Comics Turn Page With Product Placement

Marketers of everything from food to cars lobby to get their products in movies and TV shows. Why not in comic books?

Enter Chaos Comics, a Scottsdale, Ariz.-based publisher of horror comics that is opening its pages to advertisers.

Readers of this month’s issue of “Evil Ernie” will find pitches for the R-rated motion picture “Dee Snider’s StrangeLand” throughout the story. Video monitors displaying scenes from the movie appear in several of the comic book’s panels. And the comic’s edgy story line integrates a bit of the movie’s plot.

Other publishers of niche comics are following suit. Los Angeles-based Flypaper Press is soliciting product placements for its snowboarder-themed “Carvers,” which debuts this month. The first issue has no paid placement.

And on the Internet, the online comic strip site, https://www.spumco.com (backed by Nickelodeon’s’ “Ren & Stimpy” creator John Kricfalusi), has done tie-ins with advertisers such as Tower Records.

Comic book companies say their publications give advertisers valuable access to young male readers with very specific interests. But some experts are skeptical.

“I don’t think it’s an efficient way to spend advertising or promotion dollars,” said Charlie Lippincott, president of Creative Movie Marketing. Lippincott was a co-producer of the comic-book-based film “Judge Dredd.”

But Shooting Gallery, the New York-based company releasing “StrangeLand,” is sold on the idea.

“This has become a pretty big part of our marketing mix,” said Paul Speaker, president of Shooting Gallery. “Our demographics totally overlap with those of the comic.”

Apparently audiences of both the movie and the comics enjoy graphic, often sexualized violence: Speaker says the movie narrowly escaped an NC-17 rating.

Placement in edgy comics is obviously for a very specific type of advertiser, one that caters primarily to young men.

“Video games, clothing and music are all naturals,” said Brian Pulido, founder and publisher of Chaos. “It wouldn’t be a stretch for Evil Ernie to wear Doc Martens [shoes]. It would make sense for our characters to listen to a music group like Korn,” said Pulido, “but it wouldn’t be appropriate to have them using Fab detergent. The main criteria for us will be ‘Is it cool?’ ”

A natural question for marketers will be: Is it worth it? Pulido says the charge for placement will range anywhere from $5,000 for a “simple application” to six figures for a “pervasive, throughout-the-story tie-in.”

Six figures would be very high for a medium that, in “Evil Ernie’s” case, promises only 40,000 readers. For $100,000, a video game company could buy several full-page ads in gaming publications that reach five times as many readers.

But Speaker says he’s buying more than sheer numbers.

“More importantly to us, it targets our demographic and creates a point of difference for us at retail,” he said. “It gets us into a whole new area--comic book shops.”

And as part of the promotional deal, Chaos is creating a mini, special-edition “StrangeLand” comic to be given away with proof of purchase of a movie ticket, the movie’s soundtrack, or with the later release of the video. The film is the first from Snider, former lead singer of the heavy-metal rock group Twisted Sister.

But don’t look for Superman to exchange his “S” for a product logo.

“I’d be shocked if there’s enough value” in placement, said Paul Levitz, executive vice president and publisher of DC Comics, a unit of Time Warner. “It’s possible there might be a case where it would make sense, but you’re not going to have Batman stop and drink a soda. You don’t want people to feel like you’re stopping for a commercial.”

And, adds marketing consultant Lippincott, placement deals might conflict with separate promotional agreements surrounding toys, films and other entertainment spinoffs of Spiderman, Batman and other well-known characters.