Bonfire Agency » Comic Culture

Where Everybody Knows Your Secret Identity

Steve Rotterdam — Fri, 12 Apr 2013 19:12:20 +0000

In every conversation we have with brands and brand stewards about the marketing might of the geek culture community, we compare the significance of the "friendly neighborhood comic shop" to that of a local bar or, taking it a step further, private speakeasy. Well, one enterprising, progressively minded comic shop in Winter Park, Florida – a proud member of Bonfire's StoreCorps Comic Retail Activation Network – no longer needs to make the comparison. From the Orlando Sentinel comes this profile of A Comic Shop's "Geek Easy." The Geek Easy Levels Up Tod Caviness, Orlando Sentinel 11:12 a.m. EDT, April 11, 2013 If you don't know by now that geeks are doing the bullying these days, I'd urge you to mention the words "Game of Thrones" or "Doctor Who" around the office water cooler. "The Avengers" director Joss Whedon is one of the most powerful men in Hollywood, and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg practically owns your social life. The nerds have won. The revenge is over. So where do we celebrate? If you live in east Winter Park, you may already know the answer. While it's impossible to pinpoint the moment when nerds became cool, it was a comic-book store called A Comic Shop that first started to locally embrace them as such. Strategically situated across the street from the media-savvy students of Full Sail University, the name is the only humble thing about the place, which has been hosting events such as nerdcore rap concerts and burlesque nights along with the usual comic-book signings since it opened in 2005. An expansion was inevitable, but when a hairdressing academy vacated the space next door in 2010, owner Aaron Haaland saw more than just a storage spot for back issues. For the past couple of years, the spacious back room has been a sort of members' VIP wing, a home for A Comic Shop's after-hours shenanigans. Now with the arrival of a beer and wine license last month, the Geek Easy has fulfilled Haaland's vision as a "sports bar without the sports." Sure enough, while there are plenty of flat-screen TVs around, you're more likely to see "Rollerball" (James Caan's 1975 sci-fi cult film) than football. Saturday-morning cartoons are a regular staple on screens that the regulars aren't using for video games — just one perk of a membership card (though anyone can drop by the bar during A Comic Shop's regular hours). Geek Easy membership runs $9.95 a month and allows users access to a full library of Xbox 360 and PS3 games, plus free entry to events such as the popular weekly screenings of "Game of Thrones" and "The Walking Dead." Didn't know "The Walking Dead" began its (un)life as a comic book? Membership also includes access to a well-stocked lending library of graphic novels — a great way to catch up. When I showed up last Sunday, I was just stoked to find a bar I could finally read comics at without shame. I found that a hoppy glass of Cigar City's Jai Alai IPA went well with my issue of Matt Fraction's "Hawkeye." Better still, the beer was only $3.50. Comics may be getting pricey these days, but the Geek Easy helps balance out that sticker shock with reasonably priced drafts ($3- $5.50). Bottles are even less — even a cold Burdisson's Dwarven Ale (a toasty English Brown) costs less than many single issues at $3. There's an equally cheap bar menu, filled with some sugary but appropriately geeky snacks. ($2 Pocky!) Dive bar prices, yes. Dive bar atmosphere, no. The walls are decorated with superhero silhouettes, video-game vignettes and local art, while the bar top is a bright collage of comic-book panels. Look up from the bar, and you'll find power-ups from "Super Mario Bros." instead of lampshades. (The bartenders frown on hitting them with your head.) Sure enough, the Geek Easy will continue to host plenty of parties for the nerd faithful or curious newbies alike. Special events include a new "Comics & Comics" comedy showcase at 9 p.m. Thursday (April 18), and a weekly geek trivia night on Tuesdays starting April 23 at 8 p.m. Both are free, and here's hoping the Geek Easy keeps its doors open for plenty more. Live long and prosper, guys. tcaviness@tribune.com The Geek Easy Where: Inside A Comic Shop at 114 S. Semoran Blvd., Winter Park Hours: 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Tuesday, 11 a.m.-11 p.m. Wednesday, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Thursday and Saturday, 11 a.m.-midnight Friday, noon-6 p.m. Sunday (with later hours for special events) Call: 407-332-9636 Online: facebook.com/thegeekeasy

If It’s Wednesday, It Must Be Comics

Steve Rotterdam — Wed, 06 Feb 2013 21:00:55 +0000

Any marketer looking for more evidence of the power of the brand loyalist need look no further than their friendly neighborhood comic shop, particularly on a day like today – Wednesday. Because as any comic culture consumer will tell you (if you know how to ask), Wednesday is the day that the new comics come out. It’s been decades since the corner candy store with its spinner rack loaded with Spider-Man, Wonder Woman and Archie comics went the way of the nickel candy bar and Grape Nehi (though soda fans tell us that you can still find it in parts of North Carolina). Most comic books distributed across North America today are sold through specialty stores devoted to all aspects of comic fandom and related geek-centric passions. Independently owned and operated, these community-based small businesses serve as cultural centers and weekly rendezvous points for hundreds of thousands of pop culture enthusiasts. While much has been posted and reposted regarding the rise of digitally delivered comics and their importance in bring “lapsed readers” back into the fold, the vast majority of consumers in this sector value their weekly non-virtual comic shop experiences. In fact, according to data tracked and released by Diamond Comic Distributors, sales of comic books and graphic novels in the specialty retail channel grew by 15% in 2012. In an era where flat is considered up, this growth is somewhat phenomenal. Moreover, in a recent survey conducted among members of Bonfire Agency’s proprietary FanPan Pop Consumer Input Panel, 82% of respondents who read comics said they prefer to purchase them at their LCS (local comic shop) – and 66% of those (male and female) said that they feel their week is just not complete without their regular visit. With a tip of our cowl to the beloved Cheers, we call this effect the New Norm, for the best comic shops are very much indeed places where everybody knows your name. For marketers, this dynamic environment (with activity that persists throughout the week) presents unique opportunities to connect with an often difficult to reach, yet highly engaged and influential consumer target. But a few words of caution are in order. As with non-sparkly vampires, entry over this threshold is granted by invitation only. Brand stewards that approach such opportunities with respect and creativity will be embraced and the impact of their efforts will be magnified. All others will be tossed into the fiery pits of ridicule reserved for poseurs and brands that put capes on candy bars. Experience the experience for yourself. For the comic shop nearest you, ask the guy with way too many Batman statues in the office next to yours or go to comicshoplocator.com. Photo courtesy of Flying Colors Comics & Other Cool Stuff, Concord, CA.

Fans of Super Bowl Begin to Catch Up to Fans of Super Heroes

Steve Rotterdam — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 17:27:47 +0000

It's the morning after Super Bowl XLVII (and only three years from the sure to be much mocked Super Bowl L) and sprinkled into the annual debate over which brands' ads scored and which fell short of completion are discussions of the supposed emergence of social media as the MVP of marketing integration and consumer engagement. To be sure, the utilization of Twitter feeds and Facebook postings as extensions of brand campaigns were never quite as prevalent or well orchestrated as they were last night – particularly during the surprise 34-minute power outage that plunged half of the Superdome into darkness. While waiting for the lights to come back on, and after joking to friends that this was the best Oreo promotional stunt ever, sure enough the folks at Nabisco thought fast and acted even faster, posting the following on Facebook: Even quicker on the draw was State Farm, a brand that wasn't even a Super Bowl advertiser: In any event, what's being lauded as a watershed moment in social media marketing is something that brands and content providers who regularly connect with consumers of comic culture have long recognized. There's nothing more powerful – and potentially persuasive – than the passion of the fan. More than 5 million of them weigh in every second of every hour of every day with a yea or nay on everything from Star Trek's new cast to Superman's new costume. This is an audience for whom being the first to know is critical social currency. And if you're not talking directly to them – and speaking their language – then you're leaving what could be your brand's most valuable advocates totally in the dark.

Much Ado About Nerding: The Comic-Con Name Game

Ivan Cohen — Mon, 09 Jul 2012 20:14:14 +0000

With pop-culture industry executives, creative talent, and fans all packing their bags for San Diego and Comic-Con International, it seems like the right time to wrestle with the big issue: What's the difference between a nerd and a geek? As part of the flurry of analysis about ways that the new Spider-Man reboot, The Amazing Spider-Man, differs from the previous films in the series, Linda Holmes took a stab at the distinction, arguing that Tobey Maguire's Peter Parker was "a classic nerd archetype," while Andrew Garfield's version is "the modern notion of a geek...more oddball than outcast." Holmes makes an interesting argument, though I'll admit I thought Garfield was playing the John Romita version of Spidey, Maguire the more Ditko-flavored version. But maybe that's because I'm just a big comics nerd at heart. Or am I a geek? It's hard to keep track, especially when the labels are kind of arbitrary. "Geek" has become the catch-all for fans who are passionate about anything other than math and science, in which case you're a nerd, or sports, in which case you're a fan, which is a totally normal lifestyle choice. Mainly because advertisers sell "fans" beer and cars. But if you're a math whiz who also likes football, we don't know what to call you. A baseball player who loves Alfred Hitchcock? Can't help ya. (I'm pretty sure the latter one's a jock, but one with hidden depths or something.) "Nerd" mainly endures today as a term of derision. It means more than just "outcast", it implies that you kind of deserve to be on the outside looking in, because your interests are obsessive and, well, decidedly not cool. These vague, all-over-the-place distinctions divide genre fans into smaller subgroups, making them easier to write off as an obscure subculture. Hey, did you know "fans" comes from fanatics, which was a form of derision for outcasts and oddballs alike until it stopped being one? Of course you did. If you're reading this, in addition to being a pop-culture geek, there's a good chance you're also a word nerd. Since rhyming and puns in headlines are an excellent way for the mainstream media to marginalize what they don't understand/respect, you'll see some even more painful nerd rhymes in this week's Comic-Con coverage. ("Nerd Herd Arrives In/Descends On San Diego" is my pick for the Weekend sections of this Friday's California papers and USA Today.) "Nerd Words" might get used to head a glossary of Comic-Con jargon that some reporter gets tasked with making up. You know, where they claim that Hall H is filled with attendees angry that "Prometheus really 'Jar-Jarred' the franchise" or other nonsense. But "geek" goes with stuff. Phrases like "Geek Chic" and "Geek Out" are fun to say, especially now that "geek" no longer calls up images of sideshow performers biting the heads off of chickens. There's a reason we at the Bonfire Agency use "The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth" on our home page. It's really, really catchy. It's also less limited. "Nerd" still generally implies glasses-wearing lover of math and science with few other interests. Geeks come in a wider variety, and although I'm not sure you can be a "baseball geek" or a "fashion geek" just yet, that day will come. Of course, once it does the so-called mainstream will have to come up with a new way to write off the millions of people who like things like Doctor Who, grindhouse movies, and radio comedy. At that point, I bet "nerd" gets yanked away from the pocket-protector set. But until then let's enjoy this moment, where geeks headline number-one movies at the box office, people proudly read their George R.R. Martin novels in public, and Twilight fan-fiction can become a best-selling porn trilogy. Geekdom is a big tent, and there's plenty of room for nerds in there. Unlike Hall H, where there's no room for anybody. See you at Comic-Con!

WWBD: What Would Batman…Drive?

Steve Rotterdam — Tue, 19 Jun 2012 16:45:39 +0000

As a kid growing up in southeastern Queens, I'd often daydream as to what type of car I would drive once I learned how to drive. I knew that it would never be whatever my family's car happened to be at the time. From the early 60's through the mid-70's, my parents counted on a succession of solidly built, extremely reliable and wholly uninspired automobiles to get us from various points A to points B and back again. No station wagons for us, for we were never quite that suburban. We were a sedan clan – Ford Falcon, Chevy Biscayne, Dodge Coronet 440, Buick Century. The Dodge was the only Chrysler model we ever owned and it was, on all counts, a piece of crap. Even so, the car that fueled my young passion for mobility was a Plymouth. A Plymouth Duster, to be precise. Because on a cloudy day, from a distance, it sorta looked like the Batmobile. Kinda. A few years later, when I eventually went looking for the first car that I would call my own, I hunted down a couple of used Dusters. They looked awesome, but, like their Dodge cousin, they burned oil like crazy. I bought a Mustang. (Okay, so it was a Mustang II.) Which is why I had to pause to fully take in Dale Buss' recent Brandchannel article on Chrysler's placement and related promotions tied to next month's The Dark Knight Rises. Bruce Wayne in a Chrysler 300? Really? Isn't that like James Bond in a Subaru? Article appears below:

What Would Batman Have Driven in the Early Years? A Chrysler 300, Of Course

Posted by Dale Buss on June 18, 2012 12:52 PM

Chrysler is still a brand that seems to be comfortable with a dark and brooding urban presence, as exemplified in its "Imported From Detroit" campaign. But increasingly, the city it's representing isn't just Detroit. And now it's Gotham City — as in the New York of fables in the Batman comic-book and movie series. For the July 20th release of The Dark Knight Rises, the final piece of the Warner Bros. prequel trilogy, Chrysler has launched an "Imported from Gotham City" contest that allows fans to help create an original co-branded TV spot featuring Chrysler and Batman. The Dark Knight Rises Director/Producer/Writer Christopher Nolan will select the winning ad, which will debut on TV to help promote the release of the film, and welcome the winner to the red carpet at the movie's NYC premiere. Contestants can use a "suite of assets" including Chrysler 300 car footage, clips from the film, and music stems from the trailer. They'll have until June 29th to remix everything for their own stab at a 25-second TV commercial. Chrysler will reveal its own 30-second co-branded spot using the "Imported from Gotham City" tagline, which is set to debut Tuesday night on NBC while a 60-second spot will run on the brand's YouTube channel. “The 2012 Chrysler 300 featured in this marketing and advertising campaign was created intentionally to look as if it could be driven on the streets and fit in to the nightlife of Gotham City; it’s clearly a vehicle that stands out and makes one take notice,” stated Saad Chehab, President and CEO of the Chrysler Brand, in a press release. Affiliating with The Dark Knight Rises is an interesting strategy for the Chrysler brand. It has been veering away from its 2011 Super Bowl Eminem-rapped "Imported from Detroit" positioning since its Clint Eastwood-narrated "Halftime in America" follow-up debuted during the 2012 Super Bowl. "Imported from Gotham City" seems to be an attempt to squeeze a little more life out of a mood that performed wonders for revitalizing the brand but is becoming, well, a bit tired. But there's nothing in the movie business like riding the Caped Crusader's tails: The Batman movie franchise alone has been worth an estimated $2.6 billion worldwide since the 1989 release of Batman. And the Chrysler 300 featured in the Dark Knight campaign indeed has the feel of something that Batman might have driven in his early years, before the Batmobile — an urban and slightly overstated vibe that, in the car's comeback incarnation several years ago, bordered on "gangsta" styling. Of course, when it comes to the Batman franchise, you can't expect Chrysler to have the Gotham cityscape all to itself as the sure-to-be summer blockbuster looms. PepsiCo's Mountain Dew brand already is cross-promoting the movie's launch, including announcing a website with four different "environments" that tie into The Dark Knight Rises.

What Would Batman Eat?

Steve Rotterdam — Wed, 30 May 2012 15:07:18 +0000

Our friends at Cornell University have discovered what geek culture – and Bonfire founders and Cornell alums Steve Rotterdam and Ed Catto – have known for decades: superheroic icons can be powerful forces for good when it comes to fostering positive behaviors and attitudes. In a study conducted by the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, researchers found that youngsters who are asked "What would Batman eat?" choose foods that are more healthful than children who don't consider the food choices of superheroes. But one question still remains. Can even the Dark Knight convince them to pull up their jeans? Article from the current issue of the Cornell Chronicle appears below: Study Finds Asking Kids "What Would Batman Eat?" Improves their Food Choices

By Stacey Shackford In the ongoing battle to get children to eat healthfully, parents may do well invoking the names of superheroes to come to their rescue, say Cornell researchers. Just as Popeye inspired a generation to eat spinach, such role models as Spiderman or Batman could help children make healthy choices, according to Brian Wansink, the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing and director of the Cornell Food and Brand Lab. Wansink, with postdoctoral researcher Mitsuru Shimizu and visiting graduate student Guido Camps of Utrecht University in the Netherlands, conducted a study in which 22 children, ages 6-12, at a summer camp were asked if they wanted "apple fries" (thinly sliced raw apples) or French fries during several consecutive Wednesday lunches. During one of those lunches, the children were first presented with 12 photos of real and fictional role models and asked, "Would this person order apple fries or French fries?" The researchers hypothesized that children who thought admirable models would eat well would activate positive associations towards healthful food and become more likely to choose apple fries over French fries. The results supported this theory: 10 (45 percent) of the children selected apple fries after viewing pictures of superheroes and other role models, compared with the two (9 percent) who chose apple fries during other lunches with no prompts. The study was published in the journal Pediatric Obesity in April. "Fast food patronage is a frequent reality for many children and their parents. Simply instructing a parent to order healthier food for a child is neither empowering for a child nor easy for a parent," Wansink said. "Advising a parent to ask their child 'What would Batman eat?' might be a realistic step to take in what could be a healthier fast-food world. "On average, children who selected apple fries consumed only 34 calories whereas children who selected French fries consumed 227 calories. That's almost seven times as many calories just from the side dish of the meal," he added. "If you eat fast food once a week, a small switch from French fries to apple fries could save your children almost three pounds of weight a year." Wansink will discuss the study and other highlights of his research as part of his next Consumer Camp, on the Cornell campus May 31. Author of "Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think," Wansink has conducted several studies on the influence of environmental cues on consumer behavior. He recently found that the color of your plate can affect how much you eat, and that children prefer lots of variety in their meals. Other topics at the Consumer Camp include "The Magic Lunch Tray" and "Restaurant and Supermarket Danger Zones." Stacey Shackford is a staff writer at the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences.

Why Geeks Had Nothing (and Everything) to Do with the Success of “The Avengers”

Ivan Cohen — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:12:33 +0000

With the biggest opening weekend ever (over $200 million in domestic box office) and near-unanimous praise, The Avengers is an instant object-lesson in how to do a super-hero movie right. But there’s not a lot of consensus about what that lesson is. The Los Angeles Times claims that the success proves that critical acclaim matters, that TV directors can make the leap to movies, and that “art house stars” like Jeremy Renner can “cross over” (apparently Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol was an indie film). Unsurprisingly, Comic Book Resources singles out the more fan-centric elements: faith in Joss Whedon; faith in the Hulk as a character that could work on film; and the movie’s emphasis on making the audience care about lesser-known (to mainstream audiences, anyway) characters like Hawkeye and Black Widow. Newsarama’s “10 Lessons We Learned from the Avengers Movie” makes the case for bigger villains; a wider, more integrated universe; and the value of having a director like Joss Whedon, who was not only a Marvel Comics fan but a Marvel Comics writer, at the helm. There’s some stretched logic in all of these: huge advance-ticket orders for Avengers kill the idea that critics were a major factor in the opening weekend (though it’ll certainly help the film have legs in the weeks to come) and interest in Black Widow as a character is undercut by reviewers dismissing Scarlett Johansson’s character as, among others, “Distracting Catsuit” – but the one seemingly incontrovertible theme seems to be this: If a nerd-friendly director is at the helm of a comics-friendly genre movie, success with the geek audience will follow. And, as go the geeks, so goes the box office. While we wish this were true – and we’d certainly rather see Joss Whedon direct superhero movies than, say, Brett Ratner (of course, Ratner’s critically panned X-Men: The Last Stand out-grossed both of Bryan Singer’s more nerd-approved X-movies) – the secret to The Avengers’ success has pretty much NOTHING to do with Joss Whedon’s geek appeal. That’s not to say that Whedon’s affinity for the characters didn’t have a lot to do with the film’s quality, but the focus among the fan community seems to be his place as “one of our own”, and there’s plenty of evidence that geek auteurship and box-office appeal are, at best, distant cousins: Edgar Wright directed what may be the truest adaptation of an indie comic ever with Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, but the world wasn’t interested in the outcome. Andrew Stanton’s John Carter was a labor of love that many nerds raved about, but while it will more or less break even thanks to overseas grosses, domestically the response was a yawn at best, a punchline at worst. Even Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson couldn’t make “Tintin” a household name in the States. So while fan authenticity is nice, it clearly isn’t everything. A Joss Whedon-type director (and he may be one of a kind in terms of the blend of talent and devoted fandom) could well be the best director for almost any comics-y, genre-y franchise, but not every one of those franchises is a sure sell for the mainstream audience. (Exhibit A: Serenity vs. Avengers.) With Avengers, Disney achieved something that exceeded its wildest dreams (the $4 billion paid for Marvel in 2009 suddenly looking like a bargain), successfully stitching together a bunch of largely unrelated franchises into a shared movie universe. It’s the kind of thing comics do easily – in fact, super-hero comics without a shared universe have a harder time finding traction – but movies had really never previously attempted. There has to be some connective tissue, to be sure. A movie teaming John Carter, Scott Pilgrim, and Green Lantern would not be greater than the sum of its parts (though it would be hilarious), even if each of those earlier films had ended with Samuel L. Jackson handing out invitations to the “Mismatched Franchise Initiative.” The characters in Avengers took place in the same era, on the same planet, in the same genre (Vancouver stands in for America and familiar landmarks – we’ll miss you, Grand Central – get demolished), so the pieces fit together nicely. Where geeks did the heavy lifting was selling mainstream audiences on the component pieces – a drunken playboy in high-tech armor, a green monster they knew from 1970s TV, a Shakespearean-sounding muscleman, and an acrobat in an American-flag bodysuit – that made The Avengers possible. Once non-geek audiences had embraced these previously little-known characters (Marvel spent two years before the release of Iron Man ramping up the character’s presence to get his Q score out of the cellar), they were hooked. When it came time for The Avengers, they didn’t need much convincing to see those characters again. And they won’t need convincing to go see the sequel, which has already been green-lit without any commitment from Whedon that he’ll be involved. Avengers 2 is already pretty much guaranteed to be number one its opening weekend, regardless of how much fan-cred the director has. The geeks may have made the franchise a success, but it doesn’t belong to us anymore. It shouldn’t be a surprise, really. Remember who Hollywood thinks is the real auteur behind the Avengers. It’s not Joss Whedon. It’s not Stan Lee, or even Jack Kirby. It’s right there in the title, because the number-one movie this week isn’t The Avengers. It’s Marvel’s The Avengers. ‘Nuff said.