If you go see the new thriller ‘Cry Wolf’ today, you will notice that Jon Bon Jovi’s
character drives a Chrysler Crossfire. Journalism teachers must be very well-paid these days. For the
corporation-hating cynics out there, zip it for just one moment — this is not your traditional paid product
placement. Where Lexus has recently proven itself to be the proverbial bull in a china shop with its
over-the-top consumer magazine product placement
blunderings, Chrysler is trying to be as graceful, careful and calculated as Catherine Zeta Jones sliding her
shapely self through the tenuous laser beam security grid in ‘Entrapment.’
Ah, I seem to have just captured your full attention…
Back to my original point, the presence of the Crossfire and a PT Cruiser in ?Cry Wolf? is actually
the result of the script winning the Chrysler Million Dollar Film Festival in 2002. Here?s where you
corporation-hating cynics can open the floodgates back up ? Chrysler required that screenwriters use one of its
vehicles in at least a portion of the script.
You have to give Chrysler props for creativity, at least. Now, not only has Chrysler given itself
implied kudos for raising above your run-of-the-mill, generally abhorred product placement schemes, it has also
raised its profile within the artsy independent film crowd. With the launch of this movie in theaters nationally
as the ultimate goal of the competition, Chrysler now has itself a potential blockbuster on its hands ? one that?s
pushing a Crossfire and PT Cruiser, no less. As a partner in the endeavor, Chrysler will receive a minority share
of any profits, although the company declined to name numbers.
Speaking of creativity, another script entered into the contest showcased the versatility of the Chrysler PT
Cruiser. How did it do that, you ask? The script chronicles the evening of a couple driving a PT Cruiser who hits
somebody and stuffs the body into the generous cargo space provided by the vehicle.