‘The Simpsons Movie’ is out in theaters — I take a look at the media blitz surrounding the Springfield clan

If you’ve been watching TV, read the newspaper or visited a local 7-Eleven recently, you know that “The Simpsons Movie” opens over the weekend. As of publication of this article, the film had yet to be released, but considering the popularity of the lovable, yellow-skinned family from Springfield, it is easy to assume that the movie will be a success.
Since I have yet to see the film but I feel as if I have been surrounded by the movie for the past month, I want to take a look at the Simpsons media blitz used to promote the film.
7-Eleven’s have become Kwik-E-Marts
As part of the marketing campaign for “The Simpsons Movie,” 11 7-Eleven stores throughout America were transformed into Kwik-E-Marts a few weeks before the July 27 premiere of the film. Many 7-Eleven stores in America are currently selling Simpsons related items. I visited a 7-Eleven near my house earlier this month, and I was able to purchase “Buzz Cola,” the soda from the Simpsons TV show was just Coca-Cola in a new can; a “Squishee” that was just a vanilla-flavored, blue colored Slurpee and a “Simpsons Movie Doughnut,” which was a round doughnut with pink frosting and sprinkles, just like the one used as the “o” on the posters for the upcoming movie.
But, the 11 stores that have been transformed are truly a sight to behold. None of the stores in Pennsylvania or New Jersey got the full Kwik-E-Mart makeover, but coincidentally, I have a brother who lives in Orlando, Fla. and the 7-Eleven near his house was one of the 11 Kwik-E-Marts.
He was kind enough to send me photos of the overhaul, and it’s interesting to see how thoroughly this gimmick changed the store. There were two-dimensional standees of many of the characters from the Simpsons television show throughout the aisles, including many characters re-enacting events that occured in a Kwik-E-Mart. For example, the old man named Jasper, who froze himself in a Kwik-E-Mart freezer in an attempt to hibernate himself into the future, was plastered in the frozen foods freezer of this real-life Kwik-E-Mart.
What is interesting about this promotion, is that while it may be a shameless marketing gimmick, my brother, Eric Mitman, said “It was funny to see everyone there laughing about it.”
So, maybe the promotion turned a monotonous trip to 7-Eleven into something fun, if nothing else.
Springfield, Vt. is the most “Simpsons-worthy” Springfield
Springfield has always been the fictional hometown of the Simpson family, but this year, in a contest to pick a real city to hold the premiere of the Simpsons movie, Springfield, Vt. won. I admit, I don’t understand this choice, especially since the Simpson family once took a road trip to Vermont for the Wordloaf Writer’s Convention after Lisa ghostwrote poems for Moe the bartender. Also, Vermont has no Shelbyville, and any fan of the show knows that the Simpsons hometown has a long-running feud with the Shelbyvillians. The origins of the feud go back to the founding of the two towns, and fighting has even arose over a (supposedly) haunted lemon tree.
After doing some digging, and with some help from snpp.com, I found that Springfield is one of the most common city names in all of America, and most states have a town named Springfield. But, only a few states have a Springfield and a Shelbyville. The state with a Springfield located closest to a Shelbyville is Illinois. So, maybe that is where the “official” Springfield should be. But I guess that is not the case. Oh well, it is just a cartoon after all, so it’s not like they would be living in a real town anyway.
Create your own “Simpson” character
This is great. Burger King teamed up with Fox to promote the upcoming movie, and they are offering Simpsons fans a chance to see themselves made into a Simpsons character.
Just visit www.simpsonizeme.com and upload a photo of yourself. The Web site is picky, so the color photo has to be of just your face, and the photo needs to have a resolution of 640 by 480 pixels. I had some trouble with the site, but others didn’t, so it might have just been my computer. Also, if the “Simpsonizer” doesn’t work for you, visit www.simpsonsmovie.com, and you can make your own Simpsons character.
You can see the one I made for myself above.
Anyway, it looks like it’s going to be a “Simpsons” summer this year, and I couldn’t be more excited about it. The movie has been in the oven for a long time, and it’s about time to see the final product. I know many fans have lost interest in the show in the past year due to lackluster episodes, but this movie might be just the thing to bring us all back for another trip through familiar Springfield.