Just in case you haven’t heard, the 2 disc limited edition of Evangelion: 1.01 You are (not) alone is the best selling dvd of 2008 in Japan (the dvd is now entirely sold out, grab one on Ebay if you want) so far, with more than 219, 000 units sold. Now that is some astonishingly solid sales performance, ( considering that EV 1.0, technically speaking, is simply a spruced up reissue of the decade old animation ) a clear testament to the bankability of the Evangelion brand – and hence the more than numerous product placements in the film.
Can’t be more discreet than that. Both the Doritos chips and UCC canned coffee were released about 1-2 months before the theatrical release of EV 1.0. Read this older post here.
And what’s product placement without some screen time for booze ? The Japanese so love their beer.
Now even the convenience stalls want in. Lawson has a ubiquitous presence in Japan.
There’s more of course; (I’m pretty sure Pizza Hut appeared in the film somewhere) but these are probably the highlights.
Product placement in anime films hold a somewhat special interest for me as I worked on Nissin’s Freedom, which is basically one big advertisement for noodles actually. With Evangelion: 2.0 set for release in a couple of months, the advertising frenzy will soon begin. We just have to wait and see if there are any new players this time round.
Guesses, anyone ?
1
Evangelion Galore
Evangelion : 2.0 You Can(Not) Advance.
Thoughts on Evangelion : 2.0
The Evangelion Exhibition 2013
Evangelion : 3.0 New Poster And Trailer
May 23rd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
And this is precisely why I’m not excited about the films at all 🙁 I don’t mind it so much if a show is designed to be an advertisement from the start, but this, well…
That and I prefer the TV animation to what I saw of the movie from trailers and stuff. I don’t know why, it just doesn’t seem special anymore. And I really wish they wouldn’t drag on the franchise without even doing much new with it for so long.
(P.S. I’m the person who sent you an email some time back, I know you’ve been busy and all but I hope you could reply when you’re free , I’d really really really appreciate it 😀 thanks.)
May 26th, 2008 at 11:00 pm
Hey there, I’m terribly sorry for not answering your questions yet ! Will write back to you very soon !
May 30th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
Well…. you can’t escape from the power of capitalism; when your IP gets popular, you get the sponsors! Look at James Bond! You pay to watch that advertismovie!
I did manage to find a huge stack of “normal” edition of Evagelion 1.01 at Shibuya Tsutaya last weekend though. Sheessh.. I got lost at Shibuya on my first nightout and I end up on the sleazy end of the town where all the Love Hotels are.
June 1st, 2008 at 3:11 am
fartboy – aha…visiting love hotels now aren’t we ? :p
June 1st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
fanboys are more than willing to part with their money for everything evangelion related.
stay tuned for evangelion 1.02, 1.03 and evangelion sevice pack 2.
April 13th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
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