"THE LORAX Used To Sell SUVs"

[genjy]

Universal's new Dr. Seuss movie about environmentalism teams up with an SUV manufacturer. For real.

Are You ****ting Me? THE LORAX Used To Sell SUVs

Sometimes I feel like satire is dead, and that's because everything in this world is so insane and screwed up that making fun of it feels redundant. I mean, imagine if someone took The Lorax, Dr. Seuss' strong pro-environment, anti-greed book, and used it to promote a gas-guzzling SUV? I mean, that's the stuff of Saturday Night Live sketches and cynical, dystopian cyberpunk novels.

Right?





That is real. Not a parody. Not a joke. That's a Mazda SUV driving through a Seussian truffala forest.

The CX-5 gets 'decent' mileage for a vehicle of its class - ie, a class of vehicles that is too big and too dirty in general - but even still, the idea that a vehicle with a combustion engine would be getting the Lorax seal of approval is simply offensive. I'm not saying that these vehicles shouldn't exist, simply that it's hideous to have one of the strongest pro-environment stories being used to sell SUVs.

It's dumb advertising, if you ask me. It hurts the message of The Lorax in a big way, and it makes Mazda look like hypocritical creeps. The whole thing is tone deaf and ugly, and will strike a bad chord with anyone who is familiar with what The Lorax is about.

http://badassdigest.com/2012/02/23/a...-to-sell-suvs/ (URL censored)

[justdrive88]

[AHFlynn]

hoyyy...dr seuss is rolling rolling in his grave.

[emmettlodge]

InB4...
Oh **** it i dont even know whats going to happen in this thread.

[Turbio!]

The CX-5 gets 35mpg highway, which is good for any vehicle. I still think that using the Lorax to advertise anything is kind of counter to the good Doctor's whole point, but let's not pretend this is any worse than using him to advertise, say, a Corolla that gets the same damn fuel economy.

[R3Drew]

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
This thread is off to Great Places!
This thread is off and away!

[Pf3il]

target the kids, make them want to ride in a mazda, and then the parents will have to buy them?

[DISI 2.3T]

LOS ANGELES — The Lorax, perhaps the most famous anti-industrial crusader from children's literature, is getting support from companies that are willing to go green.

With a host of commercial tie-ins – albeit for eco-friendly products – Universal Pictures will begin promoting "Dr. Seuss' The Lorax" this month. The animated movie, set for release March 2 in North America, is about a creature who "speaks for the trees" and fights rampant industrialism in a retelling of the Dr. Seuss children's book first published in 1971.

The studio's nearly 70 launch partners – including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and Whole Foods Market – are seeking to latch onto the Lorax's nature-friendly message.

Movie tie-ins once meant that kids got plastic toys thrown into their fast food meal containers. But Universal is taking a new approach. The studio, owned by Comcast Corp., is being selective about its partnerships, with a focus on planet-saving activities like planting trees and conserving energy – things that aren't usually the focus of children's movie campaigns.

The EPA, for instance, is using the Lorax character to help promote low-power appliances that carry the Energy Star label. Hilton's DoubleTree hotel chain is sponsoring a trip for four to eco-tourism mecca Costa Rica. The Hortus Botanicus in Amsterdam is creating a Lorax-inspired route through its garden, which is home to a number of endangered trees.

Household products maker Seventh Generation plans to put "Lorax Approved" labels on millions of items, including a liquid detergent bottle made with recycled paper.

"Our partners needed to legitimately be in the environmental space," said Universal's president of partnerships and licensing, Stephanie Sperber. "The brands and messages had to ring true to the Lorax story."

IHOP hopes to appeal to parents and kids with a Seussian breakfast of green-colored eggs and ham, a repeat of its successful tie-in with 20th Century Fox's "Horton Hears a Who!" four years ago, as well as distribute seeds for planting.

Universal will no doubt get a big attendance boost among families looking for movies that pack a message and from all the cross-sponsorship.


EPA administrator Lisa Jackson said the agency hopes the movie will help children understand the link between saving energy and saving the environment.

"It's important to connect these dots between energy savings and efficiency and a cleaner environment," she said in a statement sent to The Associated Press. "Bringing together the Lorax and Energy Star is a great venue for doing that."

The film was produced by rising star Chris Meledandri, whose Illumination Entertainment has helped turn Universal into a solid competitor in animated movies with its hit "Despicable Me" in 2010.

He is renowned for making hyper-efficient movies, too. Like "Despicable Me," this movie was made for less than $70 million, under half of what competitors like DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc. spend on animated blockbusters. Even so, "Despicable Me" sold more than $540 million in movie tickets worldwide.

"A very important part of the theme of the film is about taking responsibility for the world around you," Meledandri said in an interview. "So when we made the film, we looked at every conceivable place where we could take personal responsibility."

And if all the marketing partners weren't enough, the National Education Association's Read Across America will encourage teachers across the country to read the book, "The Lorax," to children on the film's opening date, which happens to be Dr. Seuss' birthday.

[Red Rum]

It's disgusting the Lorax obviously gave into stinking greed and corruption there. I hope they have a fun time cruising in their ugly, makeshift, cross dressing, station wagon.

[Red Rum]

The CX-5 gets 35mpg highway, which is good for any vehicle. I still think that using the Lorax to advertise anything is kind of counter to the good Doctor's whole point, but let's not pretend this is any worse than using him to advertise, say, a Corolla that gets the same damn fuel economy.

Then advertise a freaking Schwinn or Asics

[DISI 2.3T]

Aww, looks like someone is a little peeved. It's SO CUTE!

[whitejeep1989]

Then advertise a freaking Schwinn or Asics

Hmmm....
I wonder what the environmental impact is for making and distributing bikes and sneakers? I'm sure it's less than the impact of thousands of CUVs, but how much less?

[Turbio!]

Then advertise a freaking Schwinn or Asics

You mean Schwinn and Asics bikes and shoes that are made, by and large, in China - truly a wonderland of environmental cleanliness and responsibility - and shipped to the US on freighters burning bunker fuel?

Cleaner than an SUV? Probably. But probably not much.

[AZGolf]

The studio's nearly 70 launch partners

What do you want to bet the studio already covered the whole production cost of the movie on endorsements alone? Every ticket sale is probably going to be pure corporate profit.

[Red Rum]

You mean Schwinn and Asics bikes and shoes that are made, by and large, in China - truly a wonderland of environmental cleanliness and responsibility - and shipped to the US on freighters burning bunker fuel?

Cleaner than an SUV? Probably. But probably not much.

Oh so you're trying to tell me if everybody just switched to walking and biking we wouldn't notice the environmental difference then?

[kindofblue59]

It's hysterically inappropriate--although any tie-in to a book explicitly against rampant commercialism is, let alone a car that "isn't as bad as a regular SUV."

What's next?

[leitmotif]

The CX-5 gets 35mpg highway, which is good for any vehicle. I still think that using the Lorax to advertise anything is kind of counter to the good Doctor's whole point, but let's not pretend this is any worse than using him to advertise, say, a Corolla that gets the same damn fuel economy.

This. We can thank Hollywood for not only bastardizing everything they do, but also for digging up 40+ year old classics and rehashing it and trying to squeeze a buck out of it because they're too lazy and uncreative to make anything new.

On a side note: Battleship the movie? Are you kidding me?

[VarianceVQ]

It's disgusting the Lorax obviously gave into stinking greed and corruption there. I hope they have a fun time cruising in their ugly, makeshift, cross dressing, station wagon.

Oh, so it's you again.

---

On topic itself: This is a big deal...why?

[Turbio!]

Oh so you're trying to tell me if everybody just switched to walking and biking we wouldn't notice the environmental difference then?

Of course we would, if that actually happened, which it won't. But the Lorax, if he existed, would be just as pissed off about Chinese factories as he would be about SUVs. Probably a bit more, since his bag was protecting the natural environment and habitat, not fuel consumption.

[DISI 2.3T]

On a side note: Battleship the movie? Are you kidding me?

Can you imagine if they made a movie version of Operation. Man! I could totally see that as a horror flick.

[Turbio!]

This. We can thank Hollywood for not only bastardizing everything they do, but also for digging up 40+ year old classics and rehashing it and trying to squeeze a buck out of it because they're too lazy and uncreative to make anything new.

Exactly. It's a ****ing joke that the Lorax - who's basically a cross between Julia Butterfly Hill and Wilford Brimley minus the beetus - is being used to sell anything. But if he's being used to sell any mass-produced good to begin with, I don't think the fact that the CX-5 sits three inches higher than other 5-door hatches is any more counter to the message of the book than anything else he might be used to sell. It's all a bastardization.

On a side note: Battleship the movie? Are you kidding me?

Srs. What the ****? I've sunk many a battleship and destroyer, and I do not recall any goddamned aliens playing a role in any aspect of that game.

Though admittedly, it would have ruled if "You sunk my battleship!" was pronounced in the voice of Liam Neeson.

[Turbio!]

Can you imagine if they made a movie version of Operation. Man! I could totally see that as a horror flick.

Isn't Saw 1 through X basically that?

[leitmotif]

Coming to theaters in 2013: Chutes and Ladders the movie! Ok, seriously, I bet they'll do it.


Or, they can stay on the Dr. Seuss thing and do food network branded green eggs and ham TV dinners.

[todras]

[Turbio!]

Coming to theaters in 2013: Chutes and Ladders the movie! Ok, seriously, I bet they'll do it.


Or, they can stay on the Dr. Seuss thing and do food network branded green eggs and ham TV dinners.

No, no, Snakes and Ladders. Starring Samuel L. Jackson. "Mother****ing snakes on my mother****ing ladder!"

Actually, **** yeah, I'd see that.

[leitmotif]

No, no, Snakes and Ladders. Starring Samuel L. Jackson. "Mother****ing snakes on my mother****ing ladder!"

Actually, **** yeah, I'd see that.

[DISI 2.3T]

Candy Land would make one hell of a movie to trip to.

Hmm, what else.

Barrel of Monkeys - Horror Flick
Beyblade - Horror Flick
Boggle - Horror Flick
Bop It - Porn
Connect 4 - Porn
Guess Who? - Porn OR Horror Flick
Hi Ho! Cherry-O - Porn
Hungry Hungry Hippos - Horror Flick
Mouse Trap - Horror Flick
Mystery Date - Porn
Ouija - Horror Flick
Parcheesi - Porn
Pictionary - Porn
Risk - Horror Flick
The Game of Life - Horror Flick
Trivial Pursuit - Porn
Trouble - Horror Flick
Twister - Porn
Yahtzee - Porn

[Turbio!]

Candy Land would make one hell of a movie to trip to.

Oh my god, yes.

I don't even wanna think about a Scrabble movie.

[AZGolf]

This. We can thank Hollywood for not only bastardizing everything they do, but also for digging up 40+ year old classics and rehashing it and trying to squeeze a buck out of it because they're too lazy and uncreative to make anything new.

40+ years? Apparently your wife didn't drag you to The Artist. Try 90+ years, and it's likely to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

[Turbio!]

40+ years? Apparently your wife didn't drag you to The Artist. Try 90+ years, and it's likely to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

Man, **** that ****. The Artist sucked. A movie isn't a good movie just because it uses 100-year-old cinematic techniques and overacting. There's a reason movies started using sound.

[leitmotif]

40+ years? Apparently your wife didn't drag you to The Artist. Try 90+ years, and it's likely to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

You have a point, 90 years is more accurate. Actually my wife and I don't go to the movies. We wait for Netflix and watch at home without kids or idiots to ruin it, plenty of booze an a pause button.

[whitejeep1989]

How many of you who are outraged by the sullying of the Lorax's fine name, are okay with whipping a motherf@cker's a$$ at the mall when shopping for last minute Christmas presents? How many of you have purchased a new mattress on President's Day? Abe Lincoln died so we can get a good night's sleep? There are bigger sins being committed in the names of people that have actually lived than what's being perpetrated against the Lorax.

[Turbio!]

How many of you who are outraged by the sullying of the Lorax's fine name, are okay with whipping a motherf@cker's a$$ at the mall when shopping for last minute Christmas presents?

Keep the Christ in Christmas or get my foot up yo' ass, mother****er!

[warren_s]

Can you imagine if they made a movie version of Operation. Man! I could totally see that as a horror flick.

A movie adaptation of Monopoly is currently underway.

[WAR_GTI]

40+ years? Apparently your wife didn't drag you to The Artist. Try 90+ years, and it's likely to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

midnight in Paris was much better

Remember the college humor/funny or die Minesweeper parody trailer...