Cast Away is a 2000 film directed by Robert Zemeckis
about a FedEx employee named Chuck Noland, played by Tom Hanks, that is
stranded on an island in the middle of the ocean. Hanks’ character is a hard
working man that is forced to travel a lot. However, one of his flights crashes
in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Noland is able to save himself from the
wreckage but find himself stranded on an island. The movie follows the time
that he spends on the island, and eventually in a search for companionship, he
befriends a volleyball that washes to shore in a FedEx package. Noland names
the volleyball Wilson after its brand, and their relationship grows as he tries
to escape the island.
Wilson’s
product placement in Cast Away is one of the most famous examples of product
placement in movies, but it isn’t true product placement as Wilson didn’t
actually pay to put their brand in the movie. Zemeckis also did not pay Wilson
for the use of their product. Robert Zemeckis states that “there was absolutely
no product placement. We weren’t paid by anybody to place products in the movie.”
(legendsrevealed.com) Wilson was actually chosen when the screenwriter, William
Broyles Jr., was walking on a beach and found a Wilson volleyball washed up on
the shore. Despite this, both Wilson and Cast Away benefited from the product
placement.
In
an article by Michael L. Maynard, chair of the Department of Advertising at
Temple University, and Megan Scala, a PhD candidate at Temple University, called
Unpaid Advertising: A Case of Wilson the
Volleyball in Cast Away, Wilson received about eleven minutes of screen
time. This is the equivalent of over twenty one commercials of thirty seconds.
Maynard and Scala estimate that approximately one hundred million people have
seen Cast Away either in theaters or at home. This equates to between 1.85
million and 11.5 million in advertising dollars. Wilson did not have to pay for
any of this advertising, so they benefited greatly from the use of their
product.
Wilson
also benefited from the connection made to the volleyball in the movie. In Cast
Away, Noland grows more and more attached to the volleyball. Along with Noland,
the audience develops a deeper attachment for the volleyball as well. This is a
deeper attraction than the audience would normally develop than watching a
generic commercial. The audience connects with Wilson as a friend, which makes
them more likely to choose the product at a later date. As the movie is rated
pg-13, it appeals to the age range that is most likely to play volleyball.
Without paying for any advertising, Wilson appeals to their target audience and
creates a strong attachment to them.
Cast
Away benefits from putting Wilson in their movie as well. Wilson gives an ethos
argument of credibility to the movie. Having a big brand name allows the
audience to assume that this is a quality movie. If they can have a big brand
like Wilson, then they must have the money and capability to produce a good
movie. It also makes the movie seem more believable. Wilson is the most
recognized volleyball brand, so it makes sense that the volleyball is Wilson. In
Everything’s an Argument, the 6th edition, Lunsford and
Ruskiewicz state that “showing that you know what you are talking about exerts
an ethical appeal…” (26) The audience might have found it strange if the
volleyball did not have a brand or was a brand other than Wilson.
I
give Wilson four slurpees for its appearance in Cast Away. The movie did an
excellent job of creating an attachment to the volleyball. However, the
volleyball was never actually used to play volleyball. Despite this, I still
gave it four slurpees for the sheer exposure that the movie gave Wilson. It is an
iconic image from the movie, and this alone introduces a lot of people to the
brand. Wilson, the volleyball, benefits both the brand and the movie Cast Away.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1540-5931.2006.00282.x/full
http://legendsrevealed.com/entertainment/2013/04/19/did-fedex-pay-for-product-placement-in-the-film-cast-away/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-365iujWk8
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