# E.T. the character as an advertising powerhouse **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 11, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236 "2002-11-11T04:01:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236/1 "2002-11-11T04:01:43Z")
IIRC in the past 5 years or so the character E.T. of the movie “E.T. The Extra -Terresterial” has been used for all manner of advertising tie-ins from fast food toys to the current Toyota ad. E.T. was released in 1982 and while a good film for the time is hardly at the top of anyone’s list of relevant cultural icons. What is the power this film holds over advertisers that they are willing to pay big bucks for a product tie in with a _20 year old_ sci-fi film that few people consider to be a signficant cultural touchstone? ---
**Author:** ![LolaCocaCola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7cd45c/32.png) [@LolaCocaCola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LolaCocaCola)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236/2 "2002-11-11T04:06:16Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > \*\*What is the power this film holds over advertisers that they are willing to pay big bucks for a product tie in with a _20 year old_ sci-fi film that few people consider to be a signficant cultural touchstone? \*\* Welp, ya gotchyer glowing finger. Folks just love themselves a glowing finger. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236/3 "2002-11-11T13:51:03Z")
Nostalgia is a big money maker. The kids who grew up with E.T. are now parents with kids themselves. It’s the same with all the other 80s memorabilia that’s starting to come out. ---
**Author:** ![Legomancer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/779978/32.png) [@Legomancer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Legomancer)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2002, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236/4 "2002-11-11T13:54:51Z")
Which is funny because I don’t think the re-release did that well (it made money, but I don’t think it did nearly as well as they all thought it would) and the actual ET toys are crowding up shelves everywhere. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236/5 "2002-11-12T01:02:30Z")
If people start saying “phone home” again in funny voices… I swear I’m finding a clocktower. ---
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236/6 "2002-11-12T01:06:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Legomancer \* > \*\*Which is funny because I don’t think the re-release did that well (it made money, but I don’t think it did nearly as well as they all thought it would) and the actual ET toys are crowding up shelves everywhere. \*\* For such a huge box office success ET aged horribly. I rented it when it was first made available on video years after its theatrical release. Given that I loved the movie as a child I was surprised at how much I didn’t like the video. When it was re-released in theaters recently none of the kids I knew were the least bit interested in seeing it. I know I wasn’t interested in it. Marc ---
**Author:** ![mobo85](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b19c9b/32.png) [@mobo85](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mobo85)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236/7 "2002-11-12T20:58:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by astro \* > **IIRC in the past 5 years or so the character E.T. of the movie “E.T. The Extra -Terresterial” has been used for all manner of advertising tie-ins from fast food toys to the current Toyota ad.** The only times I can recall E.T. appearing in ads before the 20th Anniversary re-release was when the movie was rereleased on video and a Super Bowl ad for Progressive Auto Insurance. ---
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2002, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236/8 "2002-11-12T21:35:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by MGibson \* > \*\* > > For such a huge box office success ET aged horribly. I rented it when it was first made available on video years after its theatrical release. Given that I loved the movie as a child I was surprised at how much I didn’t like the video. When it was re-released in theaters recently none of the kids I knew were the least bit interested in seeing it. I know I wasn’t interested in it. > > Marc \*\* I **hated** _ET_ as a kid. Still do, in fact. I was born the year it came out, so I was just old enough to remember when it started playing _all the time_at parties (at homes which had VCRs by then) as a “safe way to entertain the kiddies.” :rolleyes: Once or twice would have been enough for me, but it was so very overplayed. It seems like every Thanksgiving and Christmas for years it was either being shown television or was in the VCR. And I was the kid who probably watched the animated _Return of the King_ probably 500 times. So there must be something about that movie that I just don’t like. Maybe it’s just too sappy for me. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2002, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/e-t-the-character-as-an-advertising-powerhouse/136236/9 "2002-11-13T04:53:01Z")
I know what you mean, **asterion** - I hate it too. In fact, it’s my most hated movie of all time. That bad. It’s so overly sentimental. Maybe i’m just horribly cynical, but movies like that, that just try so hard to make you feel sad or happy or whatever just leave me cold. You can just see Spielberg’s manipulative actions behind it all. And E.T…ugh, horrid beast.