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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
 Posted - 07/02/2007 : 21:51:29
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This is pretty cool, actually. DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- Over the weekend, 7-Eleven Inc. turned a dozen stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience stores of "The Simpsons" fame, in the latest example of marketers making life imitate art.
Kwik-E-Mart
A Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven has temporarily become a Kwik-E-Mart as a tie-in to "The Simpsons Movie."
Those stores and most of the 6,000-plus other 7-Elevens in North America will sell items that until now existed only on television: Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knockoff of Slurpees. |
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
Edited by - HalfMooner on 07/02/2007 21:53:57
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JEROME DA GNOME
BANNED
2418 Posts |
Posted - 07/02/2007 : 22:15:56 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by HalfMooner
This is pretty cool, actually. DALLAS, Texas (AP) -- Over the weekend, 7-Eleven Inc. turned a dozen stores into Kwik-E-Marts, the fictional convenience stores of "The Simpsons" fame, in the latest example of marketers making life imitate art.
Kwik-E-Mart
A Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven has temporarily become a Kwik-E-Mart as a tie-in to "The Simpsons Movie."
Those stores and most of the 6,000-plus other 7-Elevens in North America will sell items that until now existed only on television: Buzz Cola, KrustyO's cereal and Squishees, the slushy drink knockoff of Slurpees. |
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Yeaa, Apu
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What a man believes upon grossly insufficient evidence is an index into his desires -- desires of which he himself is often unconscious. If a man is offered a fact which goes against his instincts, he will scrutinize it closely, and unless the evidence is overwhelming, he will refuse to believe it. If, on the other hand, he is offered something which affords a reason for acting in accordance to his instincts, he will accept it even on the slightest evidence. The origin of myths is explained in this way. - Bertrand Russell |
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Zebra
Skeptic Friend
USA
354 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2007 : 11:44:52 [Permalink]
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From: http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah5973.shtml
| For 20th Century Fox Film Corp. and Homer's creators at Gracie Films, the stunt is a cheap way to call attention to their movie, since 7-Eleven is bearing all the costs, which executives of the retail chain put at somewhere in the single millions. |
Good deal for Fox. Free advertising. Something for nothing. Etc.
7-Eleven executives loved the idea. They had surveys showing a strong overlap between their customers and fans of the show -- both tend to be young and male. It sounded like cash registers ringing.
...Bargerhuff predicted extra sales to Simpsons fans will more than offset the cost of the promotion and create new customers for the chain. She also said the chain is prepared for crowds and will have extra security and clerks at the Kwik-E-Marts. |
Music to 7-11's ears. The news coverage is nice free advertising, too. (Ditto this discussion.)
| The Fox/7-Eleven deal is an example of a practice called reverse product placement. Instead of just putting products prominently in a movie or TV show, fake goods move from the screen to reality. |
"Life imitates art far more than art imitates life." -Oscar Wilde
"Life doesn't imitate art, it imitates bad television." -Woody Allen
(Spoken like people who don't get out much.)
| But they won't find Duff beer, the brand chugged by Homer Simpson. The movie will be rated PG-13, and selling a Simpson-themed beer "didn't seem to fit," said Rita Bargerhuff, a 7-Eleven marketing executive. "That was a tough call, but we want to make sure it's considered good, responsible fun." |
That's what happens when you let the marketing people decide what products not to offer all those young men who are overlap consumers of Simpsons and of 7-11. D'oh!
The promotion, however, is not risk-free. The proprietor of Kwik-E-Mart is a man named Apu who speaks in a heavy Indian accent. He is based on a manager Groening encountered while shopping at a 7-Eleven in Los Angeles nearly 20 years ago and plays to stereotypes about convenience-store operators and Asian immigrants.
Many of 7-Eleven's franchisees are Indian, company officials say, although they say they don't track exact numbers. Bargerhuff said they were "overwhelmingly positive" after hearing of the Kwik-E-Mart idea, but "it was not a 100 percent endorsement."
"There was definitely a concern of offending people," she said. "But they seemed to understand that 'The Simpsons' makes fun of everybody. The vast majority saw this as a great opportunity." |
My god. If they can't take a joke, and can't recognize the great marketing opportunity, they should just go back to their own country! [/sarcasm] |
I think, you know, freedom means freedom for everyone* -Dick Cheney
*some restrictions may apply |
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HalfMooner
Dingaling
Philippines
15831 Posts |
Posted - 07/04/2007 : 18:30:06 [Permalink]
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Thanks for all of that, Zebra! What a brilliant marketing coup for both companies. For years now, ignorant local bastards, including myself, have been referring to the local "Gas Food Cheaper" convenience store/gas station as the Kwik-E-Mart.
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“Biology is just physics that has begun to smell bad.” —HalfMooner
Here's a link to Moonscape News, and one to its Archive. |
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7-Eleven chain opens a dozen Kwik-E-Marts
