"Fast & Furious" and Chrysler & Charger, an article . . .

[Mike DC]

  
I'm not sure if this ever got posted on DC.com when it was published in May.  I don't remember it.  

It's talking about the relationship between the F&F movies and the resurgence of Mopar/Charger's modern muscle image.   Basically crediting the F&F series with doing more to put the muscle back in Mopar's image than anything else has in decades.  (It's a not a Mopar advertisement but rather an independent article by an outside party.)


http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/Dodge-Fast-And-Furious-050913.aspx


A quote:

These unseemly character associations—the model was recently the ride of sexy bad guys in the comedy Identity Thief—has branded the Charger with the very particular rogue, rebellious characteristic that Steve McQueen brought to Ford's Mustang. It's a lack of this same Han Solo, Batman "bad good-guy" connection that has made Chevy's Camaro-Transformers tie-in a bit of a high-profile dead fish.

"This is by far the most an auto brand has received from an auto-centric movie, dwarfing GM's Chevy Camaro exposure in Transformers," —Eric Smallwood, Senior Vice President of Front Row Marketing Services and Front Row Analytics told brandchannel. Front Row Analytics—which does valuations for product placement and entertainment marketing noted the Charger brand was onscreen for over 12 minutes of Fast 5 and notched more than 50 occurrences.Front Row's propriatary valuation formula puts the total to-date value of Charger's role in Fast 5 at $62,056,646. That's US box office only, not including DVD or digital distribution. Dodge's Challenger's role in Fast 5 was worth another $2,982,189.

[DC_1]

Interesting...good read

[Ghoste]

It is interesting and makes points I hadn't considered, thanks Mike.

[bull]

Back when Transformers came out there was some talk (possibly worry) around here that GM would outpace Chrysler in the category of big screen recognition with its new Camaro. Judging by the numbers laid out in that article though it seems Dodge made the better marketing choice in aligning itself with F&F. While there are plenty of other muscle car brands represented in F&F the main Dom character has become synonymous with the Dodge in general and the '70 Charger specifically.

You may consider this a stretch (I don't) but what does this tell you about Chrysler's big concern with brand recognition and things like the crosshairs grill? It tells me the concern is unfounded. Until recently the company has all but ignored its heritage in the public marketplace, choosing to rely heavily on its modern lineup. I see it most in everyday life from the clothing store that has piles of Camaro and Mustang t-shirts to choose from to the department store which offers bowtie and blue oval posters, coffee mugs, air fresheners, etc. While Chrysler may lead the pack in Hollywood it still pales in comparison to GM and Ford when it comes to street level commercialism. And let's not get into the aftermarket parts debacle, although there's been much improvement despite Chrysler's best efforts to undermine itself there too.

[Mike DC]

                                 

Until recently the company has all but ignored its heritage in the public marketplace, choosing to rely heavily on its modern lineup.

[dyslexic teddybear]

                                 

Until recently the company has all but ignored its heritage in the public marketplace, choosing to rely heavily on its modern lineup.

Sums up the problem nicely.