Before each screening a number of short ads are played, promoting TIFF and the role of some of its major sponsors (RBC, Bell, RIM et al).
Cadillac has been a sponsor for a few years now of the People's Choice (this is the biggest award at TIFF and will be announced on Saturday).
The Cadillac ad is a model of brevity. A black screen appears with the words "Some things you see once and remember forever"; followed by an iconic screen image; and then finally a short sequence of their CTS model racing along a tunnel.
They've created three of these -- in one, a smiling face of Peter Sellers as the mad doctor of "Dr Strangelove"; a head shot of the metal skeleton of "Terminator" and a screaming Janet Leigh from "Psycho").
As I've seen this about 20 times so far this year, I've had way too much time to think about whether this a successful ad for marketing the car and the answer is probably "no".
Usually when it appears there are a handful of derisive snorts from the audience (on the bright side, though, the snorts have not yet turned into loud comments; the sure sign that an ad has failed for a TIFF audience).
It does raise an interesting question of why they only chose images of a frightening nature, rather than similar more positive images (for example, a joyous Gene Kelly swinging off the lamppost in "Singing in the Rain"; Audrey Tautoo's smiling face in "Amelie", etc.). Are they suggesting that only images that frighten are instantly and permanently memorable and, if so, are they trying to link their car to this notion?
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