Gordon, Hendrick Motorsports Pass On “Talladega Nights”

Product Placement Plays Integral Part In “Talladega Nights”

NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon and his Hendrick Motorsports race team “passed on participating” in Sony’s “Talladega Nights,” which hits theaters today, because the script’s “industrywide inside jokes were a little too close to comfort for the driver and his sponsors,” according to the AP’s Jenna Fryer. Gordon: “We presented it to DuPont and our other sponsors talked about it. ... After seeing the script, there were some moments in there that I questioned because of the type of image I like to put out for myself and DuPont and our sponsors" (AP, 8/3). NASCAR team owner Felix Sabates “wondered whether some moviegoers who aren’t racing fans might believe what happens on the screen takes place at the track” (CHARLOTTE OBSERVER, 8/4).

FREE RIDE: The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER’s Gail Schiller noted that none of the brands associated with the movie “had to pay integration fees for their placements — an increasingly common occurrence as brands seek more prominent roles in entertainment content.” Sony Pictures Exec VP/Worldwide Consumer Marketing George Leon: “We needed to borrow their equity, too. Creatively, (the product placement) worked for the film. We benefited from it as well on many levels.” A Sony Pictures spokesperson said that the studio “never asks for integration fees on its films but instead seeks backend promotions” (HOLLYWOOD REPORTER, 8/3).

RAT PACK: In L.A. Martin Miller notes that in one scene, the title character’s alcoholic father, after being thrown out of Applebee’s, “retaliates by declaring that the restaurant ... has an active rodent population.” “Talladega Nights” director Adam McKay: “We couldn’t believe Applebee’s let us use that.” But Applebee’s Exec Dir of Creative Services Shannon Scott said, “The audience is sophisticated enough to see this is a Will Ferrell parody and that it’s all over-the-top and in good fun.” The restaurant also has an ad that runs during the movie. Scott: “This really is unprecedented. I’ve never seen someone go full screen in a big film like this. You can’t put a price on that.” Miller adds that while the “presence of NASCAR sponsors like Sprint and Old Spice lend an air of authenticity to the film, other companies were courted primarily to rattle the audience laugh meter.” The antagonist is a French driver sponsored by Perrier. In one scene a driver’s windshield is “pasted with a Fig Newton logo — one that not surprisingly obscures his vision and leads to a crash.” Kraft Foods spokesperson Laurie Guzzinati: “It was already in the script, and our Fig Newton brand team signed off on it” (L.A. TIMES, 8/4).

“Talladega Nights” Marks Reilly’s (r) Second NASCAR Movie

HERE, THERE, EVERYWHERE: In Newark, Matthew Futterman writes it is “hardly a coincidence that for the third consecutive summer, stock-car racing is featured on big screens across the country, or that NASCAR's drivers keep popping up everywhere from ‘American Idol’ to the soap opera ‘Days of Our Lives.’ The business that fashions itself as the savviest marketer in the sports industry is once again proving there are other ways to sell a brand of competition than simply buying billboard space or 30-second commercials.” NASCAR VP/Broadcasting & New Media Dick Glover: “NFL is the gold standard for sports in this country and baseball is the national pastime. We know we need to do what we can to become more a part of the day-to-day consciousness” (Newark STAR-LEDGER, 8/4). More Glover: “One of the ways to maintain (the sport’s growth and expansion) is to get involved in projects that appeal to a widespread audience, that really links-in NASCAR with pop culture” (CNBC, 8/3). NASCAR Managing Dir of Film, TV & Music Entertainment Sarah Nettinga: “The No. 1 benefit of doing movies like this is opening up our sport to a whole new group of fans. IMAX has its fans, and Herbie is a very well-known brand. ... Now we are opening up the whole Will Ferrell fan base” (CONTRA COSTA TIMES, 8/4).