The Homa Files

Excerpted from BusinessWeek, “Audi: Putting Its Models in Movie Roles”, by Ron Grover, November 27, 2008

* * * * *

These are rough times for car companies.  So what’s a car company to do? Hit the movies, that’s what. 

The hot car in Hollywood, these days, is an Audi. In the past few years, it’s hard to go to your local multiplex without seeing that four-ring insignia staring back at you. In this spring’s blockbuster Iron Man, the carmaker had three vehicles in starring roles, including the superhot Audi R8 speedster. And when the action film Transporter 3 opens on Nov. 26, car chase fans will get to see a nearly two-hour commercial for the Audi luxury sedan A8 as it outruns police, outmaneuvers a truck by riding on two wheels, and flies through the air to land on a speeding train—all without so much as losing a hubcap.

* * * * *

Product placement isn’t exactly new in Hollywood, but you have to hand it to the automaker, which has gone into overdrive to go gear-shift to gear-shift with better-known brands that for years have hogged much of the screen time. Audi has done its best to crash just about every awards party in town. They have a fleet of sleek cars at the ready to lend to stars and directors.

It’s all part of the Audi plan to target mega-events, especially as traditional media splinters and audiences dissipate. Earlier this year, the carmaker spent the requisite $2.7 million for a Godfather-spoofing Super Bowl spot, which shows a man waking up in his bed to find the sawed-off grille of a rival luxury car—and ends with the apparent perpetrator speeding off in an R8.

* * * * *

Rumors have always abounded that companies pay hefty sums to get their cell phones, soft drinks, computers, and cars onto the screen. As for money changing hands, Audi steadfastly denies it pays for script time but acknowledges it will occasionally spend hefty amounts to “help promote any flick with which it’s associated.”

Edit by DAF

* * * * *

Full article:
http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/nov2008/tc20081126_092112.htm?chan=top+news_top+news+index+-+temp_companies

* * * * *

Want more from the Homa Files?
Click link =>  The Homa Files Blog

* * * * *

This entry was posted on January 9, 2009 at 6:41 am and is filed under Autos - Travel, Mktg - Promotion. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.