What Can Be Any More American?
Nothing is more American then the
extraordinary story of The Blind Side.
This movie is based on a true account centered around America’s favorite past
time, football. The story follows Michael Oher from his impoverished childhood
to his adoption by the Tuohy family and finally when he was the top recruit and
first round pick for the Baltimore Ravens. Michael Oher was a stellar athlete
and was offered full ride scholarships to multiple schools for football. As the
schools went on marketing themselves to Michael, the movie did some advertising
of their own.
In 2009,
when The Blind Side was released,
Sony released a small handheld camera with which you can instantly record video
and put it onto a DVD. S.J., Michael’s best friend and younger brother, is
constantly holding this video camera. He uses this camera to film Michael Oher
at practice, training camp, and around the house. He then takes his Sony camera
and creates Michael’s recruitment video on an Apple laptop. At the time, this
camera was a new, hot item on the market and everyone wanted one. The film took
the camera to the next level by showing S.J. filming an incredibly talented
athlete who makes it to the big leagues. This is positive endorsing for Sony
because it passes along a message stating that through using their camera you
can create professional videos. The use of this camcorder also sheds light on
the economic status of Tuohy family.
The
Tuohy family took in a random boy from their daughters’ high school and made
him one of their own; only very affluent families can afford to do this. Their
money is shown not only by accepting Michael into their family and buying him a
Ford truck, Nike shoes, and Under Armor football gear, but also by their house
and the cars they drive. The entire movie is about football, but within the
story line the director shows multiple shots of BMW’s. According to Orange
Country register “brand-name
products and logos realistically
reflect
the landscape of everyday American life.” By showing BMWs it is saying that the BMW brand is a high
class car but not unattainable such as a Ferrari or Lotus. This is a great
endorsement for BMW because it shows the car has an affluent stigma attached,
but it is an attainable dream, which is directly relatable to Michael Oher’s
story.
In his high
school years Michael Oher was frequently filmed wearing Under Armor. Under
Armor became a big franchise in the 2000’s due to their dri-fit shirts that
football players wore under their pads to stay dry. In 2006 Under Armor began
to develop shoes. Since then Under Armor has combined with the NFL to create a
collection of apparel for athletes. The movie advertised Under Armor, until Michael
was offered positions by every college in the nation; then all of the clothing
portrayed in the film was Nike. Although Under Armor was shown throughout a
large majority of the film, this sudden shift in clothing was a very subtle
slap in the face to Under Armor. The change symbolizes that Under Armor is for
amateurs and Nike is for the professional players. This is still good
advertisement to Under Armor to get theor relatively new logo out in public,
but Nike stole the show towards the end of the film.
The Blind Side is a movie about
acceptance, love, honor and kindness. Having any brand recognition in this
movie is a complement because it is telling a true story about the football
player Michael Oher and explains his journey, shows his great talent, and
publishes his hardship. This will inspire children who are in his position, and
they will look up to Michael Oher, thus the subliminal brands of Sony, Under
Armor, Nike and dreams of BMW will begin and will soon be bought and worn in hopes
of becoming the next biggest thing.
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