Beyond Product Placement - Just Buy the Whole Movie

-- School Library Journal, 8/20/2008

If you caught the debut of The American Mall on MTV on August 11, you may have noticed a prominent presence by Sears - many of the scenes in the movie were shot in Sears locations and the characters are sporting apparel and using products from this granddaddy of U.S. retailing. In the background, extras can be seen carrying Sears shopping bags. No coincidence – in a first time partnership, MTV and Sears have created The American Mall, a sort of Beyond High School Musical musical. Co-branded commercials spots aired during the premiere of the movie, and the campaign will continue through the summer as Sears will distribute VIP Access Cards to young adults with special offers for members. Sears product giveaways will be offered through local "The American Mall" radio promotions and on the popular MTV series "TRL." In addition to The American Mall Web site, bonus video clips and content from the movie will appear on the Sears seasonal microsite www.arrivelounge.com. Sears is hoping that this jump into the teen mainstream will help boost fall back-to-school sales, and re-introduce its retail operations as a source for hot fashion as well as a cool place to hang out.

The American Mall, directed by Shawn Ku, is the story of a group of young adults who work in a mall over the summer, and features Ally, whose mom owns the music store in the mall. Ally, a singer/songwriter, meets Joey who is only moonlighting as a janitor to make ends meet for his music aspirations. The mall owner’s daughter wants the premium space occupied by her mom’s shop, leading Ally to fight to save the store. The movie was filmed in Salt Lake City and Provo, Utah. It stars Nina Dobrev, Rob Mayes, Autumn Reeser, Yassmin Alers, and Al Sapienza, several of whom have appeared in Disney and Nickelodeon shows, or in the recent High School Musical movies.

According to MTV, the cable channel reaches 387 million households worldwide, and their audience is “198% more likely than all U.S. 12-34 year-olds to reside in homes with a household income greater than $75K and represent $250 billion in spending power. By the year 2010, young adult spending power is projected to be $350 billion.”