Mobile movie stars: part 2

Over the past decade mobile phones have become an integral part of every day life. This has not gone unnoticed with film makers who have been casting mobiles in key roles on an increasingly regular basis, no doubt encouraged by generous advertising fees.

We explore product placement at its best by assessing the top five mobile phone appearances in recent blockbusters.

The Saint
Nokia took its first step to movie domination by handing Van Kilmer its 9000 Communicator in this 1997 thriller. The phone headed the early mobile market at the time despite its monochrome screen and chunky aerial.

However its digital voice and personal organiser functions made it the must have phone of the day. Kilmer plays a high profile thief and uses the phone throughout as he attempts to avoid Russian authorities.

Minority Report
Nokia’s domination at the beginning of the decade continued in this multi award winning blockbuster. The film, set in 2054, features Tom Cruise as a detective whose team use psychics to arrest people before they commit a murder.

Naturally the movie is crammed full of futuristic technology with Nokia providing a custom made mobile for Cruise to use as he goes on the run after the psychics foresee a murder he is going to commit. Nokia also launched the 9260 and 7650 in line with the film in 2002, leading the way for the now common practice of involving a product with a movie’s advertising campaign without any appearance on screen.

Cellular
This action packed hit features a mobile phone as its main character. The plot is centred on a young man who receives a random call from a kidnapped Kim Basinger on his Nokia 6600. He has to stay on the line during his search for her with any battery or signal trouble resulting in her death.

Nokia made sure their then leading mobile got plenty of up close screen time. In one early scene the soon to be hero receives a video message featuring a bikini clad girl with the sender stating “this is the single greatest phone ever made”. Have a guess at how much that line would have cost Nokia!

Crank 
Not content with its previous success, Nokia found a new way to promote the stylish 8800 Sirocco in fast paced thriller Crank.

Jason Statham’s character receives a number of calls throughout the film, however it is not the handset that is the focus but the ringtone, which starts clear and loud before fading as if the phone is breaking. Of course movie goers went hunting for the ringtone online which they could buy – from Nokia!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
While Nokia is the undoubted kings of product placement, LG has also emerged this year as potential competitors for the throne while also giving us a glimpse at the future of mobile phone advertising. LG struck an exclusive deal with Paramount Pictures to promote Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen which hit the cinemas back in June.

The partnership included product placement which resulted in over a minute of screen time for LG technology during the film. LG in return conducted a massive marketing campaign through print and television. One advert features a robot from the plot suggesting a man’s LG Versa is an evil Decepticon.

The mobile/robot subsequently changes form into a camcorder, then a GPS device before expanding into a laptop. More advertising mastery is expected from LG alongside the release of Iron Man 2 in the summer of 2010.

Part one of Mobile movie stars

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