What's your gut reaction? "What in the world is that?" "I'm not sure exactly what it is, but that looks like some sort of martial artist." "Is that a ninja?" "Hey, is that AskaNinja?" "I'm not sure what that picture belongs to, but ninjas are cool!" Or, "Are you crazy, that's Snake Eyes!"If your gut led you to the last answer, you obviously are a child of the 80s. It means that you spent too many weekends hiding G. I. Joe figures all over your backyard and throwing them out of your treehouse with your Dad's handkerchief tied to them like parachutes. It means that this picture was released for you.
And me. I'm a child of the 80s who reveled in G. I. Joe, and, as a member of that generation of toy buyers, I know that Snake Eyes was the coolest of the figures. Releasing that character's design as the first offered to the public a year and a half before the movie comes out means that the makers of the new movie obviously know how we viewed Snake Eyes. It means that they are marketing their product to those of us in our 30s, not to teen-agers alone. And it means they expect us to take our sons to see the movie.
Not a bad marketing plan. It worked with Transformers last year. That movie was expected to be successful, but not as successful as it became. I believe that success came from members of my generation who wanted to see the movie out of nostalgia and dragged our kids along with us. Who knows if the formula will be successful again. But if it is, it will only be a matter of time before the My Buddy movie comes out. After all, that movie has built-in marketing. How many of you are already singing the commercial jingle?
9 comments:
TOO FUNNY!
I had a cat named Buddy when I was in grad school, and I always sang that jungle to him. I know, creepy cat lady. =)
oops I meant jingle, not jungle
The picture is awesome. Ray Park is awesome. But two notes. One, they've cast Marlon Wayans as Ripcord. Marlan Wayans! Two: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296054,00.html
I now have the My Buddy tune running through my head, and I'm looking for a hammer to help me get it out. Thanks, Andrew.
Oh, and I should say that my first reaction to the image was, "Cool, Shinobi!" But this is very cool too. I can't wait to see Storm Shadow.
Yes, Ray Park is awesome, but I wonder if he's getting tired playing characters where you barely see his face and he can't talk much.
I also think the Global Task force thing is interesting. When I first came across the picture, I found that fox news article and noticed that they were decrying that GI Joe is now a real "world task force" hero. Doesn't have the same ring.
And Andy, I'm looking forward to Christopher Eccleston as Destro. The Doctor as a metal-faced bad guy!
Darn you, Andrew! Not only do I have the theme song parked in my head, there are spotty visuals to go along with it. There was a treehouse involved, I believe, and a Bigwheel. Buddy creeped my out even in the 80's. I predict that any forthcoming My Buddy movies will be horror sequels in the Chucky franchise. "Big Ugly Cousin of Chucky" perhaps.
Ah, you should look at the next entry where I actually found the commercial on youtube. May the commercial jingle never die!
yeah, I got to that next. Thanks, really. ;)
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