F1: The Commercial

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Rumor has it that ‘F1: The Movie‘ had a production budget of around $300 million. But marketing and distribution costs must also be factored in, and modern blockbusters seems to budget double the production cost plus $100 million. Just to break even ‘F1: The Movie‘ has to do three-quarters of billion dollars in ticket sales.

So movie producers went all in on commercial tie-ins and product placement to offset costs. Gatorade, Doritos, Tommy Hilfiger and even Mickey Mouse are scrambling to hitch a ride on the blockbuster hit of the summer.

Take for example this Heineken beer commercial. Nothing says ‘race car driver’ like a cold bottle of beer. Heineken isn’t fooling anyone with their 0.0% brew; nobody buys that crap! It’s just a way to circumvent alcohol advertising laws while ‘virtue signaling’ against drinking and driving.

Gosh, does the commercial ever look cool though!

Then there’s Kentucky Fried Chicken with its ‘F1 Two-Piece Original Recipe Chicken Box Box Box Meal‘ which is clearly geared at professional athletes depicted in the film. Maybe the product doesn’t rally make sense in the context of the movie, but you have to applaud the marketing firm that came up with $7 fill-ups.

For those who don’t know, when an Formula 1 team wants its driver to come to the pits, they command ‘Box! Box! Box!’ three times in succession. Having the APX Grand Prix car zip to the drive-thru window is just genius.

Sure, we criticize the blatant commercialism sullying what would otherwise be considered ‘art’ yet the Demaras Racing family will definitely plunk down an extra $20 to get our popcorn served in a little plastic APX-GP replica helmet on opening night.

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