The blue pop culture icons adored by children of the 80s are coming to the big screen this summer in the appropriately named film, “The Smurfs.”
With a cast of stars including Neil Patrick Harris, Hank Azaria and Katy Perry lending their voices to the fictional characters, one would think that some basic Hollywood advertising tactics (and perhaps some Smurf-shaped custom plush toys) would suffice to guarantee the film a box office success. But Sony Pictures, the studio producing “The Smurfs,” has taken its marketing campaign to new levels, and has painted the entire town of Juzcar in the south of Spain blue.
According to the Huffington Post, “It took a dozen painters and over 1,000 gallons (4,000 liters) of blue paint to transform the village’s historic white buildings into blue Smurf houses.” The world premiere for the movie of course took place in Juzcar (the film doesn’t debut in the States until July 29). And then when the movie promotion is complete in September, Sony has said it will repaint the town in its traditional white and life will return to normal, though residents of Juzcar are reportedly considering keeping the blue. You can see pictures of the town painted blue here.
Jaime
Manager – Content
Wow. Now that’s some serious promotion!