If you just glance at it quickly, you might think that Elizabeth Banks has become a Cover Girl spokeswoman, and dyed her hair a very, very strange color in the process. But in fact, the glossy new ad you see below is for the Hunger Games nail polish line, the one announced last week even after Lionsgate had initially denied it would exist. The nail polish line is intended to reflect the gaudy, wealthy Capitol city in the books by Suzanne Collins, and doesn't really have much to do with the titular fights to the death that make up the bulk of the book. But as revealed in the ad, the polish colors are intend to represent each of the twelve Districts, a.k.a. regions of the country of Panem. So, in the words of the press releases, the colors allow "citizens to show their solidarity and support for a favorite tribute by wearing the color associated with their district." You can get a glimpse of them in the image below, though it's mostly taken over by Elizabeth Banks and her pink eyeshadow.
The connection between Banks's character Effie Trinket and the nail polish line is tenuous as well-- yes, she's described in the book as being extravagantly made up, and the crazy false eyelashes and pink lipstick don't seem remotely out of place for the character. And it doesn't seem that crazy that the Capitol would encourage people to wear nail polish based on which districts they support-- the Hunger Games, after all, are there to distract people from the genuine horrors of their lives, and what's more frivolous than nail polish? But this ad just seems one more step toward Lionsgate, in their efforts to market the hell out of the film they hope is the next Twilight, warping the messages of the books until they no longer exist. The fact of the matter is our heroine Katniss would never wear nail polish, and if you're a real Hunger Games fan, don't you want to be more like her?
Regardless, I confess I will probably buy the Hunger Games nail polish out of sheer curiosity-- and then feel shame in knowing Katniss would probably hate me for it. The Hunger Games comes to theaters on March 21-- will you be wearing the nail polish on opening night?
