Maybe you've heard the advertisements for Going The Distance on the radio this week. It's a Road Trip-like movie except the exciting destination is the capital of the universe, sweet home Toronto. Specifically, the MuchMusic Video Awards in Toronto.
That's right, three dudes from the West Coast graduate and take a road trip to the T-Dot. I think it's cool that Toronto will play Toronto in the flick and acts as the final destination, but I'm entirely uncomfortable with the shameless self-promotion of the production company. CHUM finaced the movie and used the opportunity to pimp it's music station and awards show. This is a kin to Nokia financing a film on the wonders of the cell phone and passing it off as a hi-tech thriller.
I'm not being naive and I'm well aware that product placement is standard in most Hollywood pictures today, but CHUM's first big-screen feature being all about a visit to the MuchMusic Video Awards rekes of bad cheese. It's a 90 minute commercial for their product with some American Pie/Porky's style antics thrown in to please their teenage targets.
I haven't been this appalled since "Mac and Me".
