Sully: Product Placement

SULLY
Sully, directed by Clint Eastwood, is a movie about a courageous man who did the unthinkable by landing a plane in the Hudson River. The film told the story of Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger in a way that captivated and assembled a sense of relief and security towards the men and women who pilot planes. The usage of product placement was evident during the film as it used numerous services and products while Sully was dealing with the aftermath of landing in the Hudson. It is important to realize that product placement in films like Sully are important for companies who want to advertise their products and services in a particular matter. The viewers notice the message of what is being promoted, and for that reason, it is important for companies to pay close attention to how they want to market their particular product or service.

     

First, one of the more notable services in the movie is seen on two occasions during the film which is the Marriot Hotel. We see the hotel at the beginning of the film when Sully decides to take a run near the Hudson and past Times Square. It can show the viewer a prestigious hotel like the Marriott since it is in the center of NYC. After that we see the Courtyard Marriot again, and this time it is showing us the gracious hospitality as the manager of the hotel is thanking Sully for his bravery and assures him if he needs anything, he can just ask, and it will get done. The Marriott in the film Sully is shown in a positive matter to the viewers as a hotel who truly does care about their guests, and if something were to happen, the Marriott would always be there to assist them. While doing more research on the Marriott, they underline the importance of having core values and state on their website “As we change and grow, the beliefs that are most important to us stay the same—putting people first, pursuing excellence, embracing change, acting with integrity and serving our world.” (Marriott) It is apparent that Marriott wanted to show their core values when it came to helping out Sully and his co-pilot, Jeff Skiles, by making their stay at the hotel, relaxing and distressful.

   

Next is the marketing of Kmart when it came to Sully and Skiles losing all of their belongings in the Hudson. While they were in Sully’s hotel room, a man came in with a bag full of day-to-day essentials like shaving cream, toothpaste, deodorant, and a comfortable outfit. The man who walks in actually says Kmart as Sully’s co-pilot humorously says “What did you think we were ninjas?” as the man responds that Kmart was the only one open. Kmart was the only store that was advertised by the actors and their message to the customers is quite clear. Kmart centralized on showing that with any event that is to occur, they are reliable late at night for any essential things needed. It focuses on their reliability and trust as a company, as well as a good sense of professionality. While researching Kmart, they specifically emphasize that their “customers can be assured that their communities will always have a broad selection of top-quality products at exceptional values” (Kmart).  This is noticeably shown in the film and is quite frankly proved to be a well-founded store.

  In the end, product placement is used to highlight certain core values of Marriott and KMart in the film Sully. Both companies proved to be reliable and determined to satisfy and strengthen their guests /customers relations. By exposing their services and stores in a positive way, the viewers get a glimpse of what their companies are all about, and can lead to new customers. And at the end of the day, that is what product placement is all about, to show the target audience about the company in just a couple of seconds. In Understanding Movies, Louis Giannetti states "movies try to sell us a bill of goods, like TV commercials or propaganda," and that is precisely what each of the companies intended to do when presenting their services and products. The director, Clint Eastwood, was successful in indicating the values of each of the companies while also centralizing the focus on Sully.