Why is Zoolander So Popular on iTunes?
iTunes users must be hypnotized by his “blue steel” gaze, because Zoolander has been hanging out in the Top 10 movies purchased on iTunes. Wait, what? An eight-year-old comedy is more popular than Ratatouille, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, and High School Musical (parts 1 and 2)?
Since Apple keeps its sales figures locked in an iron fist, it’s hard to figure out exactly what to make of this, but either Ben Stiller is HUGE with iTunes users, or Apples sales are so low that it doesn’t take much to make it into the top 10. Zoolander isn’t even in the top 100 iTunes rentals.
I had noticed the film poking its well-coiffed head into the Top 10 for a while now, so I decided to keep track. Here are some screen caps taken of the Apple sales chart over the last week.
March 14, 2008 | March 17, 2008 |
March 19, 2008 |
March 20, 2008 |
Enchanted, No Country for Old Men and Dan in Real Life make sense, but after that, things get odd. There’s Zoolander hanging out with Mark Wahlberg’s dud Shooter. Even the pre-crazy Lindsay Lohan’s old film Mean Girls makes a cameo.
For comparison, the digital download of Zoolander ranks #339 on Amazon Unbox, and the Zoolander DVD ranks #1,830. The film is also absent from this week’s Billboard’s top DVD sales. People aren’t even BitTorrenting it; Zoolander isn’t in the top ten most popular DVDrips (for the week of March 18).
So why is Zoolander so darn popular on iTunes? We asked two different people at Apple, but neither responded.
Perhaps this is a mystery only a model can solve.
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My guess would be that the parents of children who liked Night at the Museum are getting it for their 8-12 year old children to watch.
Tim Street on March 21st, 2008 at 9:08 am - Permalink
My guess is that its a feedback loop. People buy things they see other people buy. Somehow it got into the top 10 list and now people just keep buying it because they see it in the top 10 list. That and its totally hilarious.
Sam on March 21st, 2008 at 9:59 am - Permalink
I think Zoolander is just one of the more re-watchable comedies of the last 10 years, not amazing but pretty funny. Hey, if it were on TBS right now, I’d sort of be excited.
matt on March 21st, 2008 at 10:53 am - Permalink
I posted a comment before, but it got removed for some reason.
What I said was that the movie is featured in a few iPhone and iTunes spots. Just do a search for iPhone + zoolander on YouTube or Google.
Ian Schafer on March 21st, 2008 at 1:54 pm - Permalink
[...] Source: http://newteevee.com/2008/03/21/why-is-zoolander-so-popular-on-itunes/ [...]
Why is 'Zoolander' so popular on Apple's iTunes Store? | Apple Daily News on March 21st, 2008 at 5:59 pm - Permalink
Zoolander is the movie shown in the little pamphlet that came with the iPhone when my friend bought his. Subliminal advertising at it’s finest?
The Secret Drinker on March 21st, 2008 at 6:47 pm - Permalink
Simple. You hire movies you a) haven’t seen or b) only want to watch once.
You buy movies you love and can watch over and over. Zoolander is one of the best recent comedies with a replay factor higher than most anything released recently
Ian Walker on March 21st, 2008 at 10:51 pm - Permalink
Its because it was one of the movies featured in the keynotes given by Steve Jobs.
Knowitall on March 22nd, 2008 at 3:45 am - Permalink
[...] than other films where the DVD extras might provide additional value. NewTeeVee’s Chris Albrecht also discusses this [...]
The Chutry Experiment » Saturday Links on March 22nd, 2008 at 11:59 am - Permalink
There was this one Keynode where Steve showed a scene of this particular movie.
Paddy on March 22nd, 2008 at 6:57 pm - Permalink
Beyond being plugged by Steve Jobs, Zoolander has developed a cult following. It’s an hilarious movie that people will watch time and time again ergo, they buy it.
olddani on March 22nd, 2008 at 7:44 pm - Permalink
It is advertised. So people buy it. My dad rented Means Girls just about a month ago. The only reason he would have done that would be if it had been advertised prominently. No grand conspiracy here — you have just seen via a real-world example why Google is not overvalued and phone books are provided for free.
Crazy TV Larry on March 22nd, 2008 at 11:21 pm - Permalink
Haven’t you notice that things that outragously scream “gay” into your face are very popular on iTunes? A movie about supermodels counts as just that.
Realo on March 26th, 2008 at 12:30 am - Permalink
[...] contemporary films” are available in any online format. If you want to buy a movie online, chances are it’s going to be Zoolander on iTunes. But Criterion this week started offering its own digital videos on its own web site (there’s [...]
Criterion Collection Does Web Video « NewTeeVee on November 28th, 2008 at 11:46 am - Permalink
[...] What, no Zoolander? [...]
Ninja Tops iTunes Podcast List (Again) « NewTeeVee on December 2nd, 2008 at 3:03 pm - Permalink