Every corporation protects its brand with the fervor a parent gives a child. But there’s a scene in the movie American Gangster that speaks to the essence of branding. The scene is a great one for teaching or learning.

Denzell Washington plays Frank Lucas, making the legendary drug-dealing titan of Harlem sort of an anti-hero. We see Lucas murder people—there’s a dispute whether he really gunned down people in real life—but we come to admire this guy. He sees an opportunity when gang boss Bumpy Johnson dies, and Lucas comes to realize history and economics are on his side. He sets up an elaborate ruse to import pure heroin by stashing it in coffins of soldiers who died in the Vietnam War. His “Blue Magic” soon becomes the benchmark brand for heroin on the streets of Harlem. Lucas delivered the best possible product at the cheapest price for the consumer.

The scene that speaks to the heart and soul of branding occurs when Lucas goes to see a dealer who distributes Blue Magic. Cuba Gooding, Jr., plays Nicky Barnes. Barnes cut the heroin too much in order to increase his own profits, and Lucas gives him a verbal thrashing over messing up the integrity of the Blue Magic brand. Lucas lambasts Barnes in a passage that explains exactly what a brand is and why it’s important to protect it. The tragic comedic element alone makes the scene worth watching. There’s a philosophical message here too—if Lucas had access to opportunity, he probably would’ve been running a Fortune 500 company.  He basically built an illegal equivalent of Wal-Mart.

American Gangster didn’t get the Oscar treatment, but it should have. Ruby Dee who played Lucas’ mother should’ve gone home with one of those statues in her hands.



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Filed under: Branding, Miscellaneous, Movie Review, Personal Opinions