Slashdot Mirror
Advertisers Co-Opting The Lorax With Half-Truths About Conservation
pigrabbitbear writes with an interesting opinion on the "green" marketing surrounding The Lorax movie adaptation. From the article: "There may be all kinds of reasons to defend the Lorax — Dr. Seuss's wondrous children's fable that's also a seminal book about conservation — from the wrath of Lou Dobbs and Fox News and others to whom the children's book-turned-Disney film is little more than liberal propaganda. ... For adults dealing with the real world of compromise, the Lorax is loved and hated for being such a ridiculously staunch environmentalist. Dude refuses to give an inch, which isn’t realistic, but certainly makes him a compelling character. That character is now being used as a shill for the CX-5, a small SUV that’s being billed as fuel-efficient and eco-friendly. What has the poor Lorax become?"
Stuff that Matters? This matters? To who?
Everybody needs a thneed - or a CX4 or whatever.
That character is now being used as a shill for the CX-5, a small SUV that’s being billed as fuel-efficient and eco-friendly.
I'm more concerned about lightning mcqueen from cars and cars2 being used to sell my kid a lunch box and thermos (true story!)
Come on... slow news day?
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
The Lorax was was of my favorite books by Dr. Seuss. I was a regular participant in "Read Aloud" days at our local elementary school, and when I had a choice of the book this is the one I selected to read. It was a simple story, well illustrated, and enjoyable.
Obviously to stretch the story to a feature length film the writers had to include additional story elements, but it just looks SO busy. I wish they would stop destroying these classics, but I guess Hollywood is grasping for ideas and hoped to trade off nostalgia for this story and lure parents to the theater with their children. Pick up the book instead, read it to your kids, and discuss.
"We make our world significant by the courage of our questions and by the depth of our answers." Carl Sagan
This is the lite version of the super-pimping that Santa has had to endure forever. I look forward to Mickey Mouse coming out of copyright protection myself.
As a parent it's pretty offensive to see the ads that get wrapped up with these characters, but TV sucks anyway so it's just a race to the bottom IMO.
Aren't they the same thing?
Early in his career, Geisel drew copy for FLIT (a particularly noxious insect spray) advertising; I wonder if that is what drove him to create such an uncompromising Lorax.
Great minds think alike; fools seldom differ.
This movie will be forgotten in five years, whereas the book will remain. Just keep your damn kids away from the movie.
Advertisers Co-Opting The Lorax With Half-Truths About Conservation
So about 50% more truth than usual then?
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
Disney has nothing to do with The Lorax. Like How the Grinch Stole Christmas and The Cat in the Hat, this is a Universal Pictures film. It is being produced by Universal's Illumination Entertainment, the same studio that did Despicable Me and Hop.
I think the Lorax, by no fault of his own, has prostituted himself to the general public in hopes of raising awareness... too bad it is awareness of Environmentally Transmitted Dieses (ETDs).
The CX-5 is capable of moving 5 adults comfortably w/ cargo @ 35MPG or .006 gallons (about .7 oz) per person per mile, that seems pretty damn efficient to me....what's the standard for "fuel efficient"
You might like "Meet the Feebles" then. It is a New Zealand made parody based on a very disfunctional muppet-like group.
Your above comment sounds like a story-line from something in Meet the Feebles.
Incidentally- the producer was... ahem... Peter Jackson, the guy behind the Lord Of The Rings film adaptations, The Hobbit, King Kong, The Frighteners, etc. Before he became famous he had some really strange, bizarre and humorous productions. "Dead Alive" is one of my all-time favourite movies.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
When any version of a truth is used to deceive it is nothing more than a lie.
"Waitress I need two more boat-drinks..."
"Compromise" cannot be a mode of thinking or you never end up with a bottom line. Some things, like nuclear war and avoiding environmental catastrophe, are optional decisions. We need to get them right because the consequences are real and will be absolute. If we define maturity as an intention to "compromise" on important issues, I want no part of maturity.
Who's gonna make my sticker with Lorax (ala Calvin) pissing on the Mazda logo?
Fuck those people. You have a propaganda film out now that every conservative dickweed should be able to enjoy. Act of Valor, the one starring real soldiers, using live ammunition, and overseen by the Pentagon. Stop bitching that other people have what you also have.
A corporate sellout....
Previewing comments are for sissies!
Advertisers Co-opting The Lorax
No shit? Beloved character reduced to shill by Hollywood?? You don't say? That really would be news. NOT.
With Half-truths
[clutches heart] Ohmygod. I'm going to faint. Advertisers stretching the truth to market their product. The horror! [beat] This is news?
About Conservation
[pause]
[pause]
I see what you did there.
Tell me, if Mr. Lorax had been shanghai'ed into being a spokesman for toothpaste, toys, or floor wax, would this be a story? No. This story just fans the flames of the culture wars. Whoever started this meme knew that the word "Conservation" and the phrase "liberal propaganda" would propagate the meme with his target audience, who likes to get all a-quiver and indignant and victimized when mass media propagate memes they disagree with.
I can see the fnords!
Marxist propaganda? Without a doubt.
The CX-5 (and every car for that matter) is a THNEED!
-- QED
I know this is probably going to get me flamed, but my biggest problem with the more extremist environmentalists out there (aside for their propensity for wild-eyed, quasi-religious Chicken Little alarmism) is that they often jump up to protest without any real answer to the question "Well, what's a reasonable alternative?" Most of the alternatives that they do have seem more like pipe dreams to me (at least for now). Sure it would be nice to have giant solar and wind farms that could supply all our energy needs. But those things are, even in the best case scenario, decades away. The idea that we're just going to run out and start shutting down coal and nuclear plants now, with no real replacement save some *hope* for a future of wind and solar is just nuts.
If you're going to advocate something radical, you had damn well have a pretty good answer on *how* where going to do it without throwing society into chaos. It's nice to save the environment, but we humans are part of that environment too.
SJW: Someone who has run out of real oppression, and has to fake it.
And normal environmental messages are not coopted by money? Of course they are. Is shilling a fuel-friendly vehicle that much worse than shilling a Prius or carbon credits?
Quite ironic coming from the party that counts "no compromise" religious absolutists and TEA party politicians as their base.
To be in a feature film is to volunteer for commercial use. Don't expect Hollywood to change its stripes to save the purity of the Lorax.
Get Disney to make a film out of it.
Or Lucas
Theodor Seuss Geisel was good at condensing something to a caricature of reality, and environmentalism was no exception. Like his World War 2 cartoons, which in the case of the Japanese were unremittingly racist, the Lorax's enemy became unrecognizable. Who, really, needs a "thneed"? This was obvious to me even as a child. I knew that people built houses and published newspapers from forest products. By eliding those things, Seuss managed to condense an entire string of arguments down to one easy-to-digest -- but wholly false -- narrative. For that reason, I have always rated The Lorax as the least of his children's books.
Dog is my co-pilot.
This is Hollywood, why is anyone surprised that a beloved character would be whore'd out? This movie wasn't produced to teach environmentalism, this movie was produced to capitalize on a timely theme and the popularity of Dr. Seuss.
But then, the answer here is simple. If you take issue with what they've done don't watch the movie. Don't go to the theater and definitely don't buy or rent the DVD. Once you hand your money over you've effectively told the movie company that they've made the right decision.
It would have been more appropriate to use the Once-Ler to peddle the SUV.
Soooo sick of you liberals getting angry at Fox for presenting reality as opposed to what you see through your PINKo colored glasses.
Please get some intelligence and go FOX yourself.
-- L8R, guitardood
...doesn't understand "classy" or "tactful." If you're a celebrity your digitally reanimated self will be used to sell shit long after you're dead, and who knows what else. I fully expect to see Marilyn Monroe in a commercially released porno before I have any trouble getting a hardon.
"When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
I was already put off by the previews, which make it seem likely they intend to throw out the ending of the original (things are bad, but maybe, just maybe, they can get better) to replace it with a traditional happy ending.
I love my Mazda, but I'm almost ashamed of that commercial. Sure a hybrid is "better" than a traditional car of the same size (depending on construction and disposal of the battery...), but I still doubt the Lorax would "speak for the trees" and advocate cars of any kind.
brainwashing my kid to want to drive your CX-5. unfortunately by the time he's old enough to drive, it will probably be out of production.
at my penis.
--
My eyes are up here.
"Dude refuses to give an inch"
Then he's no liberal. If you look around the stubborn ones are the "my way or no way" republicans. The liberals and the centrists are the ones that have been giving ground the last 18 years. That's why the country is so fucked up with a constitution that's a joke and a dysfunctional regulatory system allowing public to be raped by corporations.
Actually, even the worst SUV is carbon-neutral given a broad enough time-frame when you think about it. It's those damn dinosaurs and ancient forests sequestering carbon from the environment that threw everything out of whack.
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Disney's Lorax = Crusty?
"Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." -- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
The Lorax has been my favorite book since I was a kid. I have given it to each of my three children. I find that when reading this book, as a responsible adult, I can also talk to my children about the meaning of the book the way that I interpret it and explain the moral that I want them to take from the book, which is essentially that we have to use our resources responsibly in a sustainable manner. I guess that's called parentingThis will be the first movie that I go to in 5 years since moving back to the States due to excessive costs. I understand that the movie is not going to be the same as the book, fine. I also understand that I am violating my commitment to boycott rediculous movie costs, fine. I will treat my kids to the movie and sushi dinner (their choice, and yeah that tuna might not be harvested in a sustainable manner, but we sure love it... doh! The salmon is probably farm raised). It will be a fist time taking my girls to the theater and will be a treat for us all. Do I care that my kids want green eggs and ham from iHop? Nope, they aren't getting them. If my kids ask about some car, um, no...
Bill: We thank you for your epic struggle to keep you characters true to your vision. We also hope you've made arrangements to keep that vision intact after your passing.
It's actual part of a new "green" initiative where power is generated by Suess spinning in his grave.
At least the Lorax didn't sell out for the Canyonero....yet
The Lorax would *NEVER* be a spokesperson for any fuel powered automobile, regardless of how much better than other cars its fuel efficiency might be. In fact, he might not even advocate pure electric cars, since so much electricity these days is generated by methods that adversely impact the environment. He would, however, almost certainly advocate cycling... good for one's health *AND* not harmful to the environment either.
File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
Universal Pictures! Not Disney!
First thing: I LOVED Dr. Suess. The Good Doctor was my first favorite author, and a joy i shared with my children. Reading Suess to them, and later with them, introduced them to the joy of books, and the playfulness with language that has influenced several generations.
Ever since Mr. Geisel shuffled off to join the Literary Review Eternal the various parasites have been usurping his work for short term gain, primarily in a series of really bad movies. (Often as ego vehicles for comedians.)
Once again they have managed to suck the life out of a Suess story, put a bunch of stars into the cast, and get lots and lots of critical Merchandise Tie Ins and Synergistic Marketing. So Mazda managed to be the high bidder on this one? They must be desperate to sell more kiddie movers. (Here's a hint guys... when chasing the Greener Than Thou crowd it might be best to tone down the 'zoom zoom' a bit.) Good for them.
I am expecting the movie to suck as much as the 'Austin Powers Cat In The Shagging Hat' and 'The Mask Plays Grinchmas'. But it will sell Fast Food Meals and Mazda KIddie Movers and Stuff Guilty Parents Buy. And later a bunch of DVDs/Bluerays/whatever comes next, so that instead of being reading 'The Lorax' with our kids we can just put it on the vid player and go back to ignoring the little rug rats.
So it goes...
http://visualizecommonsense.com/
wish i had mod points. Thank you for bringing a dash or rationality to \. today.
Similarly to every other character, song, story or piece of art, it is not the same piece.
At best, it is Xombie Prostitute Lorax, dead and reaminated, sold to whatever Corporation wants to shove it's hand up Lorax's ass to put on a show for the kids.
As long as "kids" don't realize this, it helps sell that stuff.
When they do, it tends to have the opposite reaction. :)
Regards.
If Wuncler wants to get rid of some nature, he only has to open a soul-food restaurant across the street.
"Yeah...it was the numbers that were irrational, not the murderous cult of vegetarians...." -- Hippasus of Metapontum
The code-calling font selection is something you choose for for uniform width. If you don't like it, check your preferences.
"Yeah...it was the numbers that were irrational, not the murderous cult of vegetarians...." -- Hippasus of Metapontum
The CX-5 now has both OnStar and OffStar options quantumagically pre-engaged. Observations may change over time.
"Yeah...it was the numbers that were irrational, not the murderous cult of vegetarians...." -- Hippasus of Metapontum
If the trees are useful, plant more of the damned things.
Farm the Forest and Shoot the idiot Lorax.
Then all the animals will be happy and you will have plenty of trees to use to make crap out of.
I obviously haven't seen the new movie (I saw the old TV version many times), and haven't watched the full ad (I have Tivos, and VCRs before that..). I also hate SUVs and think the vast majority of people that have them don't need them.
It seems hypocritical for the summary to mention "refuses to give an inch, which isnâ(TM)t realistic".
Maybe this SUV is less evil than other SUVs? (Is it? I'm not sure.. but even the 'mild' hybrid SUVs I've seen reviewed get much better milage than the regular version in many cases.) If it is, then that is still a step in the right direction, thus IS eco-friendly.
Wish I has points.
These horrible insulting grass remakes harm society as lazy or frankly stupid parents substitute them for the original; unable to care or tell the difference, robbing some of the next generation from the possibility of some understanding and surpassing their parents.
It seems all that one needs is name recognition and a few references to make many people feel the new product is a just a new version of the original, which had merit enough on its own to last; but after all the bad remakes will the originals survive a mountain of crap covering them up?
I'd like to see somebody do this process to something more sacred to make a point; like Jesus for example... I wonder what talking animal side kick he would get? What would the horrible music numbers be (besides just picking from that studio's current teen sensation, or the upcoming one.)
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
That is not insightful. Nowhere is one required to provide a solution! That is false reasoning.
Imagine if science worked that way-- you can't disprove my theory until you give me a replacement theory! If your replacement sucks, then I'll just ignore all the flaws you make about my theory!
Fanatics are not always bad. Extremes are not always bad. Activist is not a bad word.
The Lorax was a simple story with a moral about conservation which maybe should have been more abstract so it wasn't too obvious as to the implications in the real world. It also was a blasphemy against the consumerist religion in the USA; although, the main problem is it upset industries.
Like so many childhood morals, they directly conflict with the adult world where nobody applies those morals but likes to state them. My favorite is "do not judge a book by its cover" which shows up in many ways all the time for all audiences but is ignored by adults; plus its seems to be worse as people get older. Today's increased obsession with fashion and appearance not only make this worse but now has a huge industry setup to defend an further promote it. A modern children's book on par with the Lorax dealing with image and consumerism would have an industry attacking it like Lorax had with the logging industry.
Democracy Now! - uncensored, anti-establishment news
Almost as ironic as the fact that conservatism is a dirty word when used in conjunction with financials and morality, but it's perfectly ok when used in conjunction with trees and whales.