For $200, Mike Myers, this word comes from the Latin root “plagiarius”, which means “kidnapper.”
By Burbanked on Jun 11, 2008 in Movie Marketing 101, Movies, One-Sheetery, TV | 792 views |
If the old adage is true that there are no original ideas in Hollywood, then it would certainly follow that there are no original marketing ideas, either. A good friend of mine who happens to be something of a TV game show expert (and just try to convince me that we don’t need more of those around) tipped me off today about a seemingly subtle design element found in Mike Myers’ The Love Guru one-sheet that - well, I’ll go ahead and say it - has clearly been ripped off from the genius marketing brain of none other than the legendary game show host Gene Rayburn:
Of course, the Guru poster uses the Floating Logo Head™ to replace the “O” in “love”, as opposed to the game show mark in which the “O” has seemingly imprisoned the Floating Rayburn Logo Head™. It seems obvious that Rayburn is attaching a much deeper meaning here about the nature of love, commitment and truth, suggesting that a “love amateur” might feel “trapped” in an infinite “circle” of inadequacy, selfishness and paranoia. It’s actually quite moving when you think about it.
This is in contrast to the marketers of The Love Guru who are simply trying to say, “Hey, Myers’ head looks like an “O”! Har!”
Dedicated screenwriting 101 here: From an interview with Harrison Ford on the MTV Movies Blog in which the inevitability of another Indiana Jones movie is mentioned:
How do I get out of this? I love going to the movies with my boys, opening up their minds to the great pleasures of cinema and all that, but this is a hard one. Please help me: do I suck it up and just go, or can anyone out there provide me with a plausible, kind-hearted, permanent way out? (
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Carlo Conda | Jun 11, 2008 | Reply
I thought you were going to point out that Mike Myers is making the same face as he did as Dr. Evil.
Burbanked | Jun 11, 2008 | Reply
I’d be more impressed if he was making the same face as Gene Rayburn.
Ray | Jun 11, 2008 | Reply
I’d be more impressed still if he was making the same face as Gene Rayburn after his death.
This monstrosity is on my radar as worst film of this summer … and that’s a pretty tall order.
Liz | Jun 12, 2008 | Reply
Everything about this movie looks terrible, right down to the concept. Everything. They even put that damn midget in it.
Craig Kennedy | Jun 12, 2008 | Reply
Thanks, now I have the Match Game theme stuck in my head and it’s going to be there ALL day.
Now if only I had one of those long microphones…
Burbanked | Jun 12, 2008 | Reply
Microphone envy, Craig?
Too too Badeenie | Jun 12, 2008 | Reply
I love game shows. Movies rip off everyone.
Megan | Jun 13, 2008 | Reply
I agree with Liz. Why goddamn it why?
Big Bomb | Jun 16, 2008 | Reply
Gene Rayburn is much closer to divinity than Myers