"I have always believed that writing advertisements is the second most profitable form of writing. The first, of course, is ransom notes." – Philip Dusenberry
"Advertising is legalised lying." – H. G. Wells
"Logorama" is a short film which takes place in an "over-marketed" world in which nearly everything is constructed from corporate brand images. Capitalism's commodification and advertising's proliferation taken to grotesque extremes, the film also satires big budget Hollywood action movies, whilst homaging fare like Altman's "Short Cut's", "Blade Runner", "Falling Down", disaster movies and Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction". As post-modernism is the logic of late capitalism, it's no surprise that virtually everything in this film is a ripped from somewhere else.
The plot is simple, and involves police forces tracking down a deranged Ronald McDonald, who has recently committed a robbery and kidnapping. As the film unfolds, we're treated to some expertly mounted action scenes (with excellent virtual camera work), the overriding point being that big corporations, oil conglomerates and brand heavy businesses are not only run by sleazy people, but completely wrecking the world.
When its not critiquing corporations and when Ronald McDonald isn't shooting up the place with a machine-gun, the film makes some subtle jokes. Most of these are noticeable only with re-watches, but some of the more blatant ones include Ronald McDonald tripped by a Weight Watchers billboard, an IBM building collapsing such that its catchphrase loses an "s" to read "Solutions for a mall planet" and a sequence in which Enron, K-Mart, and Freddie Mac - all of which have been marred by scandal, bankruptcy, and government bailouts - fall during an earthquake. A later scene featuring several logotypes drowning in oil even includes Phillips 66, Chrysler, and a "W", from the George W. Bush reelection campaign of 2004.
Though the film critiques consumption, Americanocentrism, mindless entertainment, corporate branding, cultural imperialism, globalisation and capitalism's rampant reification, it's ultimately a very limp work of satire. Functioning more as product placement, "Logorama" adopts the tactics of and revels in exactly that which it damns. It's as stupid and crass as the action movies it parodies and as reliant on gimmickry and the novelty value of symbols as the brands it tries to mock. The notion that having characters cursing somehow taints these corporations is also naive (Most of the logos on the screen are not portrayed in a negative light. They are just there.), as modern advertising now works despite being annoying. The ads of today – think internet pop-ups, IMDb banners and spam – do not seek to ingratiate themselves with the consumer, only to get their name out there, in the public's consciousness, by whatever means necessary. The ad, in other words, no longer advertises a product, but the ad itself. That the companies whose logos appear in this film have not blocked the release of "Logorama" is merely an indication of how comfortable they all are with the current state of things, and how ineffectual such small acts of protest really are.
Then there's the fact that H5, the company that produced "Logorama", is itself a well known French company which works in music video, advertising and packaging, servicing such brands as Audi and Cartier. With that in mind, consider the way discussions relating to "Logorama" always degenerate into a game of "spot the logo" or "spot the brand". This effectively reverses the usual operation of advertising. The ad is no longer pushed upon the consumer, but the consumer is actively searching for the ad and rewarding himself for spotting it. Creepy.
7.5/10 – Plays better as an Ellroy/Chandler styled cop movie than a satire. Worth one viewing.
"Advertising is legalised lying." – H. G. Wells
"Logorama" is a short film which takes place in an "over-marketed" world in which nearly everything is constructed from corporate brand images. Capitalism's commodification and advertising's proliferation taken to grotesque extremes, the film also satires big budget Hollywood action movies, whilst homaging fare like Altman's "Short Cut's", "Blade Runner", "Falling Down", disaster movies and Tarantino's "Pulp Fiction". As post-modernism is the logic of late capitalism, it's no surprise that virtually everything in this film is a ripped from somewhere else.
The plot is simple, and involves police forces tracking down a deranged Ronald McDonald, who has recently committed a robbery and kidnapping. As the film unfolds, we're treated to some expertly mounted action scenes (with excellent virtual camera work), the overriding point being that big corporations, oil conglomerates and brand heavy businesses are not only run by sleazy people, but completely wrecking the world.
When its not critiquing corporations and when Ronald McDonald isn't shooting up the place with a machine-gun, the film makes some subtle jokes. Most of these are noticeable only with re-watches, but some of the more blatant ones include Ronald McDonald tripped by a Weight Watchers billboard, an IBM building collapsing such that its catchphrase loses an "s" to read "Solutions for a mall planet" and a sequence in which Enron, K-Mart, and Freddie Mac - all of which have been marred by scandal, bankruptcy, and government bailouts - fall during an earthquake. A later scene featuring several logotypes drowning in oil even includes Phillips 66, Chrysler, and a "W", from the George W. Bush reelection campaign of 2004.
Though the film critiques consumption, Americanocentrism, mindless entertainment, corporate branding, cultural imperialism, globalisation and capitalism's rampant reification, it's ultimately a very limp work of satire. Functioning more as product placement, "Logorama" adopts the tactics of and revels in exactly that which it damns. It's as stupid and crass as the action movies it parodies and as reliant on gimmickry and the novelty value of symbols as the brands it tries to mock. The notion that having characters cursing somehow taints these corporations is also naive (Most of the logos on the screen are not portrayed in a negative light. They are just there.), as modern advertising now works despite being annoying. The ads of today – think internet pop-ups, IMDb banners and spam – do not seek to ingratiate themselves with the consumer, only to get their name out there, in the public's consciousness, by whatever means necessary. The ad, in other words, no longer advertises a product, but the ad itself. That the companies whose logos appear in this film have not blocked the release of "Logorama" is merely an indication of how comfortable they all are with the current state of things, and how ineffectual such small acts of protest really are.
Then there's the fact that H5, the company that produced "Logorama", is itself a well known French company which works in music video, advertising and packaging, servicing such brands as Audi and Cartier. With that in mind, consider the way discussions relating to "Logorama" always degenerate into a game of "spot the logo" or "spot the brand". This effectively reverses the usual operation of advertising. The ad is no longer pushed upon the consumer, but the consumer is actively searching for the ad and rewarding himself for spotting it. Creepy.
7.5/10 – Plays better as an Ellroy/Chandler styled cop movie than a satire. Worth one viewing.