12 Films That Had Surprising Commercial Consequences

7. Juno Beefed Up The Sales Of Hamburger Phones

juno-phone Even if you discard the fact that she's troubled by an unplanned pregnancy, Juno MacGuff (Ellen Page) is not your typical teenager. She says things like ''silencio, old man'' and ''honest to blog''. Her favourite bands are ''a three-way tie between The Stooges, Patti Smith and The Runaways". And her phone is a hamburger. This quirky 80's throwback almost seemed to typify Juno, both the film and the character. Was it a warm-hearted nugget of nostalgia or a novelty item that had passed its sell-by date by a decade or two? The film's studio, Fox Searchlight, clearly saw it as something of a totem; sending similarly styled phones to critics and journalists in order to entice them into reviewing the film. And yet when Juno herself draws attention to it - with the line, ''I'm on my hamburger phone. It's just, like, really awkward to talk on"- you could practically hear the whoosh of manufacturers rushing to their lawyers. But no. In fact, in the month after the film's release, sales of the phone on eBay increased by an unbelievable 759 per cent. So if you're looking for the latest hipster accessory, why not haz hamburger?
Contributor
Contributor

Yorkshireman (hence the surname). Often spotted sacrificing sleep and sanity for the annual Leeds International Film Festival. For a sample of (fairly) recent film reviews, please visit whatsnottoblog.wordpress.com.