20 Years Later, "Josie and the Pussycats" Is Finally Appreciated as a Parody of Advertising

The perfectly cast film starred Rachael Leigh Cook Josie Rosario Dawson Valerie and Tara Reid Melody as The Pussycats alongside Alan Cumming as manager Wyatt Frame Parker Posey record exec Fiona and a litany of stellar supporting cast members including Missi Pyle Gabriel Mann Seth Green Breckin Meyer and MTV veejay of the day Carson Daly then host of Total Request Live The film was a smart symbiotic melding of pop music and massmerchandising Sadly it proved too clever for its own good and its targeted audienceLong before The CW put a dark disturbing spin on these iconic characters and their once sunny locale Josie and the Pussycats told the tale of three girls from the small town of Riverdale whose band reaches superstardom after being signed to Mega Records However unbeknownst to them they are a part of a secret governmentbacked consumer marketing plot that plants subliminal messages in their music brainwashing fickle teens to spend spend spend their disposable incomes and at a moment39s notice have them believe that quotorange is the new pinkquot While a genius premise satirizing your target audience as mindless trend followers it was maybe not a wise one and it likely contributed to the film39s downfall despite its strong message of women39s empowerment Critics savaged it with many taking aim at the film39s blatant commercialism and product placement which was actually the entire pointAs one of the first movies to feature an abundance of product placement for which the production was not compensated Josie and the Pussycats set a trend by putting branding on full display in almost every scene most notably in the branded hotel rooms utilized by the girls along with Motorolathemed jets While branding partnerships in film are not unusual today and corporate sponsorship now finances film projects in 2001 this wasn39t so commonquotMarketing was part of the script and story and we really relied on the products usedquot explained production designer Jasna Stefanovich when I visited the Vancouver set in 2000 on the last day of shooting quotThe hotel rooms include AOL Target and Revlon and we even made a fantasy McDonalds bathroom with the logo in the tiles and a body wash that was made of frenchfry toys It took a long time to organize because it hasn39t been done and before no way could a character hold a Coke can so there was about three months of preparationquotThey also had to be recognizable productsquot she continued quotBecause the movie is a light satire these products would be lampooning themselves We approached companies and they had no idea how we were going to use their products Some said 39okay39 while some turned us down There was no approval process It was 39Let us do what we want or that39s it39 A lot of the highend designers like Gucci and Prada aimed at older people said 39no39 But big department stores agreed It was strange Most companies lightened up and let us do what we wanted Coke Evian and Starbucks all said 39Do what you want39 This movie is the Jurassic Park of product placementquotquotEverything you see in the film will be available in storesquot said the film39s cowritercodirector Deborah Kaplan on setquotEven the dolls in the moviequot added her creative partner Harry Elfont quotWe are satirizing the fact that as soon as someone becomes famous there are dolls and tshirts and they are all going to be sold in storesquotThe fact the film pulled in just under 15 million at the box office meant much of the clever merchandise languished on store shelves before hitting clearance binsLater in 2001 Josie would become one of the first films to auction off its props and costumes pictured above on eBay further maximizing its commercialismBut a funny thing happened on the way to 2021 and the film39s 20th anniversary Perception of product placement changed A new generation of savvy businessminded teens emerged a generation that came of age branding themselves and embracing consumer partnerships This new breed is also attuned to the constant advertising flow provided via social media platforms like Instagram Facebook and Twitter and aren39t offended by the blatant commercialism the film tried to lampoon As a nostalgia piece they view Josie as the satire of advertising that it was intended to be and appreciate just how far ahead of its time it wasquotI love that movie but there is a lot of adult humor for a movie aimed at a teenage audiencequot shared Cook when I asked her about the film in 2012 quotI get a lot of people telling me how much they love that movie now and how ahead of its time it wasquotIn September of 2017 the cast and crew reunited at Los Angeles39 Ace Theater to celebrate the vinyl release of the soundtrack to a packed screening of enthusiastic devotees quotWe were ahead of the timesquot raved Reid at that gathering quotWe were preFacebook Twitter and Instagram Subliminal messages No one got it Today it would be a totally different storyquotquotI just loved that we were trying to make a great movie about pop culture the media and everythingquot added Dawson quotIt felt indie but on a big scale in a very particular moment in time It was such a special experience with so many amazing moments I39m so glad it found its audience over time and I39m still happy to talk about it which isn39t always the case with moviesquotMost recently its three leads came together for a 20th anniversary Zoom reunion with the message of being ahead of its time still as strong as the friendships formed on set over 20 years agoClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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20 Years Later, "Josie and the Pussycats" Is Finally Appreciated as a Parody of Advertising

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Steve Gidlow

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20 Years Later, "Josie and the Pussycats" Is Finally Appreciated as a Parody of Advertising

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