Things I Noticed from Anchorman 2

Listen, I get it. I know that even admitting I saw Anchorman 2 puts me in a very bad light with a lot of leaders right now but I have to admit, yes, I saw it.

And at the double risk of actually trying to encourage leaders by linking observations to the movie, I’m actually going to do it. Somewhat for fun, somewhat because I think there is much to observe and learn in our world today.

So at the risk of offending some, here you go. By the way, this is not in anyway a recommendation of the movie. In fact, none of my observations are drawn from the actual content of the movie, rather just the overall concept.

Enough disclaimers; Here ya go:

1. I am blown away by Will Ferrell’s respect in his industry. 

There are very few actors who could get as many HUGE celebrities to make cameo appearances in his slap stick, dumb movie. It’s one thing to draw celebrities to your movie if it’s an historical documentary for the ages. Anchorman 2 ain’t that! And yet Will Ferrell’s power, influence and respect is such that he could draw the likes of Harrison Ford, Will Smith, Jim Carrey, Kanye West, just to make an appearance.

2. It was powerful to watch Steve Carrell willingly play a secondary role to make Will Ferrell look good. 

Steve is a powerhouse all to himself, but it’s fun to see him play second fiddle for the good of the whole.

3. Humor lives where something normal is taken to the extreme. 

As a student of comedy and delivery, I am always amazed at how the best in the business do what they do. Now you don’t have to see the movie to see that the entire comedic gist of the movie is built on playing average people to an extreme level. You don’t have to see the movie to get my point. Each of the characters in the Anchorman 2 movie are extreme versions of normal and that’s what makes them funny.

4. The promotion of the movie leading up to its launch was amazing, in a very natural way. 

It seemed that Will Ferrell’s character was everywhere, completely in character, but engaged in a normal way. For instance, his character interviewed Peyton Manning on ESPN’s SportsCenter. He was in on all those dodge truck commercials for a long time. No mention of the movie, just present doing what they do and so on.

A couple of learnings here: First, marketing has changed. Touchstone pictures understands that just showing up and telling at people and interrupting them is no longer the most potent way to capture people’s attention.

Instead they took a more organic, viral approach. They inserted themselves where their most likely to attend tribe already was. I think there is much to be learned for us. To listen to my talk on How to Build Buzz go here.

Second, people were excited to hitch their brand to the Anchorman wagon when given the opportunity. The movie company could have done what every other movie promotion company has done for 60 years and buy commercial spots etc. Instead, they saw the power and potential of linking arms with Dodge  and in doing so cut their costs and got phenomenal access to their target audience.

And…  It is interesting to note that to my knowledge, Dodge vehicles are not even in the movie.

So, again, I cannot and do not endorse or recommend the movie, more than that, I recommend learning from everywhere we can.