The model with arguably one of the most famous expressions this century, Derek Zoolander, has made it into the big time with his first ever front cover of Vogue.
Zoolander, played by Ben Stiller, posed with his Blue Steel expression alongside Penelope Cruz on the epitome of fashion magazines to promote the second instalment of the Zoolander movie. The photographs were taken by famed American photographer Annie Leibovitz. See more photos of the shoot on the Vogue website.
Ben Stiller & Penelope Cruz strike a pose on the latest cover of @VogueMagazine https://t.co/sqxajPWSbx #Zoolander2 pic.twitter.com/Cf6qCQhZz9
— Zoolander 2 (@ZoolanderMovie) January 15, 2016
In a feature within the stylish glossy, Vogue writer Jason Gay reminisces on the first time he saw Zoolander, and how watching him contort his face into his moneymaking expressions is the pinnacle of excellence.
“It’s amazing to witness,” he writes. “Seeing Zoolander do Blue Steel is like watching a prima ballerina turning 32 perfect fouettés. Like watching Roger Federer hit his one-handed backhand. Like seeing Neil Armstrong step onto the moon in a Dior leather stocking boot.
“Today he is at a Vogue photo shoot in a loft on the Brooklyn waterfront, and it’s as if he hasn’t aged a moment since George W. Bush’s first term.”
The marketing team behind Zoolander 2 gone all out in the movie’s promotion, first announcing it by having Zoolander and fellow model Hansel – played by Owen Wilson – strutting their stuff down the runway at a Paris Fashion Week show.
The movie has also dropped some rather good-looking trailers for the world to have a gawk at.
And the popularity behind the duo goes to show what marketing gold they are for brands, demonstrated by Fiat Chrysler’s recent ad again with Zoolander’s Blue Steel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJext1d6KFA
The runway stunt is what first prompted Kurt Sorensen, digital marketing executive at media agency Carat to deem these two handsome models as “the best piece of native marketing” for 2015 at the time.
“Shifting sheer entertainment aside, from a marketer’s perspective this is one minute of absolute brilliance,” he wrote back in March last year.
“The simplicity of the stunt is excruciating and from my opinion, Derek and Hansel’s return provides the ultimate blueprint for what all brand marketing teams and media agencies should strive for.”
