‘Men In Black’ Brought A New Level Of Synergy Between Music Video And Movie
Between his rap career, the success of The Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air, followed almost-immediately by his breakout role in Independence Day; Will Smith was having a pretty flawless run of the 1990s. But 1997 would prove to be his biggest year yet, with the release of both the hit Sci-Fi/Comedy Men In Black and his first solo album, Big Willie Style.
Having proven his box office bonafides with Independence Day, Men In Black felt like the first Will Smith project to truly be firing on all cylinders without a single doubt of it being anything less than a hit.
It’s quite possible that an audience in 2024 might find the sheer omnipresence of certain movies during their promotional ramp-up hard to imagine. But this was absolutely the case for Men In Black. From action figures and a whole sunglasses sponsorship with Ray-Bans to having a cartoon series already in-production and needing to catch Will Smith on Oprah just to see a few exclusive preview clips of the movie.
But when I tell you that the biggest single piece of marketing wasn’t a commercial or tie-in gimmick, but a music video? Ask anyone who was around at the time and they’ll tell you I’m not exaggerating.
Most big budget films have some sort of accompanying music video. This was nothing new or groundbreaking. What was different about the video for ‘Men In Black’ was just how deeply intertwined with the source material it happened to be.
We’re talking about sets and props pulled right from the film; CGI creatures created exclusively for the music video; Will Smith, seemingly in-character as Agent J, using the entire song to rap about the Men In Black and what they’re all about. All of it as if to hypnotize the audience into keeping Men In Black top of mind so they don’t dare forget to run out and see it.
To say nothing of the pitch perfect decision to play around with the film’s neuralyzer gimmick of making people forget what they’ve seen and flip a sample of Patrice Rushen’s ‘Forget Me Nots.’ That bassline could elevate a reading of the phone book to the top of the charts.
Throw in more novel touches like an extended breakdown with Will Smith dance battling an alien and having Coko from SWV cover the Patrice Rushen vocals.
Also, when I said that Will Smith raps the entire modus operandi of the MIB, here’s the entire first verse:
The good guys dress in black, remember that
Just in case we ever face to face and make contact
The title held by me, MIB
Means what you think you saw, you did not see
So don't blink, see what was there is now gone
Black suits with the black Ray Bans on
Walk in shadow, move in silence
Guard against extra-terrestrial violence
But yo we ain't on no government list
We straight don't exist, no names and no fingerprints
Saw somethin' strange, watch your back
'Cause you never quite know where the MIB's is at
If you knew nothing about this movie, that 30 seconds of a music video just told you everything you needed to know to get interested in it.
It’s that level of calculated synergy that puts ‘Men In Black’ over the top. Whether you like the video or not is irrelevant because we already know this formula worked like gangbusters because they tried the exact same thing a year later with the not-nearly-as-successful Will Smith movie Wild Wild West.
Sometimes a piece of the promotional machine will put a project over the top or expose it to a new audience. But sometimes the planets align to where the product and the promotion wash each other’s hands into enough of a lather that it creates a level of synergy that only comes along when you’ve got the right person at the right point in their career. Will Smith in 1997 was that equinox.
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