Breaking news: Lost is big business! Duh, right? Still, The New York Times has a piece on the plight of the well-paid showrunners, who are responsible for ”managing the brand,” from the toys to the lunchboxes to the alternate-reality games to the fake novels to the mobisodes.
Poor Lindelof ‘n’ Cuse! Uneasy lies the head that wears the Hurley. Look at all the ancillary crud they’ve got to manage: What, for instance, is this ”Lost-apalooza” concert for fans? Performances by Driveshaft, perhaps? (That’s really not necessary: I’m still getting over the diaper commercial.) Live versions of some of the cheesier montage songs? Or just Lost composer Michael Giacchino, with a cello and a trombone duct-taped to his torso, doing a frenetic one-man band cover of the ”scary island” music?
How long can a brand expansion go on before there’s blowback? Me, I kinda hated that they slapped a Lost label on Bad Twin, the ”Gary Troup” novel-tease released last spring. I’m sure it was mandated from upstairs, but man alive, does it kill the magic. And a line of Lost food — yes, Lost FOOD — isn’t likely to bring it back.
Help me dream more capitalist dreams, people: What would a Lost concert even be? And why on earth would I ever open a can of freaky Dharma beets?
All I can imagine is a concert by Geronimo Jackson and Driveshaft tribute bands. Maybe mixed with a DJ spinning vinyl from the Hatch collection. As for food, Dharma Crispies and Apollo Bars are amusing to see in reality, but given that they are the equivalent of LabRat Chow on the show, appetizing isn’t a word I’d associate with the Lost/Dharma experience.
After the creeptastic last image of Mittlewerk as the Hanso-Ghost-in-the-Machine from TLE, I think I’ll stay away from Apollo bars, just in case it’s loaded with Valenzetti juice. Valenzetti Juice: now with 30% more apocalyptic-preventing additives!
Hehe, I like the merchandise. I’m hoping that they will make a video game soon and plush toys.
What’s wrong with Lost “The Cereal”? Besides, that show brought back the Apollo Candy bar. I’d be more willing to catch a driveshaft show just for an Apollo Candy Bar than i would be to drive to a mall on Saturday in Virginia like they tried to make me do with that lost tour this summer…