Extremely Rare FIREFOX insert poster

Extremely Rare FIREFOX insert poster

I’m really happy to bring this one to the Archive. It was one of our admin staff, Davy Triumph who managed to secure this very rare insert poster today. It’s a really intriguing piece that has created a great deal of conversation. Whist it is the same size as a standard U.S. insert (14" X 36") and on card stock, it is believed this is possibly a rejected proof or printer’s demo for the studio. There are several possible reasons for this, the first being the red ink overlap on the bottom white border which would not be out of place if this was simply a sample. Secondly, there is the lack of finished colour artwork on the main image of Eastwood, again, this could simply be because this is a proof – focusing more on the layout and design. Lastly, (and perhaps most intriguingly), is that great tagline, ‘1982… We are behind… We have no choice…’ – for both Davy and myself, we have never seen this tagline used before – on any form of publicity for Firefox. Making an educated guess, I believe that it’s that tagline which got this design rejected. Firstly, the date of 1982 will always date the film and may hamper its appeal to future generations. Plus ‘we are behind’ is not exactly the finest piece of propaganda in contrast to Russia and its technical warfare capabilities? Did Warner Brother’s really want to push the fact that the Russians were seemingly more advanced than the Americans? I think it’s possibly something like that which got this design rejected. Of course, this is all guess work – but it does contain some sort of logic in its argument. In the early 80’s Cold War tensions between America and Russia were still at a high. NATO deployed a new generation of intermediate-range nuclear missiles in Western Europe, and Soviet negotiators walked out of arms control talks in Geneva. So, the suggestion that Russia may have the upper hand and America was ‘behind’ in any way, probably didn’t send out a positive message. 

Whatever the reasons may be, one thing is certain, the rarity of this poster. Both Davy and myself have only ever seen this poster in auction once before, and by one of the largest auction houses. And it wasn’t just another copy of this poster, but the exact same one, as tiny imperfections are uniquely evident – which confirms that this is the one (and only) copy that we have ever seen. I’m personally pleased that one of our own admin members secured it.