Shermer

Shermer, IL is a fictitious suburb of Chicago in several John Hughes films such as "Weird Science", "The Breakfast Club", "Ferris Bueller's Day Off", "Sixteen Candles", "Pretty in Pink" and "National Lampoon's Vacation".

The town represents Hughes' hometown Northbrook, Illinois, formerly named Shermerville. Another reason for the name Shermer is that Hughes' former high school Glenbrook North High School is located on Shermer Road.

The fictitious high schools featured in "The Breakfast Club", "Weird Science" and "Ferris Bueller's Day Off" are all named Shermer High School [http://www.shermerhighschool.com] . Hughes' actual former school, Glenbrook North High School, was used as a filming location for "Ferris Bueller's Day Off".

According to "The Breakfast Club", Shermer shares its zip code 60062 with Northbrook.

Pop culture

* Maine North High School, Glenbrook North High School, and Niles East High School have all represented Shermer High School [http://www.shermerhighschool.com] at one point.
* In Kevin Smith's film "Dogma", the characters Jay and Silent Bob mention a failed trip to Shermer. They were unaware that Shermer is fictional (the events of this trip are documented in Kevin Smith's comic book "Chasing Dogma"), and had wanted to visit because of its high ratio of beautiful girls to dorky guys (as seen in most of Hughes' Shermer-based films), as well as its apparent lack of any competing drug dealers.
* According to "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation", Shermer is powered by a nuclear power plant.
* In "Weird Science", a billboard is seen promoting "Shermer: One of America's Towns."
* In a reference to "The Breakfast Club", retailer J.C. Penney Company, is currently running a television ad campaign (August, 2008) featuring the fictional Shermer High School, including a remake of Simple Mind's song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and action sequences of models recreating key scenes from the movie.