I heard that this was just a big commercial for Tahitian Noni, and that it isn't a real movie.
I'm not sure how much I would like the movie, since I had that Noni juice once, and it made me sick.
Yahoo movies doesn't even list it as having any box office receipts for the past few weeks, so that would lend credence to the assumption that it isn't a real movie.
It's s real movie, you haven't done much research. All I did was look on this page. It showed me that the movie was directed by Steven Ramirez, it's distrubuted by several companies one being MGM, and it's produced by Gerald Molen. The same Gerald Molen that produced Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Twister, and Minority Report. Tahitian Noni International put up the funding for the movie. I then typed in www.johnnylingo.com and saw the Movie website and the places it was playing. It's a pretty good movie. Sorry the juice made you sick, but what does that have to do with watching a movie?
shareThe movie has some credible directors, producers but was essentially brought to the screen by Morinda and Tahitian Noni. As for being a big commercial for Noni, it's supposed to be "subliminal."
The reason that it's playing in more theaters and has some attendance is because distributors are buying out entire theaters to entice visitors into the Network. Morinda has sent out email over and over demanding that distributors buy out huge blocks of tickets and attend nightly for the run of the theater. This gets to be very expensive for distributors.
I haven't seen the movie yet, and if it's available for rental once on DVD will probably rent it. But, I'm not about to promise Morinda a theater full of people. They pay to bring in the movie, and you promise a certain amount of tickets will be sold. (read: you will buy a set number of tickets)
Sorry you had a negative experience with the juice. It really is a great product, and does have some vital benefits. You just have to get past the taste the first few days or week. Once you've adjusted to it (and believe me, I thought I never would get past the taste) you can see the difference it makes.
I don't understand? Are you a distributor? All I did was buy a ticket and watch the movie. Are you saying that all distibutors have to buy the whole theater before they can watch the movie? Or are you saying that the distributors have to watch the movie every night? That doesn't sound right. If you want to watch the movie, just go and watch the movie. Or as you said wait until it comes on DVD or HBO.
Distributors were asked to buy blocks of seats - usually an entire theaters' worth and "invite" prospects to screen the movie. If the movie was not playing in their town, the corporation would pay for the movie to come to their theater as long as they were guaranteed a certain amount of tickets would be sold.
The corporation also was asking distributors to do this for several screenings, not just a one time deal. They were pushing for distributors to take large groups of people (at their own (distributors) expense) nightly as long as the movie was in town. That amounts to quite a few $$$. The only stipulation was that distributors were not allowed to make the movie screening into a Noni pitch/commercial.
Interesting. That is a different way to advertise a movie. But companies use all different kinds of ways to get the story out about their product. I would think that the distributors are benfitting in some way if they are paying out of their own pockets. I checked a website called the Movie Times:
http://www.the-movie-times.com/thrsdir/moviesofyear.mv?moviesof2003+ByTGross
And according to this website the movie is ranked the #60 movie in the country this week and it's been in the top 60 for 5 weeks. It's ranked #180 for the whole year. I saw the movie and it's a very good family movie. It sounds like you don't like the way the movie is being promoted, but it just sounds like business to me. Nothing dirty or unhanded about it, just good old fashion business. It would be different if the distibutors were forced to spend money. But the keyword you said was "asked". They must benefit from bringing people to see this movie. I'm sure the movie will be out on DVD soon, after you've seen it, why not come back and tell everyone what you think.
I'm not saying it's a bad movie, in fact, from what I've heard it's said to be entertaining. It won't win an Oscar, far from it, but neither will a lot of other stuff out there. That being said, I find it hard to stomach when a company "asks" it's distributors to buy out entire theaters, night after night.
It's in the way they were "asked." As for the distributors making money, as anyone in Network Marketing knows, it's not that easy. It's just like Vegas. The odds greatly favor the house, in this case being Morinda. As for me, I feel sorry for the people that are falling for this. That's all.
Now, time to end intermission and get back to the movie. Popcorn and all.
OK, I think I am the best person to clarify all your doubts since I am a distributor and very proud of it and I work in the Motion Picture Industry. For one those are very nice compliments of the movie it is entertaining and very family orientated. However, the reason why the company asked the distributors to help distribute the movie was because yes that was there marketing strategy and is working out to be a very successful one. Being Beneficial for myself as a distributor(financially) and for the company and the filmmakers. Since the market is so competitive and the Big Studios only look at the bottomline "How much Profit they'll make" I thought marketing it, promoting it, and sharing a portion of the profits with people who put forth the effort was and is an excellent idea. The best marketing/promotion is by "word of mouth".
How they had it setup was if a group of distributors(say 20) in a particular city bought out a 160 seat theater that's only 8 tickets then they could intern sell those tickets as a premier screening or special invitation to a church/school/boyscouts/girlscouts/your job/any organization...the possibilities are almost endless. It could also be used as a family night out and we all could use more of those. The company also had an additional promotional campaign where a radio ad would run locally for that area if all engagements sold out early. I can go on with this, but as a successful filmmaker who has some tenure I thought it was great.
Anyway, in regards to Network Marketing I don't know how much you know about it or how much experience in it, but I have found it to be very lucrative and so have several(when I say several I'm not talking 2 or 3 I mean more than 10),of my friends and family. Network Marketing is the same thing as the motion picture industry. It's a residual income industry based on relationships at it's core . The only difference is there aren't any cameras, it's not about image, no press or media coverage of it, no ego, no free dining, no acting/dancing/singing...you get the idea. Everyones favorite passtime is to socialize or social interaction; people need people, right? Well that's Network Marketing, only it's more personal. You get to see your friends and family messed up lives more intimately and you get to profit with them as well. Basically, it's a struggle together, but it's less of a struggle when you do it together as we already know. As for any Pyramid Schemes and things of that nature, Tahitian Noni International is definitely not that and there are some of those out there. As for the Image Amway made it bad for the entire industry, take Microsoft for instance they have been sued several times and accused of a variety of things there Image is atrocious, but more people keep getting into the Tech Industry. Yet because it's network marketing people immediately wanna run. The world is upside down. Everyone wants to large sums of money and have more time with friends and will not do what's necessary to make that money. This is nothing like Vegas because Vegas and all Casino industries is a system of taking your money. You sit at the blackjack table and you get free food, soda, whatever you like as long as you keep gambling. Where as in Network Marketing providing you get with a really good company with really good products(or sometimes not so good products-it kinda doesn't matter to an extent)You can make money your very first day(retailing or enrolling someone in your organization) as long as you follow the sytem planned for you. It all boils down to MATH. Your boss is not staying awake at night thinking how he can give you a raise or make you a millionaire. If you shoot 30,000 times at a basketball hoop in a week you'll probably make 10% if you study yourself and others, the question is how well will you shoot when you have to do it all over the second week.
I took the time out to say all this to say never give up, stay focused on what you want, don't pass judgement on anything until you've experienced it, and definitely, definitely DON'T feel sorry for Tahitian Noni Distributors or any one in this industry.
With Love & Blessings
Peace.
Wait just a minute here...
You're saying that Tahitian Noni distributors are getting a commission off of how many tickets they sell to Johnny Lingo?
On one hand, that seems like an underhanded way to market a "family film." On the other hand, that doesn't really seem fair to the distributors.
Distributors are not getting a commission off ticket sales directly. Distributors make money when product is sold. The movie exposes more people to the product. The movie will be on DVD in May. You can rent it at Blockbuster, then you'll see it's not a Tahitian Noni Commerical. They show noni in the movie, they show it being made and they show them drinking it. It just raises the awareness of noni.
I don't see why this you say this is an underhanded way to market any movie. It's by word of mouth verses spending millions of dollars on television and radio advertising. The company would rather pay it's distributors that money than an advertising agency.
Sorry for the late reply, but I'm just curious... what do you do, direct? What have you worked on?
shareSome critics complained about how often "noni" is mentioned in the film. Actually all of the places it is mentioned in the film are listed in "memorable quotes" on this IMDb page.
shareI wonder how critics see the use of the word Noni as negative. People could say the word "apple" a million times and no one blinks. Milk, something natural, is big business, yet you see milk mustaches every where and if you know your medicine, milk is what can really make people sick!! HELLOOOOO . . . milk is what helped make Lactaid, Silk and Gas-X profitable brand names!!!
Noni is a fruit. Plain and simple. And if the movie is set in Tahiti, and the fruit is native to Tahiti, then WHY ON EARTH would someone not expect to hear the word NONI?!?
That's like having a movie set in New York City and not seeing a Taxi. Get Real.
I wonder how critics see the use of the word Noni as negative. People could say the word "apple" a million times and no one blinks. Milk, something natural, is big business, yet you see milk mustaches every where and if you know your medicine, milk is what can really make people sick!! HELLOOOOO . . . milk is what helped make Lactaid, Silk and Gas-X profitable brand names!!!
Noni is a fruit. Plain and simple. And if the movie is set in Tahiti, and the fruit is native to Tahiti, then WHY ON EARTH would someone not expect to hear the word NONI?!?
That's like having a movie set in New York City and not seeing a Taxi. Get Real.
In Malaysia, it is called MENGKUDU. In Southeast Asia it is known as NHAU. The plant is recognized among all peoples of the South Pacific. It is called NONU in Samoa and Tonga, NONO in Raratonga and Tahiti, and NONI in the Marquesas Islands and Hawaii.
I just watched the movie and barely noticed the mention of noni.
I remember them drinking it a couple of times.
Maybe if I had read this thread first it would've stuck out?
It's nothing compared to the hideous product placement in other family movies of unhealthy drinks like coke and pepsi.
tashashughes on Mon Nov 7 2005 18:39:59 wrote:
I wonder how critics see the use of the word Noni as negative. People could say the word "apple" a million times and no one blinks. Milk, something natural, is big business, yet you see milk mustaches every where and if you know your medicine, milk is what can really make people sick!! HELLOOOOO . . . milk is what helped make Lactaid, Silk and Gas-X profitable brand names!!!It's easy enough to see the problem here. Apples and milk are simple, common product, that are sold as such. Nobody is trying to sell milk or apple juice — as is being done with Noni juice — for forty bucks or more a bottle, by making all manner of outrageous and unsupportable health claims about it.
Noni is a fruit. Plain and simple. And if the movie is set in Tahiti, and the fruit is native to Tahiti, then WHY ON EARTH would someone not expect to hear the word NONI?!?
What an ridiculous post. Until you see a movie, don't comment on it, silly!
It's a sweet, educational and very touching movie, and as it being a mere commercial for Noni juice, that's ridiculous. Cows are mentioned as a treasured commodity more than Noni juice.
I'm sure once you see it, you will enjoy it.
I wasn't aware of the Noni funding for this movie. I did notice the few comments about Noni and one I recall being very positive, but certainly didn't think it was no more than a Noni commercial.
On the issue of taste - what was the drink that Tama (pre-Johnny) spat out at the ceremony? I originally thought it may have been kava but maybe it was Noni juice. If so, perhaps the comments about taste are right? ;-)
This does taste really super bad, but I had really flaky feet, and it fixed them.
shareWhat on earth does it say about a product for ingestion that fixes flaky feet?
I certainly wouldn't want to be drinking tinea cream!
Sorry j2d2 - could you clarify - did you drink the stuff or did you apply it topically on the feet?
Noni juice in your boom boom butter nuts
share