– 4th July 2018 –

Summer is finally here and, with record temperatures reported at both Seesaw London and Seesaw LA offices, people are taking refuge in the cool, air-conditioned screens of cinemas and theaters across the country. With 2018 being the Summer of Sequels there is something for everyone to enjoy – and for brands to benefit from.

The summer’s most eagerly anticipated film, which everyone at Seesaw has been waiting for since the original’s release in 2004, is Disney’s Incredibles 2. As it is summer time, what is a more relevant partner than sun cream as Incredibles 2 has partnered with Coppertone to promote their kids’ range, with bottles featuring the Incredibles characters.

Incredibles 2 is proving a big hit with partners; Kleenex has also tapped into the film franchise to promote their wet wipes and Trusted Care bundles packs, featuring Incredibles 2 graphics. The latter allows consumers to #unmaskyourincredible with the softest every day tissue to prevent redness, allow consumers to feel super confident and of course…Incredible.

Most notably Incredibles 2 have partnered with McDonalds to feature on the boxes of Happy Meals and on toys inside. This partnership marks the return of Disney to McDonalds Happy Meals for the first time since 2006 when they ended their partnership due to the studios health concerns.

Another roaring summer smash is Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom with plenty of brands keen to partner-up with the sequel to 2015’s global box office smash – which grossed $1.6 billion. One of biggest partners to come on board was Amazon who, ahead of the release, delivered the “largest Amazon delivery” in history to The Grove outdoor mall in Los Angeles. The massive parcel was on display with several air holes and emitting threatening growls, ensuring shoppers take notice and walk past with caution in the days to follow. The film’s stars, Chris Pratt and Bryce Dallas Howard, were at The Grove to open the parcel, revealing a life-size T-Rex bearing its teeth. Many were encouraged to ask the question “Alexa, ask Jurassic World what’s in the box?”

The cinema experience wouldn’t be complete without popcorn or snacks so it is no suprise that Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom partnered with film-fan favourite: Doritos. It will be the first time the snack brand partnered with Universal, renaming certain flavours with dinosaurs from the film.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom has also partnered with Dr Pepper. The soft drink brand produced four special-edition collectible cans featuring Jurassic “hero” dinosaurs including T-Rex and fan-favourite: Blue.

Another company looking to  take a bite out of the dinosaur franchise was previous film partner and American Ice-Cream favourite: Dairy Queen. Following on from their success with the 2015 release of Jurassic World they produced additional released Jurassic-themed blizzards.

If dinosaurs and superheroes aren’t your thing, then the other big release this summer is Mamma Mia: Here we go again!. Following on from the hit musical of 2008, the original cast – and some new faces – are back in what will be the sing-along hit of the summer. Looking to tap into a piece of the feel-good fun is Pinkberry frozen yoghurt. Pinkberry launched In Los Angeles in 2005 as the company that reinvented frozen yoghurt brand. Over a decade later they have 27 quick service restaurants and around 2900 locations in 28 countries. Pinkberry are the perfect treat to take with you for your cinema treat whilst singing along to all the ABBA tunes in the next installment of Mamma Mia!

Finally, a summer of sequels wouldn’t be complete without Tom Cruise doing the impossible in Mission Impossible: Fallout, which has continued its product placement and partnership with BMW. BMW has been part of the franchise since 2011 with BMW vehicles integrated throughout the films including a BMW Vision Dynamics concept vehicle in Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol in 2011 as well as the BMW M3 in Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation in 2015. This time, Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) gets to grips with a classic BMW, motorcycle and makes full use of the impressive functions of the M5.

With the summer well under way now, Seesaw have most definitely got lots of films to keep us busy in the evenings. Having worked on many of this this year’s hot films, we’re excited to see how our clients will appear on the big screen. Meanwhile, we have already started working on next year’s films, so if you want to be a part of 2019’s blockbusters through product placement give us a call on +44 208 343 2022 or email [email protected].

– 16th May 2018 –

This year’s Marvel films have already been record-breaking. With Black Panther being the highest-grossing solo superhero film ever and Avengers: Assemble being the highest-grossing superhero film ever, Marvel films have cumulatively grossed just under $3 billion so far this year… and this will surely go higher.

One of the big winners so far is Lexus who, in an attempt to appeal to a younger audience, partnered up with Black Panther to promote their LC500, both on and off screen, with product placement. Not only can you see the Black Panther himself surf on the roof of the car (dont try this at home!) through the streets of Busan, his sister is behind the holographic steering wheel in Wakanda, thousands of miles away.

Avengers: Infinity War is said to be Marvel’s biggest promo campaign yet, with partners such as Coca-Cola, Quicken Loans and Infiniti, it is said to have a combined media value estimated at over $150 million. The partners all have an on-screen presence in the film, including Quicken Loans Rocket Mortgage who can be seen in the opening scene.

To build on their placements, each partner created several television spots inspired by – or featuring – the film’s characters and themes; once again proving how much brands see the value and the benefits of partnering with a Marvel property.

While Marvel films usually skew to younger demographics (and their parents), one Marvel film is definitely appealing to the older 15+ audience. That’s right, the man in the red suit and mask is back in Deadpool 2, which is hitting our screens this week. While traditional partners take advantage of the family-friendly Marvel titles; Deadpool, and his anarchic way of dispensing justice, opens the door for less obvious brands to make their big on-screen product placement debut.

Deadpool 2 will see partnerships with Mike’s Harder alcohol and Trolli sweets. The brands are not what comes to mind when you think of a superhero film, in the same way that Deadpool is not your typical superhero. The brands’ advertising campaigns stay true to Deadpool’s dry sense of humour and sarcasm, with Trolli making ‘tiny hands’ into sweets, with reference to a hilarious scene in the first film. Meanwhile Mike’s Harder produced a television spot, limited edition cans, St Margarets bar take-over in LA and numerous online content.

The latter relating to the audience’s meme-culture, where more and more youngsters spend their time on scrolling through social-media looking at entertaining pictures and videos. Partnering up with an anti-hero such as Deadpool allows these brands to relate themselves to younger audiences, audiences that often use sarcasm to joke around with their peers.

Deadpool is not the last we will see of  Marvel this year, as Paul Rudd dons his spandex suit in Ant-Man and the Wasp whilst Tom Hardy swaps DC’s Bane for the Marvel anti-hero to beat them all Venom. With both films likely to push Marvel closer towards the $4 billion mark at the box office, it’s not only the studios that will be smiling, but the brands who appear alongside their characters will be too.

– 21st March 2018 –

Now that awards season is over, we look forward to an exciting year of new releases… or perhaps an exciting year of familiar releases.

As 2018 is shaping up to be the year of the sequel, reboot and remake, it is isn’t just the film studios betting on their success: the proven formula of the sequel means brands will be looking to get in on the action through product placement and association promotions.

This year there will be something for everyone: from animation to action; musicals to Mary Poppins – with sequels from: Incredibles (2), Mammia Mia! (Here we go Again), Johnny English (3), Mission: Impossible (Fallout), Wreck-It Ralph (Ralph Breaks the Internet), Deadpool (2), Jurassic World (Fallen Kingdom) and Creed (2). The longest gap between sequels in cinema history could be Mary Poppins Returns, with Emily Blunt who is practically perfect in every way, which hits our screen 54 years after the original’s release.

2018 isn’t just the year of the sequels, with recent changes afoot in Hollywood, cinema audiences will be treated to a female reboot of Oceans Eleven in the form of Oceans 8. Sandra Bullock leads an all-female cast of con artists including Cate Blanchett, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, Anne Hathaway and Rihanna. Anne Hathaway also appears as a con-artist in the remake of the 1988 Steve Martin and Michael Caine classic: Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, where she and Rebel Wilson take the title roles in The Hustle.

Hollywood can always bank on the sequel and remake as they have a proven formula that audiences are familiar with and are more likely to go and see. Brands are more likely to come on board as they see the first film’s proven success and it is therefore less of a gamble.

Mission Impossible has been drawing audiences in ever since Ethan Hunt first hit the big screen in 1996 – though Mission Impossible itself was a reboot of the popular television series from the 1960s. The film was peppered with brands including Apple (naturally), Mercedes and Jean Paul Gaultier.

Fast-forward to Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation, the fifth and most recent film and franchise, we audience saw a surge in brands, including TCL, Airbus, Microsoft, Dell and most noticeably BMW, who went on to create a global campaign to promote their association with the film.

These are impressive partnerships that the Mission film franchise has managed to build and maintain, thanks to grossing over $2 billion at the box office to date. With Mission: Impossible – Fallout scheduled for release on July this year, based on the set images, it looks like the relationships with BMW and other brand partners are sure to continue.

This year also sees everyone’s favourite treasure hunter, Lara Croft, back on the big screen in a reboot of Tomb Raider, with Alicia Vikander in the title role that made Angelina Jolie a superstar. Once again, a variety of brands jumped on board to take part in the full-on, adrenaline-thrilled adventure. Most noticeably, Volvo has prominent on-screen product placement with Lara Croft behind the wheel of the recently launched XC40, the brand has also promoted their association with the film across a variety media platforms. The original Lara Croft: Tomb Raider grossed over $200 million at the box office, whilst the 2018 film has grossed over $130 million in the first 4 days, proving that reboots reap rewards.

This year audiences will be treated to a fair number of original films too, with the gripping Russian-spy thriller Red Sparrow starring Jennifer Lawrence (currently in theaters), the gamer’s delight that is Ready Player One and the eagerly awaited Neil Armstrong inspired movie First Man, from La La Land director Damien Chazelle. The Freddie Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody will have its fair share of product placement, as the music icon lived an extravagant lifestyle. If the title-song is anything to go by, he will surely be drinking Moët & Chandon!