Scouting in the Movies

jjudd

Revise

With Pixar's new movie "Up" being released in two months and it's advertizing prominently displaying a "Wilderness Explorer" as one of the main characters, I have to wonder why he couldn't be a Boy Scout instead? What a media opportunity this could be! Here we have a big budget movie targeting the very youth market our programs are designed for, and portraying a "scout" character.

Maybe he still can be?

Product placement works, as any advertizing agency will tell you. We need to get our brand out there using the advertising mediums that kids these days are exposed to. Golden opportunities like this are rare, and we can't afford not to take advantage of them.

Granted, any product placement involving Scouting would need to be tightly controlled to conform to our standards. Many of these controls already exist at National so this shouldn't be a big hurdle, and the potential benefits are astronomical.

Maybe there's still time to work with Pixar and capitalize on this?

Idea # 575Recruiting

Comments

Bryan Pocock 7 months ago

Sounds like there are two issues.
1. Taking an active approach to product placement in movies.
2. Controlling how the product placement is used.

For the first issue, you can buy anything in this world for money. In Hollywood, money talks and placing our products, symbols, etc. in a movie would simply require our paying enough for it.

Unfortunately, the BSA isn't very popular in Hollywood because of its positions on several issues. Example, Steven Spielberg, who is an Eagle Scout, doesn't actively promote Scouting because it would make it difficult for him to work with lots of people in the film industry (including gays, atheists, etc.). So, even if we set aside budget for paying for product placement, those with creative control aren't always friendly to our cause.

On the second issue, if we've paid enough and contracted adequately, there should be some possibility of controlling how our trademarks are used in the movie. The problem, though is that those in the film industry see themselves first as artists and second as business people. So while they understand the underlying business drivers, they still hate losing creative control of their work. The jargon is "selling out".

stephen.emerick 7 months ago

We actually were in talks with Disney/Pixar about having an active promotional role with UP!, and the branding/marketing team at Disney was really excited. That it at least, until it went up their flag pole and reached the legal department, at which point it got declined due to our membership/leadership policies. We are currently in talks with Sony Pictures, among other movie studios, to figure out ways of incorporating Scouting, and the BSA, into future films and/or the promotions around them.

Marie Rice 5 months ago

It surely would be great to be able to leverage product placement for our brand.

Nothing galls me quite as much as seeing some version of a BSA program displayed not quite correctly, i.e. the Subaru commercial about a young boy in some sort of scouting uniform vest (looks suspiciously like a GSUSA vest) who runs his car in a pinewood derby...

bhendley 5 months ago

A few years ago I worked with the Extreme Makeover- Home Edition guys on a house for one of the Cub Scouts in my district. I don't want to say anything bad... but those guys do what they want to sell a picture or movie, and what we stand for or want promoted does not mean too much to them. I would be VERY cautious working with a movie company, as we might not like the finished product.

And, yes, I think a Boy Scout starring in a movie would really help elevate us in the eyes of the public.

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