After Arnold Schwarzenegger‘s self-described “speech” about Christmas film The Man with the Bag ran on a bit on the Amazon upfront Monday, Jamie Lee Curtis got here to the rescue.
Schwarzenegger plugged the film (repeatedly misidentifying it as The Man within the Bag) in his customary machine-like style. After initially wowing the gang and incomes the night time’s greatest ovation on the Beacon Theatre occasion, he started filibustering as if he have been nonetheless governor of California.
“Advertising, and speaking to the mass, and publicity is a very powerful factor,” he advised the room filled with advertisers. “You possibly can have one of the best product on this planet, but when they don’t learn about it, you don’t have anything! Completely nothing.”
As the gang began to titter nervously and Schwarzenegger pounded out speaking factors as if they have been free weights, Curtis began inching throughout the stage towards him. Although it was pre-planned, it gave the impression to be a spontaneous bid to get the 77-year-old Schwarzenegger to wrap up.
“That is elder abuse!” the star cracked when Curtis took his arm.
Having the 2 stars again onstage provided an opportunity for them to reminisce about making director James Cameron’s 1994 movie True Lies. The minor motion traditional facilities on a married couple additionally concerned in worldwide espionage.
“Thirty years in the past, we have been collectively,” Curtis stated. “And now right here we’re, speaking advert technique.” In contrast to within the film, she stated, “we don’t must go undercover to avoid wasting the day,” she added. “We simply must remind these hardworking folks about the advantages of Amazon’s full-funnel promoting technique.” (Curtis and different stars mocked the ad-speak sprinkled by way of the occasion, significantly the expression “full funnel,” which refers to the place an advert connects with the place a shopper is within the buying funnel, a lingering metaphor broadly referred to within the advert biz. Curtis stated she thought it was an euphemism.)
Curtis additionally stated Schwarzenegger agreed to let her identify seem alongside his and above the title of True Lies in all of its advertising and marketing materials and opening credit, an uncommon nod to a lady co-star. Cameron had proposed it “as a result of it’s a film a couple of marriage,” Curtis recalled. “And Arnold Schwarzenegger, who clearly didn’t must say sure, stated sure.”
After the gang oohed its appreciation for the gesture, all these a long time in the past, Curtis moved to wrap issues up. “Are you able to terminate this section?” she requested, to large laughs. “It might need gone on a tiny bit.”
Turning to the wings, she yelled, “OK, Alan!” to induce senior advert exec Alan Moss, the night time’s remaining speaker, to enter, however then noticed Schwarzenegger had one final line to ship. “Maintain on, don’t come!” she advised Moss. Schwarzenegger then ended with, “We’ll be again,” and the couple kissed as if they have been again on the True Lies set.
The whoops and hollers that resulted from the embrace have been rivaled solely by the greeting of Moss, who caught with the script and preached to the gang about, sure, the virtues of “full-funnel” advertisements.
Peter White contributed to this report.
