With an ever-renewing fan base, Cartoon Network has a ratings behemoth in its animated hit Clone Wars (2.2?million daily viewers), which has spawned new characters and toys (including female alien Padme Amidala and a young Obi-Wan). Over the span of Star Wars‘ lifetime, $20 billion and counting of licensed goods has been sold, this on top of the $4.4 billion in tickets and $3.8 billion in home entertainment products. Ask anyone with children: What once was a game of cowboys and Indians on pre- Star Wars playgrounds has morphed in the post-Lucas era into moral battles involving characters now easily purchased. Indeed, Star Wars‘ fundamental tale of good versus evil set against the backdrop of a dysfunctional father-son relationship contains themes that resonate with viewers of any age. Finally, the story and imagery have been the stars rather than the actors.” “ George Lucas took a genre that looked cheesy and made it look like a high-concept movie by investing in new ideas, technologies and people. “The great achievement of Star Wars had been to take a moribund genre in science fiction and restore it to popularity,” says Toby Miller, social scientist and chair of Media and Cultural Studies at UC Riverside. From light sabers sold at Target to the more than 1.5 million devotees who have subscribed to the online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic since December to every little Yoda who shows up to your door on Halloween, Star Wars is as ubiquitous as ever. Last year alone, the franchise raked in $3 billion in licensing revenue (the next most profitable licensed movie merchandise is that of Cars).
A 35-year-long tale, it began with the 1977 original, now called Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. Of course, the Volkswagen vignette is just one drop in the story of the most successful Hollywood marketing franchise in history. But the tie-in of Star Wars to Volkswagen’s advertising is: The ads immediately went viral (as does virtually anything Star Wars), thus not only promoting the new Beetle but also the release of Episode I: The Phantom Menace, in theaters Feb. What Star Wars has to do with selling cute German imports is not entirely clear. John Boyega Says He's "Open" to Returning to 'Star Wars' Universe
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