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Some 7-11s Become Kwik-E-Marts
caffiend666 writes "According to a Yahoo News story some 7-11s are being rebranded into Simpsons 'Kwik-E-Marts' . The makeover includes fronting on the buildings that make it look like a cartoon, Simpsons merchandise on the shelves, and Simpsons show brands available for purchase in the store. From the article: 'The Fox/7-Eleven deal is an example of a practice called reverse product placement. Instead of just putting products prominently in a movie or TV show, fake goods move from the screen to reality ... Customers have been looking at Squishees and KrustyO's and Buzz Cola for years and have never been able to put their hands on it.' Since the film is PG-13, no Duff beer will be available in the stores." If you're looking for one near you, 7-11 has the list of locations on their website.
Although this time is sanctioned, its not the first time Simpsons products have made it into real life. About 10 years ago, an Australian brewery started brewing Duff beer. Fox sued, the beer was pulled.
Anyone who managed to get their hands on some Duff were lucky. Empty beer cans went for $20 or more on ebay.
There are shills on slashdot. Apparently, I'm one of them.
Actually, the first time this happened was in the UK.
Way back in 1992 or 1993 or thereabouts (sometime between Tracey Langton going upstairs to get a book and coming back down following an apparent head transplant), there was a fictitious supermarket called "Bettabuy" in Coronation Street, managed by Reg Holdsworth. The scenes were filmed on location in a branch of Morrisons. Morrisons launched a range of "economy" products (you know; the ones that are packaged to look like UN disaster relief, in the hope that you'll find a few extra pennies to rub together and buy something that doesn't mark you out to the checkout operator and all the other customers in the store as either a miser or a pov) under the name "Bettabuy" in honour of this.
It somehow managed to slip under the radar (product placement is illegal on British telly, even on the stations which accept advertisements; quiz shows are not allowed to announce the names of the sponsors of their prizes, and even mentioning specific brand names is frowned upon) probably because the product being advertised was one that people would actively avoid if given the choice.
Je fume. Tu fumes. Nous fûmes!
They may have shot themselves it the foot on this one. Dunno about the US, but here in the UK we have strict rules about product placement, particularly in programs aimed at children. Now that they've made all these products real, would they be banned from showing them in the show, in the same way thay they cannot show real beers / colas / etc ?
It would have been nice if there was a Kwik-E-Mart in any of the 50 cities/towns in the US/Canada named Springfield. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield
What does the movie being PG-13 have to do with being able to sell Duff related beer?
I've been restless tonight and couldn't sleep, so I took the ~10mi drive down there just to pass some time, it was great down there, the woman at the counter said that people have been driving from all over town just to get squishees. (I guess I proved her right.)
Not to mention, there's a scene in the trailer for the movie that made me burst into laughter.
Bart and Flanders are climbing to the top of some mountain, and Flanders says something like "From up here you can see the four states that border Springfield: Ohio, Nevada, Maine, and Kentucky."
I think that pretty much closes the issue.
Doh! There's also a Shelbyville and a Springfield in Michigan! And they are only 50 miles apart.
d dr=Springfield,+MI&daddr=Shelbyville,+Allegan,+Mic higan,+United+States&sll=41.197365,-87.639245&sspn =5.496636,10.283203&ie=UTF8&z=10&om=1
http://maps.google.com/maps?f=d&hl=en&geocode=&sa
You can't be ahead of the curve, if you're stuck in a loop.
It is. And it wouldn't be funny, except at some time in our lives, we have all encountered someone like Apu. And, I'll admit, I accept any offense given my the stereotype as retribution for the economics TA I had in college ("I am not believing that you have all failed this exam so badly!").
There are stereotypes everywhere in comedy - if you don't like it, don't watch. It's not like anybody really comes out looking good in the Simpsons. Except maybe Lisa, but nobody makes fun of smart, well adjusted girls. Except other girls, of course, and that's not the Simpson's demographic, afaict.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
One of my earliest mentors in OSS, Perl hacking, and the guy who tuyrned me onto Slashdot, etc. owns the domain spfld.com. His name is (FOR REAL) Apu and he has (FOR REAL) a brother named Sanjay, he lives in (FOR REAL) Springfield, NJ not far from the (FOR REAL) Kwik-Stop convenience store. Yes, it is in fact destiny!e st.htm
He's a great human being, volunteering his time as a Rescue Squad Captain, donating his talents to schools and such and was even a volunteer at 9/11 - truly a guy who deserves a helping hand from us! Anyway, there's a contest open to all the Springfields in the US and I'm wondering if fellow dotters could help my buddy out? Here's his email below:
Hi,
You may have heard that the Simpson's Movie is coming out this summer. It will open nationwide on July 27th. But, on July 26th, the movie will premiere in Springfield.
Fox invited 14 of the 71 Springfields from across the U.S. to compete to be the one that hosts the premiere. And, yes, because we are the only true Springfield, we are going to win (with your help). Please vote - early and often - and then get your friends and family and their friends and family to vote too.... Springfield, New Jersey!
The contest site: http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/simpsons-cont
Media coverage of our entry: http://www.spfld.com/spfld.html#Simpsons
"Thank you. Come again."
-- Apu http://www.spfld.com/
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Thanks for reading and hope you'll vote for the REAL Apu in the REAL Sprignfield !