Hungry for the Quest? Mmmm...chicken.
 

I've been noting a big increase in LOTR endorcements lately. Some good, some not so good, and some gag worthy. "Hungry for the Quest" is a Kentucky Fried Chicken commercial advertising there new LOTR themed meal. I think it's discusting(the commercial not the food) Also Pepsi has been using LOTR in magazine adds. I want to hear peoples opinions on the subject...do you like all these endorcements, and what others have you seen? I hate to see such a good movie be patronized like that.

This year I've only seen the commericals for the movie, the video game, and Duracell batteries. The battery one shows a little boy playing with LotR action figures and a flashlight, and goes on to say how Duracell was the official battery used by the filmmakers. At least I think it was Duracell. Some kind of battery, anyway.

It was Duracell. I have a mixed opinion about it: I like all of the strictly movie-related publicity, and I must admit I liked the fact that Burger King was giving away LOTR toys in their Kid's Meals before FOTR came out. But it's kind of gone overboard with all of the "Duracell- the only battery used by the makers of LOTR", and stuff like that. I guess I could say that I like to see LOTR being publicized, but not having it be associated with various products.

If it helps promote respectable products, that's fine. But there is a limit.<P>I actually think it's rather amusing to be able to flick through a catologue, come to the TV/video section, and see scenes from Fotr and TTT on the screens. That's a good way of using Lotr for promotion. But I don't think it should be used for KFC. It's entirely unrelated. At least TVs have a connection with films.

And the store has probably just released something LOTR too. The thing that got me was the Pepsi adds. "The citrus smooth taste of Middle-Earth" and stuff like that for their 7up.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I actually think it's rather amusing to be able to flick through a catologue, come to the TV/video section, and see scenes from Fotr and TTT on the screens. That's a good way of using Lotr for promotion. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>Well, I must admit, I love that. But "The citrus-smooth taste of Middle-earth" is more than a little over the top.

I just saw one! For Pringles-they have some sort of contest where you can win stuff. Descriptive, I know. I'm just so talented at that stuff!

"The citrus-smooth taste of Middle Earth"?? You're joking, right?<P>Sadly, I think I already know the answer to that question.<P>I guess advertising of this kind was really sort of inevitable. I mean, when you get a movie with as much widespread appeal as The Lord of the Rings, of course the advertisers are going to want to get in on it. I just can't help wondering what Tolkien would have said had he lived to see Aragorn on the side of a tub of fried chicken.

In many movies taking place in our time the various products are usually <I>in</I> the movies in order to promote them.<P>Think of Frodo & Sam in Emyn Muil drinking Elvish <I>miruvir</I> from Pepsi bottles.<P>Or think of pipe-weed; "Gandalf - the Marlboro Wizard"...<P>Galadriel shampoo - gives your hair that Elvish feel...<P> I'd better stop.

What about Legolas conditioner? 'Use this conditioner and even the Mines of Moria won't cause a tangle!!!' <BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> I actually think it's rather amusing to be able to flick through a catologue, come to the TV/video section, and see scenes from Fotr and TTT on the screens. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Yeah, I like that...although many of the most recent ones have Johnny kicking that drop-goal instead... Oh well.<BR>I haven't seen any of those Pringles things, although some of my friends have mentioned them...<BR>And were there chickens in Middle Earth? Just wondering...because in the TT EE a chicken floats past Merry.

Don't forget Lembas: One small bite can fill the stomach of a grown man. <P>If you listen to the cast commentary on the FotR EE you can hear Orlando Bloom poking fun at that line. <P>I still haven't seen any more commercials than the ones I mentioned. I count myself blessed.

the pringles one contains about 8 full grown men in a tent of some sort eating pringles and saying 'my precious' to them before they eat them. you can win a trip to hollywood for you and 8 friends to see a special screening of the film. woohoo.<P>and also i have seen tubs for pick n mix sweeties in woolworths wih pictures of Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf and, amusingly, Saruman on them. they cost £2.99 each *shakes fist*

Oh, yeah. The Pringles stuff. I forgot about those. We had a can of Pringles a while back that had an Aragorn picture from ROTK on it. And a number to enter the contest that Failivrin mentioned. I think I've even heard of gummy candies shaped like LOTR characters, but that may just be rumor or garbled memory. Which leads us to an important point: even though it gives LOTR publicity, I think Tolkien would have hated all of the media hype and publicity. But most of us on the Downs live in the Western hemisphere, where things like this happen. And mollecon has a point- at least we didn't see posters on the walls of Moria promoting McDonald's Big Macs.

So far I have seen or my friends have seen LoTR ads for pringles, duracel, burger king, some kind of chocolate bar, a win-it card in a box of cookies, and of course the lovely kfc. The kfc one really got to me. First off, I hate kfc for their promotion of greasy, digusting, unhealthy food and for the amount of chickens slaughtered each day just for their establishment. But anyway, when I saw the kfc ad I thought it was a preview at first then it said .."at kfc" or something. I yelled at the tv! I was so angry that something as precious and beautiful as LoTR had been sold to kfc of all places. Do the people running the ad campaign have no shame? What about Tolkien's children? Do they approve such promotion of un-related products? What do the actors think e.g. Viggo about having their face slapped on a greasy chicken container which will only be thrown out anyway causing huge waste. Anyways, sorry to go off on such a rant but the amount of advertising these days drives me a bit crazy sometimes. It's like the world only cares about money and how much more can we squeeze out of this movie. Cat in the Hat and the Hulk were big examples of this. They are, however, terrible films so it's almost like it the people working on them covered their behinds by making so many ad placements. Lord of the Rings does not need this. I find the more it is sold out to products, the less integrity it has. By the way, the gummies do exist, they are on tolkientown.com I think.<p>[ 2:11 PM November 30, 2003: Message edited by: hobbit punk ]

It is one of the reasons why Tolkien would have opposed the idea of making the films, I think.<P>And yes, I too shake my fist and clench my teeth whenever I see one of these adverts. Not that it particularly bothers me or anything but I feel obliged to show that I am against it.<P>On a slight tangent, I also agree that KFC is a brutal company.

Wasn't it Elrond that said "Maybe that's why everything tastes like chicken"

I really think that some people are desperate to get money, and that is why they're commercializing LotR.

"I just can't help wondering what Tolkien would have said had he lived to see Aragorn on the side of a tub of fried chicken."<P>Hehe, that was good and I agree. I saw one for some car. Ringwraiths chasing it... highly boring!<P>Forever the only Jack

Realistically, these adverts. are making alot of money for this film...like alot of moolah. <B>hobbit punk </B> I agree that I hate the "Hungry for the Quest" meal idea, but I do have a soft spot for the Colonel's chicken. I live for chicken...favourite food, but you're right, it is too greasy. <P><B>Eomer of the Rohirrim </B> I often wonder what C. Tolkien and his familly think about these movies...and the adverts aswell. I wonder to, if PJ tried to get him to help with the movie...

To all those who have been questioning what Tolkien's family would think of the movies, I found a small article on that I clipped from the newspaper a while back (we're talking two years ago, before FotR came to theatres). It's from the Toronto Star (I think), from December 10th 2001.<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR> Breaking his slience over the movie <I>The Lord of the Rings</I>, the son of fantasy writer J.R.R. Tolkien says he is not critical of the way film has interpreted his father's classic books. REports suggested that Christopher Tolkien was so unhappy about how the films of the trilogy had been made that he had fallen out with family members. But in a statement issued in London, Tolkien said while he had doubts about the viability of the projects, these were personal opinions. Tolkien said on the weekend his position is that <I>The Lord of the Rings</I> is unsuitable for transformation into visual dramatic form. "On the other hand, I recognize that this is a debatable and complex question of artm and the suggestions that have been made that I 'disapprove' of the films, whatever thier cinematic quality, even to the extent of thinking ill of those with whom I may differ, are wholly without foundation," he said. J.R.R. Tolkien sold the film rights to his fantasy books in 1969, leaving his family and those in charge of his estate with no control over the movies. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><P>That was basically the whole article, but I thought any of you who are interested in what Tolkien's family has to say about the enterprise might enjoy reading it.<P>I was always very much in favour of the movies; from the moment I found out about them I thought they were a great idea. I still think that they bring LotR to lots of people who otherwise wouldn't really have ever discovered it. I have friends who never even considered picking up Tolkien who are now obsessed with it - with the *books*, not just the movies - because they were exposed to it through the films. <P>But then sometimes, like when I see the kind of shameless advertising we've been talking about on this thread, I think somebody really owes J.R.R. Tolkien an apology.

Come on folks, this kind of thing is inevitable with films like this. I wouldn't waste time getting too bothered about it. Just don't buy the products if you don't approve.<P>As for Tolkien's family, I read on ToRN that Tolkien's great-grandson (Royd Tolkien?) plays a soldier of Gondor in RotK.

Advertising may have been inevitable, but I don't agree that Tolkien would have forseen it and been unhappy with the idea partly for that reason...I don't think advertising was the same when he was alive, it's gone mad now. That's the great thing about the BBC- they don't have ads every 15 mins for 3 mins!!! <P>Wow, Saucy, I didn't know that...well they can't all be annoyed about it then.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>As for Tolkien's family, I read on ToRN that Tolkien's great-grandson (Royd Tolkien?) plays a soldier of Gondor in RotK. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE> Really, that's great! I'm glad one of them got into the spirit.<P>I knew that C. Tolkien probably wouldn't like his fathers masterpieces being made into mindless movies(don't kill me, hear me out) But I'm still wondering if PJ ever tried to track him down and get his help. The movies would have had the authentic Tolkien seal on them, plus C. would have gotten involed and made sure nothing too terrible was put on a public screen.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>As for Tolkien's family, I read on ToRN that Tolkien's great-grandson (Royd Tolkien?) plays a soldier of Gondor in RotK. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Curiosity takes the better of me again: which one of JRR's children is Royd's grandaddy?