Sophia Coppola's Lost In Translation

Sophia Coppola’s way of bringing the main characters, played by Bill Murray and Scarlett Johansson, together in Lost in Translation show the dependency on globalization in the consumer market. Both individuals are American, but are drawn to Tokyo for work revolving around product promotion, whether it was their own or their significant others. Bob Harris was there to sell a local whiskey product; Charlotte was accompanying her husband who was a photographer shooting on location. None of the Americans involved in the work had a personal connection to the products or the Japanese Market, but were paid to promote either the product or the location used in each shoot. In consumer markets, it is a popular technique to use a popular face to sell and draw up interest into a new product. Instead of relying on the quality of the product, the focus relies heavily on the familiarity the public has with the face being used in order to cut out risk of the product not selling. Bob Harris has never tried or heard of the whiskey that is only available to the Asian

Since 2006, American actor George Clooney has been the face of the Swiss company, Nespresso. In the first seven years of the partnership, Clooney reportedly made $40 million and was only required to appear in annual commercials that would only be broadcast in Nespresso’s target markets. While the business relationship between Clooney and Nespresso has been a strong one since 2006, Nespresso ads did not come to Clooney’s native U.S. market until 2015. It’s a technique that proves to continuously work in the consumer market and keeps everyone involved happy: the company gets the boost in sales, the celebrity gets an easy paycheck with minimum work required, and the public gets the product their favorite celebrity says they must