With “Dirty Harry,” Clint Eastwood made history in the advertising relationship between Hollywood and arms sales (Photo: FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images)
The cinema has always been a showcase for promoting products, and numerous companies have invested millions to showcase the stars of Hollywood Present your brands in blockbuster films and increase their reputation and sales. This happens a lot in franchises like James Bond, where there is no fashion, accessories or car company that can resist seeing the most stylish, charismatic and insightful agent in popular culture show off his suits, shoes, watches, glasses or vehicles in films . Great diffusion.
However, we also see it in the action genre with such controversial markets as the sale of weapons, where it is interesting that strong icons like Clint Eastwood, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Bruce Willis either Sylvester Stallone Certain brands of pistols, revolvers or shotguns flaunt to encourage purchases.
Given the difficulty of penetrating this area, which can create an image problem when studios and films are associated with promoting violence in the real world, it is not typically as visible. But in the 70s A Clint Eastwood classic has completely revolutionized gun advertising on the big screen with a phrase that caused gun manufacturers and sellers to travel heaven and earth to get their products featured in the films.
Clint Eastwood on the set of “Dirty Harry” directed by Don Siegel. (Photo by Sunset Boulevard/Corbis via Getty Images)
It happened with Dirty Harrythe film Eastwood directed in 1971 Don Siegel And from that came one of the most legendary franchises in action cinema. His story, that of a San Francisco police officer with tough working methods, led the actor to one of his most intimidating shots and made us fall in love with his acting and this police classic with just an intense look and a gun in his hand. , which expanded to four sequels.
When Eastwood drew his gun in one scene, he pointed it at a thug and uttered the sentence “This is a 44 Magnum, the most powerful pistol in the world.”Many viewers, attracted by the character's charisma, left the cinemas hoping to have the same accessory in their collection. The result: an earthquake on the weapons market, which this industry tried to repeat with other products with a multitude of classics featuring the great action heroes.
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As reported in a 1999 Baltimore Sun article about the relationship between Hollywood and guns, the Smith & Wesson Model 29:44 Magnum pistol carried by the actor was a relatively unknown product. Production began in 1955 and discontinuation of the model was considered several times due to low sales. But Detective Harry Callahan's verdict changed everything. From overnight, Companies struggled to maintain inventory and profits from the product skyrocketed..
Action heroes joined Eastwood's movement
The phenomenon repeated itself with its consequences. The title of the first, Magnum Force in the United States and Magnum 44 in Latin America, emphasized this intention. Furthermore, if in Brilliant effectthe fourth part of the franchise directed by Eastwood himself, the actor wore a discontinued model called AutoMag, A movement arose to bring it back into stores, even though it had been out of production for some time. What is more striking, however, is how this strategy was replicated with other weapons on the market at the time, such as another so-called pistol desert eagle.
It was also developed by Magnum and introduced in 1984 Since its introduction, it has been suggested to be promoted in Hollywood films. It has been worn by Jean-Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis, Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger in many films such as The Protector, The Red Inferno, The Last Great Hero, Rambo III, Total Risk, The Wrecker and Double Impact.
Clint Eastwood in “Magnum 44,” the sequel to “Dirty Harry” (Photo: Screen Archives/Getty Images)
According to information published by the Baltimore Sun, it was used in up to 40 titles and caused the company's profits to increase year after year, even a decade after its introduction. For example, it is stated that 1,960 units were sold in 1996, compared to 969 the previous year. Furthermore, the media points this out Those who bought it did so mainly to wear an item that a Hollywood star should wear, and not so much for its practical use.as it was a rather cumbersome weapon.
“What happened is that a weapon that was designed to be a target and/or hunting weapon was taken over by the film industry and turned into a villain's star weapon,” said Rick Washburn, who runs a company in New York that specializes in weapons -Props for film and television. “Here we have a weapon that has little practical use. It’s too big and too heavy.” There isn't a huge market for pistol hunting, so I'd say the success of this particular gun is due almost entirely to the movies.“.
Since the beginning of cinema, there may have been many heroes, gangsters and villains who carried weapons and tempted viewers to equip themselves with the same accessories, but in the 70s, with the introduction of the blockbuster concept and a broader vision of the cinema film product, Clint Eastwood made history by illustrating the many possibilities of using the cinema as a sales showcase and to establish a productive relationship between the arms market and the Mecca of cinema.
This article was written exclusively for Yahoo en Español by Cine54.
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