The Barbie movie, which hits theaters Wednesday, is far from the only feature film to be inspired by a franchise or its creator. Over the past decade, luxury houses, car manufacturers and many others have adopted our screens.
Farewell to the extra roles, hello to the foreground. In the cinema, brands are no longer satisfied with product placement: Barbie (2023) by Greta Gerwig, in cinemas this Wednesday Ferrari (2023) by Michael Mann or House of Gucci (2021) by Ridley Scott, they now provide the raw material for films. The release of the feature film, starring Margot Robbie and Ryan Gosling, will give the Candy Pink brand and its parent company, Mattel, maximum marketing exposure around the world, following in the films’ footsteps. Lego (since 2014) that have taken over the screens.
“Emphasize values, a personality or a role”
“We still talk about product placement, but it has nothing to do with what we did a century ago. The public is so close to brands that this is no longer a problem.” Jean-Marc Lehu, a management specialist at Panthéon-Sorbonne University, told – that he would devote an entire film to the subject.
“The idea (from this kind of movies) is to highlight values, a personality or a role that the brand wants to give itself in society.”plentiful Géraldine Michel, Director of the Brand and Values Chair at the IAE Paris-Sorbonne. “People are seduced by these stories. Brands have taken the place of politics and religion, they create communities and films are a part of that. This is propaganda on a grand scale.”
Among the brands set to hit the big screen in the coming months, the most famous Formula 1 team could be at the Venice Film Festival in September. The author of heatMichael Mann is asked to present his film there Ferrari. American comedian Adam Driver plays the founder of the sports car manufacturer in the late 1950s when his company was on the verge of bankruptcy. The brand has already taken its first steps in the cinema Le Mans 66 (2019) by James Mangold, worn by Matt Damon and Christian Bale.
Saint Laurent becomes producer
The automobile is not the only universe to flirt with the seventh art. A decade after the House of Yves Saint Laurent saw its creator embody twice in the same year on screen, by Pierre Niney and Gaspard Ulliel, the House of Yves Saint Laurent became the first luxury brand to launch its own production company, Saint Laurent Productions, in the spring.
The idea is to produce films with big names. Already successful in terms of exhibition: his first work, the medium length Strange way of life (2023), directed by Pedro Almodovar, won an award at the Cannes Film Festival.
The Gucci family, which was still part of the Kering group, was entitled to their biopic. House of Gucci, featuring a five-star cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jared Leto… Ridley Scott returns with the assassination of the heir to the Italian house, sponsored by his ex-wife Patrizia Reggiani. The brand’s bags and accessories have appeared on screen countless times and featured actress Salma Hayek, also wife of Kering boss François-Henri Pinault.
Many films about brands are less glamorous and often follow the same pattern: tracing the epic and sometimes downfall of a genius entrepreneur. Steve Jobs (Apple) inspired two movies and Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook) was bitten The social network (2010) with Jesse Eisenberg. But less famous personalities also inspire, like the founder of McDonald’s (The founder2016) or those of blackberry (2023) is the centerpiece of a film that traces the rise and fall of an iconic 2000s brand and was presented at the last Berlinale.
Platforms are also involved
The genre has also developed into a lucrative market for platforms: on Amazon Prime Video, Air (2023) by Ben Affleck, starring Matt Damon, tells the story of Sonny Vaccaro, Nike’s sports marketing director, as seen on Apple TV+ tetris (2023) enables discovery “The Incredible Story of the Most Popular Video Game”.
The same platform promises to get in touch The Beanie Bubble“one of the most unusual American success stories”: the story of Ty Warner, the creator of “big-eyed comforters” Ty, a must in the children’s room.
