Tom Cruise Went Total Maverick to Save a Brand from Bankruptcy, Boosted Sales by 20X
Having made his debut with a small part in the 1981 movie Endless Love, Tom Cruise has become one of the most popular actors of his generation. He is one of the highest-grossing actors of all time and is also the recipient of numerous accolades including three Golden Globe Awards and four Academy Awards nominations.
Tom Cruise’s breakthrough role came with a role in the 1983 comedy film Risky Business. He went on to establish himself as an action with his roles in Top Gun and the Mission: Impossible movie franchise, both of which are among his best-known works. Interestingly, he saved an entire brand from going bankrupt without actually intending to even when he was just starting out in the industry.
Tom Crusie Saved Ray-Bans From Going Bankrupt
The American-Italian eyewear line Ray-Ban, owned by the renowned optics brand Bausch & Lomb, is one of the most popular eyewear lines known to people all across the world. As the legend goes, during World War II, Bausch & Lomb were asked to make glare-proof sunglasses for fighter plane pilots. After the war ended, the brand re-marketed the glasses under the name Ray-Bans, a no-brainer given that the glasses banned rays.
Now, the question that arises is how Tom Cruise could have managed to save the brand in his breakthrough lead movie. The answer is probably that one iconic scene of Risky Business in which he is seen dancing around the house to Bob Serger’s Old Time Rock and Roll. Dancing was not what made the scene so memorable. The fact that Cruise was dancing wearing just his underwear and a pair of Ray-Ban is what caught the attention of the audience.
The rest, as they say, is history. The sales of Ray-Ban shot up by about 50% following the release of the movie, making it about 360,000 in the place where it used to sell just 200,000 annually. Not to mention that Cruise’s rise to fame played the role of a catalyst in boosting the brand’s sales to 3 to 4 million just because every fan wanted to wear what he wore.
Tom Cruise’s Love For Ray-Ban Has Not Diminished
Trends have come and gone and Ray-Bans have frequently gone out of fashion but none of this has affected Tom Cruise’s love for those sunglasses. The actor went on to wear Ray-Ban’s Aviators in the 1986 classic Top Gun. This also aided the brand’s sales a lot.
In 2013, during his appearance at the premiere of Star Trek: Into The Darkness, Cruise was asked if he was wearing 3-D glasses to watch the movie to which he replied that they were Ray-Bans. The Rain Man actor seems to commit to the things that he adores, for instance, his insistence upon doing his own stunts no matter how life-threatening they are. He made sure to wear his signature Ray-Ban Aviator in the commercially successful Top Gun sequel, Top Gun: Maverick.
Source: Firstpost
