In the same week that we get the news that that the FTC wants bloggers to disclose who pays them (uhh, wtf??) to review products, we are also getting coverage coming from the “Couples Retreat” press junket Universal hosted in… Bora Bora.
MSN Movies reviewer James Rocchi posted this piece examining the fine line journalists have to walk when it comes to these situations: do you lampoon the crappy movie of the studio that just sponsored your tropical sojourn, complete with airfare, hotel, wining, dining and sting ray feeding expeditions? Were you too excited to be lounging on the beach with Vince Vaughn and Kristen Bell to care the movie sucks? Or did the studio even pay you to do this dirty work? Junketeers, a vile culture of people that will practically step over other human beings for a free lunch, often fall for this bullshit hook, line and sinker (they’re the TV hacks who have no shame in giving atrocious quotes on movie posters for films even the directors themselves secretly can’t tolerate).
Granted, the content coming out of these junkets are not primarily reviews (which are embargoed until Friday of opening in this case), but rather the celebrity fluff pieces one might see on Access Hollywood or ET, where the stars of the film sit in front of the movie poster (or Bora Bora beach in this instance) and laugh and laugh about WHAT FUN it was to shoot this movie, and how they are all BFFs now, or that same content transposed into a fluffy feature article for print week of opening. Maybe Universal just thought the junket stunt would drown out the bad buzz… and it looks like it just highlighted the negative.
So, why not just buy up all the airtime and poster space available to cow moviegoing audiences into thinking this is the only movie opening this weekend, instead of pinning your hopes on some regional and online junketeers’ willingness to shill? And the news of the FTC regulations looming this week is bad timing for Uni, as everyone is in a tizzy about what constitutes ethical blogging (total oxymoron, btw). In these times of belt tightening around Hollywood, its not practical or good business to toss away money on bloated, useless press junkets, especially with the rapid news cycle and utter transparency of online outlets and bloggers, the bad buzz about a silly stunt spreads faster than anyone can picture Vince Vaughn sipping a Mai Tai.
