While forging a routine path through JFK airport earlier this month, my partner spotted a few not-so-routine sights. No, it wasn’t just the unusually long lines atTSA, courtesy of the government’s reluctance to fund what has become an essential service. And there was certainly nothing abnormal about the airport being crowded with throngs of people still in their pajamas ahead of a 7 a.m. flight. What struck him as strange — and flabbergasted me, the moment my groggy eyes snapped open to the photos he sent me — was the parade of multimedia signage around the terminal advertising a small indie film you’ve probably never heard of, “The Devil Wears Prada 2.”

Just kidding. Obviously, you’ve heard of “The Devil Wears Prada 2.” There are few people in the world who haven’t, if the extent of the film’s advertising is to be believed. Even if you’d somehow spent the last 20 years completely oblivious, avoiding anything related to “The Devil Wears Prada,” it’s likely that you’ve been thrust into this world of high fashion and huge egos by the massive marketing push for the film’s sequel. Practically everywhere you look, there’sMeryl Streep’sfictional editrix-in-chief, Miranda Priestly, andAnne Hathaway’splucky assistant-turned-editor, Andy Sachs, ready for their second big-screen outing few were asking for but everyone will watch.

(Stefania D'Alessandro/Getty Images)Marketing for “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in Italy

Gone is the film that stood out from a crowd of summer blockbusters with its smart script and chic sensibilities. In its place is the “Devil Wears Prada” Happy Meal experience, designed to market the sequel by reducing the film to its most memorable moments and divorcing it from all of the qualities that allowed the original movie to stand the test of time.

The marketing doesn’t stop there, not even close. Currently, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” and its distributor, 20th Century Studios (which, it’s worth noting, is owned by Disney), have collaborations with Grey Goose vodka, TRESemmé haircare, Target, Old Navy, Coca-Cola, Starbucks and Condé Nast. At the same time, Disney is brusquely cross-promoting their other titles alongside the film at every opportunity, pursuing the two words every advertising exec dreams of: brand synergy.

If “The Devil Wears Prada” was a successful meeting of culture and business, “The Devil Wears Prada 2” — at least from a marketing standpoint — is a bleak example of how, if enough people enjoy it, all culture will eventually become business. Gone is the film that stood out from a crowd of summer blockbusters with its smart script and chic sensibilities. In its place is the “Devil Wears Prada” Happy Meal experience, designed to market the sequel by reducing the film to its most memorable moments and divorcing it from all of the qualities that allowed the original movie to stand the test of time.

While it’s not uncommon for a studio to burn money promoting a highly anticipated sequel, seeing these resources allocated to a property like “The Devil Wears Prada” is somewhat unusual. Released in the summer of 2006, the film was a big hit, garnering positive reviews from critics and instant adoration from audiences, who understood the movie was far more complex than the reductive “chick flick” label many had been quick to slap onto it. Aline Brosh McKenna’s screenplay was wickedly clever, and David Frankel’s direction was appropriately becoming for a film about fashion publishing. Factor in a knockout cast delivering a handful of terrific performances, and “The Devil Wears Prada” had the perfect recipe to endure.

However, the film wasn’t exactly a studio tentpole. Despite garnering an Oscar nomination for Streep and aningenious bitat that year’s ceremony, “The Devil Wears Prada” didn’t have the immediate cultural cache of something like its equally memeable predecessor, “Mean Girls.” For years, people talked about it as one of the few movies that, if you ever caught it on TV while channel surfing, you’d stop what you were doing and watch the rest of the film. As social media took hold, so did the conversation about the film’s “real villain.” (There isn’t one, as Ioutlineda few years back.) From there, the movie was immortalized in the meme canon with Andy’s Chanel boots and Miranda’s famous cerulean monologue. Reciting that monologue in its entirety might’ve been a fun party trick, but it was also one of the film’s badges of honor, proof that “The Devil Wears Prada” was unique enough to merit fans’ affinity for the next two decades.

(Stefania D'Alessandro/Getty Images)A view of the experiential hub inspired by the editorial office of “Runway”, the fictional magazine featured in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada 2” in Milan, Italy.

But such fervent veneration is a double-edged sword, especially for a film that has as much to offer in every meticulously manicured frame, song choice, tailored costume, witty one-liner and bit of dramatic resonance as “The Devil Wears Prada.” When the sequel was greenlit, there were no doubt hundreds of hours of marketing meetings, where executives decided which aspects of the first film could be played up to promote the sequel. That’s likely why, if you’ve seen any of the clips or trailers for “The Devil Wears Prada 2,” there is only a loose sense of the film’s actual plot. Instead, the trailers focus on Miranda’s withering put-downs and Andy’s former fashion-deficient way of dressing. (An entire scene where she and Tucci’s Nigel Kipling go back to the Runway closet, just so he can tease her again? Come on.)

Source: Drudge Report