Marketing is everything in the entertainment industry. After watching the film “A Hard Day’s Night” directed by Richard Lester, I understood what this really meant. The comical movie follows the The Beatles through a journey of evading the largely female fan base, dealing with Paul’s Granddad, and cracking quick jokes at everyone in every situation. The plot is simple: John, Paul, George, and Ringo prepare for a concert. The 1960s musical comedy was the first of the few films The Beatles made, and in truth, the only one that truly took off. This film was beneficial to the band because it made their music, style, and culture available on a global scale, while in the process, making money and more fans.

Because the film is mostly conventional, the purpose is more to entertain than to be political or controversial. It has aspects of both, and that is what makes it even more interesting than a normal film that is purely one sided. Although it had a somewhat lower budget, a new director, and no specific plot, It was more conventional than unconventional for a few reasons. Firstly, The Beatles were arguably one of the most successful and popular bands ever. Second, the whole atmosphere of the film was relaxed and not politically or socially challenging in any way. It was overall more comical and entertaining than anything else, and while it had aspects of unconventional films, It was mostly made to make people happy. In fact, it is quite obvious that “A Hard Day’s Night” is just another form of publicity for the “Fab Four”. 

In order to truly understand how advertisement and entertainment coexist, one must look at things from a business point of view. The Beatles were “already a publicity phenomenon (70 million viewers watched them on “The Ed Sullivan Show”),” changing the way music sounded, and redefining pop culture itself (Ebert). Keeping that in mind, they also had a business to run in order to make it even bigger than they already were. The four most influential musicians of their time wanted to stay that way, and had to do their best to stay popular and relevant in the music industry. Therefore, why not capitalize on that fact while simultaneously make money and fans? Whether or not the fab four were interested in the profit of creating a film based on them, it was a brilliant marketing move to expand their media empire. Typically, musicians and artists grow by making popular music, but how do they get more people to become fans and listen to said music? The answer: advertisement. Advertisement was the key to more. More fans, more money, more content, and most importantly; more music. The Beatles did it right. They simultaneously created films and sold merchandise to highlight their overall like-ability, and furthermore expand the territory of their commercial dominion. Not only did they film “A Hard Day’s Night (1964), Help! (1965), Yellow Submarine (1968), and Let It Be (1970),” but they also mass produced merchandise such as, “lunchboxes, Beatles wigs, jigsaw puzzles, cartoons, and coloring books” to overall demonstrate how the band members “employed A Hard Day’s Night and Help! to fashion the overarching cultural identity that they would resurrect during the middle of their career”(Womack).

While it is clearly a marketing piece, the film also manages to own up to it in the right way, poking fun at its own place in our capitalistic society. The whole mood of the film is light hearted, comical, and therefore entertaining. This is obvious when the fab four are being chased by the police, to and from the police station. By showing this scene, they are essentially poking fun at their opening scene when the band is being chased by girls everywhere they go. The emphasis on popularity while valid, was incorporated to remind the audience of the sheer magnitude of their success. I think that this is an interesting move for a couple of reasons. First, it obviously shows the popularity of the fab four, but at the same time is arrogant in doing so. I also feel like while the film makers tried to make up for it with comedy, it is still just one big business deal. 

Another instance of the self aware nature of this film has to do with Paul’s Granddad. His character is the main antagonist, causing trouble and mischief throughout the film. There is a very entertaining scene where he has each of the band members sign a picture for him. He then sneaks off to underneath a stage to forge their signatures on a stack of other copies that he intends to sell. We later see him selling the fake photos for some quick money, and he ultimately gets arrested. On the surface, this is all one big comedy bit. However, on a deeper level, it is a metaphor for how the filmmakers are re-purposing and reselling the band to capitalize on their popularity and success. In this way, It ultimately engages the capitalistic aspect of entertainment without alienating the audience. I personally was conflicted on what to think for this scene. On one hand, I laughed and thought it entertaining how mischievous the grandpa was. On the other hand, I was quickly able to identify the deeper connection and meaning behind it all. It was taken back because I had never seen a film with such a direct metaphor to being capitalistic and motivated by profit before. As a viewer, this makes me think about how my purchase effects the economy. Although the goal of the movie isn’t to create deeper and more critical thinking, it made me second guess where I put my money. It is hard as a consumer to realize that almost every business is motivated by your money, and that many will do whatever it takes to obtain it.  

Overall, “A Hard Day’s Night” was largely successful in expanding the “commercial and popular dominion” of The Beatles (Womack). While being a marketing tool, it didn’t take advantage of the audience in any way, giving them the payoff of a concert performance at the end and ultimately poking fun at itself to make light of the capitalistic side of its own industry.

-Hunter O’Neil

1. Mythology, remythology, and demythology: The beatles on film
2. A Hard Day’s Night Movie Review