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This movie brought to you by Kentucky Fried Chicken

Filed under: Imported

Blast-Off Girls is an ultra-cheap but surprisingly entertaining '60s rock movie directed by the king of chintz, Herschell Gordon Lewis (Blood Feast, 2,000 Maniacs). Someday I'll go into greater detail about the story of sleazy rock promoter Boojie Baker and his top band, The Big Blast. Right now, though, I wanted to focus on a pioneering bit of product placement found halfway into the film.

The segment begins when our poverty-row mop-tops stop their psychedelic frolicking long enough to get some lunch.

Boojie's assistant, Gordie (played by a funny actor named Ray Sager) goes in to negotiate a deal on the meal, and look who he meets:

GORDIE: Hey, man-- do you serve fried chicken?

COL. SANDERS: Do we serve fried chicken? Woo-eee! We do serve fried chicken!

Gordie trades a concert by the band for free meals all around (which he then sells to the guys for a buck apiece).

Of course, the shots of the band are secondary to extended takes of Gordie working on a chicken leg like he owed it money:

The segment ends with a grease-fuelled freakout, with the Colonel's bucket prominently displayed. (And speaking of his bucket, is it just me or does it look like Sanders is exposing himself?)

Blast-Off Girls was released in 1967, when it was still unusual to see any kind of real product label in a movie. One can only speculate what kind of arrangement was struck between Lewis and KFC. Considering the movie's budget, it may not have been much more than Gordie's free-lunch deal.

Speaking of product placement, my good friend Dewey Webb did a piece a few years ago on the person who originated the practice, none other than Joan Crawford-- go read "Pepsi Dearest."

And believe it or not, Herschell Gordon Lewis is still around and even has a website all about himself. Described as "the world's best-known copywriter" (name the second-best), the site's main page asserts, "Nobody has written more books. Nobody has written more articles. Certainly nobody is more respected." And nobody else ever filmed a school play and then passed it off as a kid's movie, either.

Posted by Steve Monaco at April 25, 2003 2:59 AM

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