Chapter 74 The Romantic Encounter and the Final Hand in Hand
Pepsi-Cola and Burger King have finally decided to join forces. From now on, all drinks in Burger King will use Pepsi-Cola products.
Two brands with the second largest market share have joined forces to challenge the leaders in their respective fields.
This kind of strategic cooperation between large enterprises must be widely advertised on TV, so that the KPIs of marketing managers can be seen well and their results can be achieved during the year-end evaluation.
Although I don’t know what effect such an advertisement will have on the sales of the two companies, Ronald was spotted by the two companies because of his Burger King commercial, and they invited him to shoot this "engagement" commercial.
Because it was a collaboration between two companies, the cost of placement was shared between them, so Ronald could only give advice to the actor representing Burger King, while the actor representing Pepsi had his own plans.
"Are you going to ask that actress to appear?" Maguire, the creative director of the advertising agency and Ronald's old friend, is also responsible for half of the production of this advertisement.
"Lea Thompson is better." Because it was a temporary project, Ronald wanted to find actors he had worked with before. Leigh Thompson's acting skills were more natural and fluid, and Elizabeth Shue had already gone to Wesleyan College to attend college.
"Lea Thompson no longer accepts this kind of advertising business," said Eddie, who once served as her agent. "She now has a very good prospect in the film industry. Jaws 3D will be released soon, and she has been offered a role with Tom Cruise.
Sri Lanka co-stars in 'Step by Step' and will no longer advertise fast food and carbonated drinks."
"Then... why don't you contact Elizabeth Sue?" Ronald still liked to work with experienced people. Sue had acted in several Burger King commercials, and she didn't need to get used to it when she was caught temporarily.
Elizabeth Sue immediately agreed to star in the new version of the commercial. She just needed to make money to meet various social expenses in college. Being able to perform in this kind of commercial not only makes money, but also makes her a social celebrity in the school.
"So should we meet romantically, or should we eventually hold hands?" Creative Director Maguire, still wearing a male suit, asked aggressively to the male director of Pepsi-Cola's advertising service provider.
"Although this is not the first time our two clients have cooperated, I still prefer a romantic encounter. After all, this is an advertisement targeted at the youth market."
"I disagree. You also said that this is not the first time that the two companies have cooperated. There are many consumers in the audience. They will laugh out loud when they hear that the two brands that have cooperated before have a romantic encounter.
"
Ronald looked at the magazine and ignored the quarrel between the two directors. The creative directors of two multinational companies, in this kind of cooperation project, both wanted to compete for dominance.
Their differences are simple. This advertisement was shot using an anthropomorphic method. A young man wearing a Pepsi uniform and a young woman wearing a Burger King uniform represent the brand image and a romantic love respectively, representing the two large companies.
Strategic cooperation.
So should we film their romantic encounters (meet cutes) or their final holding hands (together at last)?
These are two terms in romantic comedies. Romantic encounter refers to the scene where the hero and heroine meet for the first time. They must be arranged in a meeting scene that is either interesting or embarrassing, so that the two people can discover each other by looking at each other. A certain trait resonates with you.
The final hand-holding is the final ending of the romantic comedy. The hero and heroine either get married, or live together, or finally date. This is what American audiences like most: "They live happily together afterward."
"What do you think, Ronald?" Maguire asked Ronald after arguing with the other party to no avail. The creative director hired by Pepsi-Cola also looked over.
"How about you both compromise and openly admit your relationship to your friends. Anyway, this is not the first time you have cooperated. It's just that you lack a strategic agreement. This advertisement is mainly to tell the world that the two of you are finally together. Isn't it?"
The two directors exchanged opinions and agreed with Ronald's idea.
A few days later, Elizabeth Sue came to the Los Angeles studio. After putting on her Burger King uniform and hat, she met Ronald.
"Hi, Lisa. How is college life at Wesley College?" Ronald was very happy to see her.
"I have transferred to Harvard."
"Oh yeah? Congratulations. Should I say congratulations?" Ronald was a little surprised when he heard that the little girl went to one of the three best universities in the United States. It seems that she is really a very smart girl.
"I accept your congratulations. Although there is a transfer agreement between Wesleyan College and Harvard, it still requires applications and multiple rounds of interviews. Moreover, my advertising shooting experience added a lot of points when I applied. Thank you, Ronald.”
"You deserve it. Is the actor from Pepsi here? His name is Andrew." Ronald was very busy and turned to ask his assistant.
"Come on, come on." A tall American handsome guy with slightly long hair and a baby face came to the set. It was Andrew McCarthy, the Pepsi commercial actor.
He is a little different from the average American handsome guy. He doesn't look like an athlete or a social man, but rather a bit of a nerd, but his temperament is obviously that of a rich kid, with a college style cultivated in a college preparatory school.
"Hello, Ronald. Rob Lowe often talks about you to me. He says you are a great director." Andrew McCarthy took the initiative to extend his hand to Ronald.
"Hello, Andrew," Ronald shook hands with him, "I'll be here when the time comes."
Andrew McCarthy and Ronald's old acquaintance, Rob Lowe, who played the second brother "Soda" in "The Kid", completed the filming of another movie "The High School Student".
Ronald heard something from Eddie about this movie. "The High School Student" is a sex comedy. Jonathan, played by Andrew McCarthy, and Skip, played by Rob Lowe, are two college students who share a dormitory.
Jonathan has been bullied by Skip, who teases him in various ways. Skip also asked Jonathan to do all kinds of outrageous things in order to join the most popular fraternity in the university. The condition he proposed was to let Jonathan pick up a beautiful woman and end it My own virginity.
Finally, Jonathan went to the bar, accidentally hooked up with Skip's mother, and had a long-lasting love with her.
This kind of sex comedy for male teenagers is originally a kind of exploitation film, but the difference between this film is that "Orion" invested five million, and Skip's mother is played by the British beauty Jacqueline.
Starring Bisette.
Having played the sexy and glamorous Duchess Andrei in "Murder on the Orient Express", Ronald was subconsciously jealous of McCarthy, who had a sex scene with her.
What was in the studio was a set for the movie "Mother and Daughter", which just met Ronald's requirements. It was a small southern-style wooden house with a small step outside the white wall.
Towards the main entrance.
After the busy lighting and positioning, Ronald began to stare at the camera and watched the entire rehearsal for the last time.
"Action!" Ronald began the first shot.
"We have something to tell you." Elizabeth Sue sat with Andrew McCarthy on the wooden steps. After she said a word, she looked at McCarthy lovingly.
"There's progress," Ronald thought to himself. During the official filming, Elizabeth showed good line skills and a natural emotion. Compared with her previous filming of Burger King's Christmas commercial, her acting skills were significantly improved.
.
The camera began to move to the left, and then slowly approached the two young people.
"We can't keep this secret any longer."
"Tsk, there is no emotion in this line." Ronald felt that Elizabeth's performance completely surpassed McCarthy's. If the gap was too big, it would look inconsistent on the TV screen.
Fortunately, it was a TV commercial and it was a night scene, so the audience didn't pay much attention to the actors' facial expressions. There was no need for Ronald to interrupt and start over.
"So now it's time for everyone else to know," Andrew McCarthy said to the camera.
The close-up performance was okay. McCarthy showed a hint of shyness when facing the beautiful Elizabeth, which greatly satisfied Ronald. He squatted next to the camera and watched the two people's performances motionless.
"Burger King has switched to Pepsi." Elizabeth Sue finally told the "secret" they wanted to tell the world. When she said this line, her expression showed that a girl wanted to tell all her friends about her relationship with a handsome boy.
expression.
"My acting skills have really improved a lot since I went to college." Ronald thought to himself.
"So we end up together?" Elizabeth said to McCarthy.
Andrew McCarthy paused for a second and said roughly, "Together in the end."
This pause was good, maybe he learned it in an acting training class, but the expression still made people feel very embarrassed, not at all like the way a man and woman in love look when they see their lover.
"Cackle" Elizabeth was amused by this pretentious pause.
"Cut!" Ronald stopped the filming. This unexpected improvisation was unexpectedly good. At least neither of them expected the other's reaction, so their own reactions were very natural.
Ronald shot a few more takes, and finally chose the first one in the editing room.
"Although McCarthy's performance may not be the best in the series, it is full of emotions and natural reactions. His improvisation was beyond my expectation, and Elizabeth's reaction was also very immediate."
"Okay, you are the director." Maguire and Pepsi's creative director both nodded in agreement.
Add a Pepsi cup with a lot of ice water outside, and a super close-up shot of the Burger King burger model rotating and hitting each other. Finally, the Burger King theme song ends. Ronald edited all the samples and took out two copies.
The master tape was handed over to the two creative directors for approval.
"Why did Burger King use Pepsi?" Ronald asked Maguire, who was trailing behind.
"Don't you know? Pepsi has launched a comprehensive offensive and defensive war against Coca-Cola. Not only does it have a strategic cooperation with Burger King, they also spend huge sums of money to hire the most popular pop musicians to shoot advertisements."
"who is it?"
"MJ? Have you seen his moonwalk? After it was shown on the TV station, girls all over the country screamed for him." Maguire also showed a rare smile like a girl.
“How come Pepsi is so rich all of a sudden?”
"They have always used this strategy. At the same price, Pepsi has more capacity than Coca-Cola. In terms of marketing, they are also willing to spend money on big stars to shoot advertisements. That's why they can get the market share second only to Coca-Cola. Maybe
Did they discover Coca-Cola's weakness?"
Maguire gives Ronald a minimalist marketing lesson.
"Things are cheaper, there are more advertisements, but the sales volume is not as good as Coca-Cola?" Ronald also came to a simple conclusion in his mind.
When he returned to the apartment, he called his accountant Lawrence, "Hey, Lawrence, what do you think of Coca-Cola's stock? Can I increase my position with my recent income?"