Under the Influence with Terry O'Reilly - The Commercial From The Black Lagoon: Horror in Advertising

Episode Date: March 4, 2023

This week we look at horror in advertising.We’ll talk about why the Red Cross produced a horror commercial for blood donations. How Nike had a horror commercial yanked off the air. And a water company that actually cast its product as the villain in a 45-minute horror film. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Hi, it's Terry O'Reilly. As you may know, we've been producing a lot of bonus episodes while under the influences on hiatus. They're called the Beatleology Interviews, where I talk to people who knew the Beatles, work with them, love them, and the authors who write about them. Well, the Beatleology Interviews have become a hit, so we are spinning it out to be a standalone podcast series. You've already heard conversations with people like actors Mark Hamill, Malcolm McDowell, and Beatles confidant Astrid Kershaw. But coming up, I talk to May Pang, who dated John Lennon in the mid-70s. I talk to double fantasy guitarist Earl Slick, Apple Records creative director John Kosh. I'll be talking to Jan Hayworth,

who designed the Sgt. Pepper album cover. Very cool. And I'll talk to singer Dion, who is one of only five people still alive who were on the Sgt. Pepper cover. And two of those people were Beatles. The stories they tell are amazing. So thank you for making this series such a success. And please, do me a favor, follow the Beatleology interviews on your podcast app. You don't even have to be a huge Beatles fan, you just have to love storytelling.

Subscribe now, and don't miss a single beat. This is an apostrophe podcast production. You're so king in it. You're so king in it. Your teeth look whiter than no nose You're not you when you're hungry You're a good hand with all teeth You're under the influence with Terry O'Reilly.

Stephen King and I have something in common. The very first horror movie I ever saw as a kid was Creature from the Black Lagoon. Turns out, that was the first horror film Stephen King ever saw, too. Creature from the Black Lagoon, rising from the monstrous depths to astound and terrorize the world. No! Feel the frightening fury of a man-beast, aroused to strange emotions by its first sight of a woman. I remember watching it and being scared stiff. It must have had an even bigger impact on Mr. King. Creature from the Black Lagoon was made in 1954.

Originally released in 3D, it's the creepy story of a group of scientists who see a fossil of a webbed hand discovered in the Amazon region. They wonder if it might provide the missing link between land and sea animals. An expedition to the upper

Amazon basin is arranged. The scientists want to know if they can find the remaining fossils of this mysterious beast. As their boat makes its way up the Amazon, they eventually decide to enter a mysterious spot called the Black Lagoon. Unbeknownst to the scientists as they search for the fossils, the very beast they thought died millions of years ago is lurking under the water. This mysterious creature is half man, half amphibian, and it's watching the boat.

The scientists spot it and try to capture the gill man, but it kills two of the men. More of the crew gets mauled to death. Also on the boat is a female colleague. The prehistoric creature becomes infatuated with her, snatches her from the edge of the boat and drags her to his underwater lair. The remaining scientists try to rescue her, all of which leads to a terrifying climax. The idea for Creature from the Black Lagoon actually began at a dinner party at the home of Orson Welles. A South American dinner guest sitting beside a film producer

told him a story about an amphibious humanoid creature who emerged from the Amazon once a year, grabbed a young woman from the local village, then disappeared again. The other guests chuckled at the tale, but the storyteller swore it was true. That idea of a half-man, half-amphibian monster stuck with the producer. And, ten years later, he eventually brought it to the screen.

Back in 1954, audiences had never seen a full-body monster costume like that before. With other monsters like the Wolfman or Dracula, you knew it was a man with makeup on. But the creature from the Black Lagoon was different. The body and mask were so detailed, so elaborate, so believable. Its face was fish-like, its scaly body, fins and webbed claws terrifying. Its gills moved as it breathed. The design of the creature was done by a woman named Millicent Patrick.

She had been one of the first female animators hired by Walt Disney. When she moved over to Universal, she was given the task of designing the gill man. During the promotion

for the movie, she was sent out on a press tour billed as the beauty who created the beast. Years later, Forrest J. Ackerman,

who created the famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, which my brother and I devoured as kids, purchased the actual mask and claws of the creature

from a young man who had used them as a Halloween costume. Turns out Universal had thrown the creature's costume into a dumpster after the production had been completed. The janitor fished them out and gave them to his son, who used them to dress up for trick or treating. Worth a pretty penny today.

The score for the movie was done by Herman Stein, but additional music was written by none other than Henry Mancini, the composer of the Pink Panther theme. In 2017, the Best Picture Oscar went to The Shape of Water. The director, Guillermo del Toro, said he was inspired by Creature from the Black Lagoon and wanted to see the Gill man and the woman finally succeed in their romance. The director of Creature from the Black Lagoon, Jack Arnold, on the other hand, said he wanted to play on the basic fear people have about what might be lurking below the surface of any body of water.

Above all, he wanted to create a sense of dread. Knowing that horror creates dread, it may be surprising to see that some advertisers are using horror to sell their products. Horror is a hot ticket in Hollywood right now, and where audiences go, so go advertisers. The horror genre has a lot of clichés that are instantly recognizable.

And in the quick bites of commercials, they can be very funny. And sometimes, they can get the advertisers in a black lagoon of trouble. You're under the influence and the tension mounts. It's like horror shorthand. For example, one of the most famous tropes of all is the chainsaw-wielding maniac on the loose. Another trope is when a female character is in the bathroom, she closes the door of the medicine cabinet and suddenly sees the reflection of a deranged murderer in the mirror behind her.

Which brings us to Stihl. Stihl, spelled S-T-I-H-L, is a power tools company. It manufactures things like weed trimmers, leaf blowers, and lawnmowers. In Australia, Steele produced a commercial for its line of chainsaws. As the commercial begins, a young girl is clearly running away from someone. She is drenched in sweat and terrified. It's dark. She's running through what looks like an abandoned building. Suddenly, a huge man crashes through the wall. He's wearing a terrifying hockey mask, just like Jason from the horror movie Friday the 13th, and he's holding a chainsaw.

The girl screams and starts to run, but she trips. The chainsaw-wielding maniac traps her in a corner. He pulls the cord on the chainsaw, but it doesn't start. He pulls it again. Nothing. He turns around, a little embarrassed, and gives the chainsaw another few pulls. The chainsaw just won't start. The girl now looks bored as she watches the maniac work up a sweat trying to start his chainsaw. Then, the commercial cuts away to a steel chainsaw on a table.

A hand comes into screen and grabs the cord. It starts on the first pull. Words appear on the screen that say, Steel. Easy to start. That steel commercial was a minute and 20 seconds long, so I assume it never ran on television, but probably ran in Australian cinemas during movies restricted to people 18 and over. I assume it never ran on TV because I couldn't find any complaints about the ad.

That's the tricky thing about using horror in advertising. Context is everything. A lesson that Nike learned during the Olympic Games. The company had produced a commercial to air during the 2000 Summer Olympics that featured Susie Hamilton, a runner sponsored by Nike, who was competing in the Olympics. As this commercial begins, we see Hamilton getting ready to take a bath.

She runs the tub. She takes off her top. As it falls to the floor, we see she is wearing the latest Nike sneakers. She combs her hair. Then she opens the medicine cabinet to place the comb inside. But when she closes the door, she suddenly sees a maniac standing behind her in the reflection. He's wearing a terrifying mask. The masked maniac has a chains mask. The masked maniac has a chainsaw. He lunges at her,

but she manages to dodge him. He cuts the sink in half instead. She runs through the house. The maniac pursues. His chainsaw cuts through furniture. He cuts right through a wall. Susie Hamilton reaches the door and runs out into the night. The maniac chases her.

Hamilton runs into the woods. She is running at full speed. The maniac is on her heels. She keeps running. Then she puts on a burst of speed, increasing the distance between them. The maniac is starting to breathe heavily and wheeze. Then he stops, drops the chainsaw, falls to his knees and collapses in exhaustion.

Meanwhile, Olympic runner Susie Hamilton is still running effortlessly through the woods and disappears in the distance. Words appear on the screen that say, Why sport? You'll live longer. Nike. The NBC network was airing the Olympics that year.

Nike was a main sponsor, and the theme of Nike's Olympic advertising campaign was Why Sport? When the commercial aired during the opening weekend of the Games, NBC was immediately inundated with angry calls and complaints from viewers. People called it disgusting and misogynistic. Nike countered that the commercial was a parody of a slasher movie. The wheezing killer was meant as humor.

And furthermore, NBC had approved the ad for broadcast. But one of the biggest complaints came from parents who objected to the fact the ad ran at prime time during family viewing hours and that the ad had upset their children. Even though Nike had used the oldest horror cliché in the book, a chainsaw-wielding maniac chasing a girl through the woods at night, context was everything. But the Olympics at prime time was the wrong slot. The commercial was quickly yanked. There is a rule of thumb that says horror enjoys a resurgence in tough times, which may explain why there is a sudden surge of horror-based commercials airing right now.

The use of horror to sell products is starting to trend again right now. Historically, horror always has a resurgence in tough times. The golden age of horror films, for example, was during the 1930s. The 30s were tough times, as the Depression tightened its cold grip around the world. Classic movies such as Frankenstein, Dracula, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde were produced during that decade. The 30s also marked the first time the word horror was used to describe the genre. The 40s and 50s were also difficult decades, with World War II followed by the duck-and-cover fear of nuclear bombs.

Therefore, that era saw another surge of classic horror films, including The Wolfman, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and, of course, Creature from the Black Lagoon. It makes sense then that horror would have a resurgence now, as we are definitely living through difficult times. And that resurgence is not just in Hollywood. Kentucky Fried Chicken in Spain created a 14-minute horror film recently for its new Pizza. The title was The Massacre. The commercial begins with a classic horror cliché. A bunch of teenagers driving to a camping holiday. Tommy, the practical joker, tells horror stories along the way. When they arrive at the cabin, they realize nobody remembered to bring food.

Then someone notices a menu from a pizza joint stuck to the fridge. It's called Cemetery Pizza. The slogan, pizza to the fridge. It's called Cemetery Pizza, the slogan, Pizza to Die For. Hola, Cemetery Pizza. Queríamos pedir una... Hola. But when Tommy starts to order the pizza, the other end of the line goes dead.

Something is approaching the cabin outside. There is an ominous knock at the door It keeps knocking The kids are alarmed One of the girls opens the door But there is nothing there Except three pizza boxes from Cemetery Pizza The pizzas inside look dry and terrible, but Tommy is hungry and takes a bite. A few

moments later, he starts choking and frothing at the mouth. One of the other boxes flips open, a dry pizza flies out and attaches itself to one of the girls' faces. The Krusty Pizzas start attacking the rest of the kids. They try and fight back. But the two friends that were first assaulted by the Krusty Pizzas return as horrifying zombies. Soon, all is lost. As the picture fades to black, an announcer tells us the bodies were never found.

He says no evidence of the killer crusts has ever been found either. But if you see a crust, stay away from it. Then the creepy film cuts away to a pizza from KFC called the Pulizza. It's just like pizza, but with no crust. Turns out this new KFC pizza has replaced the crust with its traditional fried chicken. Hmm. The short horror film was screened

at one of the big cinemas in Madrid. The film reached 13 million people on social media. Chicken, crust, pizza. That's a lot of unexpected horror from KFC. Last summer, the Red Cross declared its first ever blood donation crisis as a result of the pandemic. It needed to reach new audiences to educate and motivate them to donate.

One of the ways it did that was by tapping into the public's passion for horror films. So the Red Cross created a public service announcement starring Scream Queen, Neve Campbell. The Canadian actor got that moniker after starring in the Scream horror film franchise. The commercial was titled A Bloody Nightmare, and it took pot shots at all the familiar horror movie cliches. As it begins, we see Neve Campbell being chased through a house, but then she stops and says, Why am I running from the killer instead of grabbing something big and sharp? Dumb. We see a killer dragging an axe as he walks by a girl hiding under a table who says,

Going to cheerleading camp next to the abandoned insane asylum? It's like throwing good blood away. There was the key line. Doing dumb things in a horror movie is like throwing good blood away. Then Neve Campbell sums it up. 50% of Americans like watching blood get spilled in horror movies. What's scary is that only 3% donate it. Which then prompts the question.

When was the last time you donated blood? Words appear on the screen that say, Blood isn't just for movies. It saves lives. Red Cross. Make an appointment today. The message was clear and urgent. Too much blood is wasted in horror movies.

But you can eliminate a nightmare for patients and their families by donating yours. Which reminds me of another horror campaign where the product is actually the villain. Liquid Death is a brand of water that comes in tall boy cans. Tagline? Murder your thirst. As we've mentioned before, it was founded by an ex-ad man.

The brand has a punk rock heavy metal vibe. It creates advertising that colors way outside the lines, even daring people to dislike it. The name Liquid Death comes from the founder's hatred of plastic water bottles. The company maintains that 73% of its aluminum cans are made from recycled materials, whereas plastic water bottles, most of which are never recycled, do not biodegrade. Recently, Liquid Death created a 45-minute horror film to advertise its brand. The title? Dead Till Death.

The film begins with the classic trope of three 20-something couples going on a camping trip. Along the way, they stop at a creepy, isolated general store, where the strange-looking proprietor tells them the one thing they must have on this particular trip is water. Lots of water. Then he points to a cooler filled with 12 packs of liquid death. The campers load up, then continue to their camping spot. While there, in the woods, things start to go horribly awry. One by one, the campers start disappearing.

When one of the guys decides to go searching for one of the girls, he discovers something bizarre. The cans of liquid death have come to life, and they're hunting the campers. Everybody listen! The liquid death cans are killing people! No, no, they killed Kate! And I'm pretty sure they got Nancy too! His friends don't believe him, then suddenly realize they are surrounded by menacing cans of liquid death. Run! One by one, the campers start disappearing until there are only two left.

As they race through the woods, they find a cabin and run inside. To their surprise, there is a woman in there. They try to warn her. There are a bunch of cans of water out there that are killing people. Liquid death? I know. Then she asks the campers how many cans of liquid death they have unleashed. You guys didn't open all of the cases, did you?

The answer is yes. Now they know there are dozens of cans outside trying to kill them. But the girl tells them the cans haven't attacked her, only her boyfriend, right after he had littered in the woods. She notices something interesting. On the side of the can, it reads, death to plastic. That's when the penny drops. The cans of liquid death only attack people who litter,

and all the dead campers had littered in the woods. She goes on to say that only 10% of plastic actually gets recycled, that plastic isn't economically viable to recycle. Recycling companies just ship it off to landfills. But aluminum cans, she says, can be recycled over and over infinitely. It's the liquid death mission statement in a nutshell. Then she unveils her theory. The billions of plastic bottles have overflowed from Earth into hell and are destroying

the delicate demon ecosystem. So hell has unleashed the liquid death cans upon the Earth to kill plastic pollution and anyone who helps cause it. They hatch a plan to pick up litter as they walk out of the woods,

so the menacing cans of liquid death will leave them alone as they slowly make their escape. Suffice it to say, comic gore and chainsaws ensue. The film used many horror film tropes, but subverted a very important advertising one, namely, the product as hero, because in this film, the product is the villain. Yes, villains with a noble goal, but also with a thirst for human blood. It is, of course, a ridiculous concept, but it's shot very well and played super straight, which makes the comedy work. The film actually had a live Los Angeles premiere and streamed on Amazon Prime Video and Apple TV.

Liquid Death founder Mike Cesario takes a fans-first approach. He produces content that people will laugh at and share. He insists he would never insult Liquid Death fans by producing a straight sales message. That, he says, would kill the brand. In difficult times, horror has a resurgence. And where audiences go, so go advertisers. But using horror in commercials comes with a lot of deadly pitfalls. On one hand, the horror genre has many clichés that can be used to comedic effect. On the other hand, watching someone chased by a chainsaw-wielding maniac can easily be upsetting,

especially if viewed by children. A horror commercial shown before a horror movie at a theater probably finds a receptive audience. A slasher commercial aired during primetime Olympic coverage, not so much. While horror may seem like a risky choice for an advertiser, the popularity of horror cannot be overstated. In 2022, horror films raked in over $700 million at the box office.

Stephen King alone has sold 350 million copies of his scary novels. All advertisers search for new ways to stand out, to create memorable commercials, and to wrap a sales message inside an entertaining storyline. And horror offers fertile ground. The fact is, a lot of people like to be scared out of their wits in a safe setting, like a cinema or the comfort of their own home. And sometimes, advertising is happy to oblige when you're under the influence.

I'm Terry O'Reilly. This episode was recorded in the Terrestrial Mobile Recording Studio. Producer, Debbie O'Reilly. Sound Engineer, Jeff Devine. Research, Terry O'Sullivan. Under the influence theme by Ari Posner and Ian Lefevre. Music in this episode provided by APM Music. Follow me on social at Terry O. Influence.

This is Season 12. If you're enjoying this episode, you might also like The Frankenstein Factor, Inventors Who Regret Their Inventions, Season 6, Episode 11. You'll find it in our archives wherever you listen to the show. And you can now find our podcasts on the Apostrophe YouTube channel.

And if you think there are too many ads in a show about advertising, oh, the horror, you can now listen ad-free on Amazon Music. See you next week. Fun fact. The director of Creature from the Black Lagoon later went on to direct

most of the Brady Bunch episodes. The guy's got range.