So Jonathan's parent company is going to be promoting films (can prizefights be far behind?):
I want to stop here for a moment and make it really clear that we are not investing in a movie and we are not getting into the movie business in a traditional way. What we are doing is leveraging our vast retail store footprint and the cultural relevancy of the Starbucks brand to bring film to the public in a new way during the time when the film industry has been challenged.Starbucks will participate in all aspects of the marketing and distribution of this year film, and we will be an equity participant in the film's success, not only at the box office but through the sale of the sound track and the DVD in all retail outlooks including our stores. The soundtrack will be available in early April and we will carry the DVD along with other traditional retails, when it becomes available later in the year.
Through this venture, we are creating an economic partnership with the film industry that mirrors the structure we created in music with the successful later trail CD. Through the power of the Starbucks brand, we will create awareness and drive new Movie Goers to the film, something movie producers could not do on their own. We will introduce the film through a truly innovative and interactive in store marketing campaigns, which will provide customers the opportunity to experience the fun and inspirational feeling of the movie. Many of our store
partners will have a chance to view the film prior to its release and they along with strategic marketing materials with in the store will create enthusiasm in entries among our customers around the Akeelah and the Bee.
Even before I read the entire article, this made perfect sense to me. Starbucks has a history of this sort of opportunism. The CDs that they sell came from customer requests for the home-made mixes they were playing in their restaurants. The roll-your-own-CD machine that they have in Austin and Seattle is typical.
Starbucks isn't make the Sony mistake of getting into movie-making. It's just pursuing a logical extension of their current business model.