Public Relations -- When Film

¶ … Public Relations -- When Film meets the Food industry

Public relations in today's hectic media climate must deal not only with the need to get the message of a particular organization or individual 'out there,' into the public's eye and notice, but also must deal with the increasing cynicism of the public, regarding the uses of public relations upon the American population's psychology and collective psyches. In other words, although the common trope is that all publicity is good publicity, when one is encouraging individuals to do something, whether to see a film or actively reject or accept a particular lifestyle regarding food choices, public relations must be especially effective. Giving an example of physical 'reality' in the form of a spokesperson is one way to convey a sense of lived reality to a particular lifestyle or film. In other words, when the public sees something 'in the flesh,' they are more inclined to believe it -- especially, if it is the cholesterol-ridden flesh of the documentary director and author Morgan Spurlock of "Supersize Me." (2004)

It is especially interesting to compare Spurlock's effective use of public relations for his film, whereby he used his own body as a test subject to demonstrate the unhealthy nature of fast food, rather than merely interviewing industry proponents and critics, with the recent poor public relations performances of McDonald's. One recent poor example of the use public relations can be found in McDonald's deployment adult "Go Active," happy meals, whereby adults were encouraged to purchase overpriced bottled water and fruit, along with a plastic pedometer (and a tiny token example of the famous hamburger franchise's not-so famous salads). The meals came out just at the same time as "Supersize Me," creating free publicity for the film, a great tie-in (for Spurlock) for the local health news media, and the impression that the chain was intending to circumvent the negative public relations garnered by the publicity for the independent film "Supersize Me."

Also, the adult meal, priced at $5.99 a box, includes a choice of McDonald's four premium salads, a stepometer that clips on a belt and counts the number of steps you take in a day, and a "Step With it!" booklet with tips for walking and working out, seemed a bit like a beer company promoting 'responsible' drinking. (CNN.com, 2004) Worse yet, the company even eliminated its super sized meal options right after the film "Super size Me" opened, and then immediately denied that the documentary's release had nothing to do with its decision to exorcise this option from the menu. The hamburger chain had been a recent target of obesity lawsuits and had been increasingly been criticized for promoting unhealthy eating habits among both children and adults. Although "McDonald's over the past year took steps to improve its image by launching premium salads, eliminating its Super Size menu options and touting other diet-conscious options at its outlets," the public relations of Spurlock's guerrilla techniques seemed honest and unforced and for the use of art, rather than merely to cynically sell tickets -- even though his gain-weight public relations stunt of a 30 day all McDonald's diet surely did this. (CNN.com, 2004)

Thus, in contrast, the public relations for the film "Supersize Me," was brilliant in the way that purveyed a tiny, inexpensive, low-budget film -- a documentary no less, into a mega-hit. The film's promotions played upon a common element of human psychology, namely concern about public health and body image. Much like films like "Bridget Jones Diary" and "Raging Bull," it made use of a highly publicized, real-life weight gain upon the part of its protagonist and director, using verisimilitude and relevant shock value to publicize the film. The director used his own alleged physical deterioration to draw in viewers, and made his subsequent post-film weight loss a kind of stunt PR that drew even more viewers into the cinema, to see what would otherwise be a little-seen film about weight loss. The "Bridget Jones" film, now the "Bridget Jones" franchise, given the imminent release of the sequel, also deployed the weight gain, loss, and gain again of Renee Zwelleger as a way of publicizing an otherwise rather standard romantic comedy -- few would be interested in this fairly ordinary film, if it were not for the added component of seeing the normally svelte actress in such an extreme fashion.

However, not all fast food companies have engaged in poor examples of PR. Just as effective as Spurlock's defamation of McDonald's to gain PR for his documentary about American eating habits, Subway has modeled itself as a healthy fast food eating establishment through selective use of physical stunts. Subway has long been known for publicly endorsing heart walks, and promoting the freshness of its ingredients. But its stock skyrocketed after making us of 'Jared,' a real-life figure who lost weight as a result of his eating Subway sandwiches, as part of a healthy fast-food diet. Now the official website of the company encourages individuals, particularly children, to take the Jared pledge and engage in a heart healthy lifestyle. However, had Subway done this would 'Jared' it is likely that this publicity attempt to link the subs with a healthy lifestyle would have been a dismal failure. The real-life, physical success of an apparently ordinary individual speaks volumes that all of McDonald's pamphlets about its 'Go Active' Happy Meals cannot. (Official Website, 2004)