kraft`s CheeseFest 88 promotions kick off in May with a nationally delivered ”free-standing insert” slipped into Sunday newspapers, announcing free giveaways of ”Willow” collector items. In June, Kraft will distribute another insert plus in-store displays to tie in with the film. ”Willow” will be promoted on 10 million packs of Velveeta and in Kraft`s national TV ads.
Starting May 25, Wendy`s will embark on its six-to-eight week giveaways:
a series of four free ”magic” cups with a kid`s meal at 3,600 of its restaurants, to be advertised on network TV, in theaters, via character appearances at targeted restaurants, as well as tie-in sweepstakes with Tonka Toys.
Quaker Oats and General Foods won`t kick into gear until June and July. Quaker will distribute a 10-page glossy newspaper insert, along with in-store standees and ”in-pack” premiums (Quaker`s ”magic trick” box) in 16 million Cap`n Crunch cereal boxes. ”It`s the biggest promotion ever undertaken by Quaker,” says Hein, ”and will be advertised on Saturday morning TV.”
General Foods` Jell-O will distribute more than 2.1 million ”Willow”
activity books (free with purchase) in stores nationwide. A portion of each sale will be donated to the Children`s Miracle Network Telethon, set to air June 5.
Ziploc`s promotions will take off in August with back-to-school in-pack premiums in 5 million sandwich bag packages, including a free mail-in offer
(collect Ziploc`s six trading cards of ”Willow” characters!), and in-store displays throughout the country.
TOYS ON PARADE
Tonka Toys, in its first venture into movie licensing, will start advertising its 12 plastic action figures (targeted to children 4-12) on national and cable TV on top of the opening; more spots will follow in August, along with the first ads for accessories. TV buys for a castle playset will begin in September, with additional ads for all the toys scheduled for October, November and December-the big Christmas season.
Craft House`s crayon-by-number set and poster and pen set and two giant posters, appealing to children 5-13, will be on sale two weeks after the opening. Simultaneously, One-Stop Posters will distribute posters, buttons of six different characters and bookmarks aimed at teenagers and young adults 13-25.
Parker Bros. has been on the Lucasfilm bandwagon since ”Star Wars.” Its ”Willow” board game should sell to children between 6 and 12.
And that`s not all. Other ”Willow” merchandise will include painter`s caps, computer games, belts, belt buckles and suspenders, sheets, slumber bags, tents, comic books, foil balloons, T-shirts and sweatshirts, Halloween costumes, headwear, lunch kits, stickers, souvenir magazines, adventure games, underwear, and pajamas.
AND BEYOND
If you start getting tired of all the ”Willow” mania, you ain`t seen nothing yet. According to sources, the Disney/Amblin promotion blitz on director Bob Zemeckis` follow-up to ”Back to the Future,” entitled ”Who Framed Roger Rabbit?”, which will open June 24, may leave ”Willow” blowing in the breeze.
