Read the Latest Issue
HD MAGAZINE
Inspiration at your fingertips
Sign up for the latest edition of Hospitality Design magazine and HD's various newsletters
DIGITAL EDITION PRINT SUBSCRIPTION NEWSLETTERS
ARCHIVED ISSUES
HD EXPO + CONFERENCE
See you in 2025!
Save the date for the industry's leading event in Las Vegas, May 6–8th, 2025
HD EXPO + CONFERENCE
        • Projects
          • Development + Destinations
          • Boutique + Lifestyle
          • F+B
          • Hotels + Resorts
          • Retail + Commercial
          • Wellness + Sustainability
        • People
          • Interviews
          • Podcasts
          • Webinars
        • News
          • Business + People
          • Boutique + Lifestyle
          • Development + Destinations
          • F+B
          • Five on Friday
          • Hotels + Resorts
          • Retail + Commercial
          • Wellness + Sustainability
        • Products
          • Accesories + Art
          • Bath + Spa
          • Beds + Bedding
          • Flooring.
          • Furniture
          • Lighting
          • Outdoor
          • Roundups
          • Surfaces
          • Technology
          • Textiles
        • Videos
          • Awards + Events
          • BDNY
          • HD Expo + Conference
          • HDTV
          • Partner Spotlight
        • Awards + Events
          • HD Expo + Conference
          • BDNY
          • HD Awards
          • HD Summit
          • HD NextGen Forum
          • HD Platinum Circle Awards
          • HD CitySCENE
          • HD Wave of the Future
          • BD Forums
          • BD Match
          • Gold Key Awards
          • Senior Lifestyle Design Match
          • Event Photos
HD MAGAZINE
Inspiration at your fingertips
Sign up for the latest edition of Hospitality Design magazine and HD's various newsletters
DIGITAL EDITION PRINT SUBSCRIPTION NEWSLETTERS
ARCHIVED ISSUES
HD EXPO + CONFERENCE
See you in 2025!
Save the date for the industry's leading event in Las Vegas, May 6–8th, 2025
HD EXPO + CONFERENCE
Follow Along
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
M
POPULAR SEARCHES
PODCASTS
WEBINARS
FURNITURE
PROJECTS
VIDEO INTERVIEWS
INTERVIEWS
M
    
Search IconA magnifying glass icon.
  • News
    • Business + People
    • Boutique + Lifestyle
    • Development + Destinations
    • F+B
    • Five on Friday
    • Hotels + Resorts
    • Retail + Commercial
    • Wellness + Sustainability
  • Projects
    • Development + Destinations
    • Boutique + Lifestyle
    • F+B
    • Hotels + Resorts
    • Retail + Commercial
    • Wellness + Sustainability
  • People
    • Interviews
    • Podcasts
    • Webinars
  • Products
    • Accessories + Art
    • Bath + Spa
    • Beds + Bedding
    • Flooring
    • Furniture
    • Lighting
    • Outdoor
    • Roundups
    • Surfaces
    • Technology
    • Textiles
  • Awards + Events
    • HD Expo + Conference
    • BDNY
    • HD Awards
    • HD Summit
    • HD NextGen Forum
    • HD Platinum Circle Awards
    • HD CitySCENE
    • HD Wave of the Future
    • BD Forums
    • BD Match
    • Gold Key Awards
    • Event Photos
  • Videos
    • Awards + Events
    • BDNY
    • HD Expo + Conference
    • HDTV
    • Partner Spotlight
  • Subscribe
    • HD Newsletters
    • HD Magazine – Print
    • HD Magazine – Digital
    • BD Newsletters
    • BD Magazine
Read the Latest Issue
News: Main
November 9, 2009

‘Up in the Air’ Grounds Hilton in Star-Power Marketing

Continuing a tradition of chumming with major Hollywood productions, the hotel chain will be making several guest appearances in Paramount Pictures' upcoming movie starring George Clooney.

News:

Main
November 9, 2009

‘Up in the Air’ Grounds Hilton in Star-Power Marketing

Continuing a tradition of chumming with major Hollywood productions, the hotel chain will be making several guest appearances in Paramount Pictures' upcoming movie starring George Clooney.

Continuing a tradition of chumming with major Hollywood productions, Hilton Hotels will be making several guest appearances in Paramount Pictures’ Up in the Air. The association has also spurred a themed sweepstakes that kicked off last week.

The film, which premiers in New York at the end of the month, stars George Clooney as a frequent business traveler whose life on the road is threatened just as he is about to reach 10 million frequent-flyer miles—and after he has met a frequent-flyer love interest. Director Jason Reitman shot several scenes for the movie at Hilton hotels, and various Hilton amenities—including a Hilton HHonors Diamond VIP card made for Clooney’s character, Ryan Bingham—show up on screen. In the movie’s trailer, the dashing star is also seen looking svelte in a Hilton bathrobe.

Even in an age in which brand placement in blockbuster movies is more common than $8 popcorn, the product cameos are quite a coup for Hilton. “This fits our brand positioning—both in above-the-line and below-the-line tactical terms,” says Andrew Flack, Hilton vice president, global brand marketing. Flack added that the timing of the movie is fortunate for the brand, too. The upcoming holiday season “is the busiest time of year for people booking transient leisure,” he said. With the national rollout of the film combined with its move into international markets and on to DVD, Flack estimates six months of heightened exposure for the Hilton brand.

Hilton maintains that it did not pay for product placement per se. Instead, it gave free accommodation and reduced rates for cast and crew as well as work space (like ballrooms, meetings rooms where they could set up during a month of shooting). The actual Hilton locations used in the Up in the Air include the Hilton at the St. Louis Airport, the location at the St. Louis ballpark and the Hilton at the Miami Airport. Hotel rooms at those locations were also changed to look like Hiltons in other cities, as scenes required.

Though the movie’s premiere is still some weeks off, starting now, guests who book a Hilton hotel stay by visiting either Hilton.com/UpintheAir or just Hilton.com will be entered into a sweepstakes that gives them a chance to win prizes inspired by Clooney’s globe-trotting character. These include one million Hilton HHonors points, Hilton HHonors Diamond VIP status and a trip to Paris for two, with a stay at the Hilton Arc de Triomphe. Hilton is promoting the sweepstakes online with its Up in the Air microsite and through active use of social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.

This is hardly the first time Hilton has showed up on the silver screen. The hotel chain has worked with big studios since 1950, when Born Yesterday was shot at the Capital Hilton in Washington, D.C. Last year’s Frost/Nixon was filmed at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. And the list goes on: The rooftop of the New York Hilton hosted scenes of 2007’s Spider-Man 3, while the Las Vegas Hilton served as a glitzy backdrop for Indecent Proposal back in 1993. Hilton founder Conrad Hilton is also a recurring character on the current season of Mad Men.

In September, Hilton Worldwide, formerly Hilton Hotels Corp., underwent a thorough re-branding. The new corporate identity was meant to reflect the company’s efforts to reunite its stable of brands after Hilton’s international business was returned to its ownership in 2006. (Those operations had been sold off in the late 1960s.)

The new unified structure made it easier for global marketing to link Hilton to premieres of the film around the world. “In the recent past, we had two separate marketing organizations,” Flack says. “Now, we have one team to coordinate activity around the film in markets like the U.S., Australia, Japan, Turkey and Northern Europe. The global nature of the film fits our new identity.”
—Nielsen Business Media

Main

SHARE

em

ln

fb

pn

tw

NEWS Business + People Main

2021 IIDA/HD Product Design Competition Winners Announced

Aug 25, 2021
NEWS Business + People Main

HD Expo + Conference 2021: Day 1 Recap

Aug 25, 2021
NEWS Business + People Main

2021 IIDA/HD Product Design Competition Winners Announced

Aug 25, 2021
NEWS Business + People Main

HD Expo + Conference 2021: Day 1 Recap

Aug 25, 2021
← Previous Article Next Article →
HD MAGAZINE
hospitality design magazine august 2024 issue product marketplace

Inspiration at your fingertips

Get the newest issue of Hospitality Design magazine

DIGITAL EDITION

PRINT SUBSCRIPTION
ARCHIVED ISSUES
HD NEWSLETTERS

Join the list

Sign up for HD's various newsletters
for exclusive weekly content
SUBSCRIBE

BD MAGAZINE + NEWSLETTER

boutique design magazine fall 2024 issue

Sign up!

Don't miss the latest from Boutique Design

NEWSLETTER SIGN UP

SUBSCRIBE

ARCHIVED ISSUES

About | Contact | Buyers Guide | Advertise | Advisory Board | Sitemap

FOLLOW US ON

  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow

Subscribe

Emerald Logo
© 2025 Emerald X, LLC. All Rights Reserved
ABOUTCAREERSAUTHORIZED SERVICE PROVIDERSYour Privacy ChoicesTERMS OF USEPRIVACY POLICY

Sign up to stay informed about our latest awards and events.

Follow Along
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow

Sign up to stay informed about our latest awards and events.

Follow Along
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow
  • Follow