Intrusive Product Placement in Films

[JPA]

I know there was a Product Placement thread not so long ago, but this one is film-specific. Any particular examples of intrusive product placement that spring to mind?

I saw I, Robot the other day which features Will Smith lovingly unwrapping a pair of Converse trainers, and then later in the film directly naming said trainers in a piece of dialogue which runs vaguely along these lines:

Grandma Character: What are you wearing?

Will Smith: Converse Classics, circa 2004.

For the products to feature visually is one thing, but for them to then enter into the written script is ridiculous in its shamelessness. Obviously I exclude those instances where the brand name is used for comedic effect or as a tool for realism for example - neither of which applies to the exchange above.

Here's another one - The Invention of Lying with Gervais holding the pizza boxes. How brazen can you get?

[madhair60]

Transformers, with the Xbox 360 and Mountain Dew robots.

The best product placement is in Looney Tunes: Back in Action, but that's just what comes with being the best Hollywood film of whatever year it was released.

[Consignia]

That scene in Wayne's World, where they are covered in brand products products. And during it all they have the gall to be talking about sponsorship. Bloody hypocrites.

[madhair60]

That scene in Wayne's World, where they are covered in brand products products. And during it all they have the gall to be talking about sponsorship. Bloody hypocrites.

Isn't that the joke?

Wait, are you saying this ironically because it is the joke?

Or am I missing something and the joke is now on me?

Or is the problem that by drawing attention to it they try to excuse it?

I don't know anymore.

Also, I just remembered that the worst product placement ever was in that Splinter Cell game where Sam Fisher stops whatever stealth he's up to, and pops in some WRIGLEY'S AIRWAVES MENTHOL CHEWING GUM.  Fucking bollocks.

Edit:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODsttTZf1Xk

[non capisco]

Here's another one - The Invention of Lying with Gervais holding the pizza boxes. How brazen can you get?

I thought the maniacal product placement for Budweiser in that film was even worse than the Pizza Hut bit. Towards the start Gervais' character orders a draught beer and pointedly says 'Budweiser' in such a clunky way alarm bells started ringing so it was no surprise to see bottles of Bud in nearly every shot throughout. The I, Robot Converse thing was picked up on by a lot of reviewers on its release and I'm quite surprised more wasn't made of the Budweiser thing in 'Invention Of Lying'. It's as bad as McDonalds in bleedin' 'Mac And Me' once you notice it.

[Famous Mortimer]

Winner in this category must be Jackie Chan. He's got some lifetime deal with Mitsubishi, which led to a brilliant exchange in one of his films where he ran out in front of a car and it had to stop quickly. The woman got out and shook her fist, Jackie apologised, and then she said "well, at least I have a good car!" and the camera lovingly panned across the Mitsubishi logo.

Excellent fake product placement: "Josie and the Pussycats" (which is one of those films which deserved a better critical reception than it got).

[CaledonianGonzo]

It's as bad as McDonalds in bleedin' 'Mac And Me' once you notice it.

Though the McDonalds product-placement scene in Santa Claus - The Movie, where the homeless kid with his nose pressed up against the glass looks with awed wonder at the folk inside chowing down on Chicken McNuggets is a classic of its kind.  There might even be Vaseline on the lens at that point.

And before anyone mentions recent James Bond movies, it's always been there - note the obtrusive product placement for Smirnoff in Dr No.  Even better is the brazen sparking-open of a can of Guinness at the start of The Man With the Golden Gun.

[Santa's Boyfriend]

How much product placement was there in Casino Royale?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naBRz1Y0cc8

BUY SONY!

[Cohaagen]

Nothing tops the Panasonic memory card from Transformers:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LFQIoc49ZM
(about 0:36 in)

I was actually hunched over with laughter when I first saw that.

That said, the real benefactor from product placement in the Transformers movies is, of course, the US military and its suppliers. The amount of masturbatory hardware-worship is worse than a Tom Clancy novel, and that's saying something.

[Consignia]

Wait, are you saying this ironically because it is the joke?

[alan nagsworth]

That's the scene where's he's endorsing speaking a foreign language as well, the dirty Cantonese-plugging prick.

[All Surrogate]

Star Trek: Nokia persists in the NWE?!

[Small Man Big Horse]

For me, this is the best intentional product placement gag:

Product Placement

Plus it features George Clooney with stupid hair. What more could you ask for.

[small_world]

I watched Silent Running last night, as well as marked containers seen during any scenes filmed in the hold, there was this...



I love that movie though.

[kidsick5000]

How much product placement was there in Casino Royale?

But it's Bond. There's always been product placement all over the place.
I think people noticed more in Casino Royale because the products were a bit more 'High Street' than previous Bonds.

The Transporter had a huge amount of Tiger Beer obstructively placed in shots. Way beyond just the can and glass on the table. No, The walked into an office that had crates of the beer  stacked around the desk

[SavageHedgehog]

Moonraker was probably the worst Bond for product placement, a lengthy shot of a 7-Up billboard particularly sticks in my mind.

Cobra had a hell of lot of product placement I believe, including an entire ToysRUs commercial playing on a TV set. There are also several plugs for Pepsi, but Stallone, being an equal opportunity Reagan-era capitalist, also included at least one CocaCola plug God bless him.

[thecuriousorange]

I saw a bit of A View To Kill on TV today and there were some less than subtle BP logos.

Has anyone seen the shit-Brit-zombie-flick Doghouse? It's set in a tiny rural village that has a MASSIVE Gillette billboard towering over it. Said billboard takes up most of the screen on several occasions. Combined with the film's rampant sexism and the presence of Danny Dyer, watching it feels like being trapped inside a Nuts magazine.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

I watched Silent Running last night, as well as marked containers seen during any scenes filmed in the hold, there was this...

That's an odd one though, because (if I'm remembering it correctly) the film makes them look like a bunch of gits who want to nuke the last remaining plants.

Coke Zero in Scott Pilgrim. There's one scene throughout which he holds a can of it to his forehead, although at least it's mostly obscured by his hand. More grating are the spoken references to it, like when someone assumes Scott is drinking booze and he says something like, "Oh, I don't drink alcohol. This is just Coke Zero."

It wouldn't seem so bad if he'd just said "coke", as that's fairly generic sounding.

[Mister Six]

Coke Zero in Scott Pilgrim. There's one scene throughout which he holds a can of it to his forehead, although at least it's mostly obscured by his hand. More grating are the spoken references to it, like when someone assumes Scott is drinking booze and he says something like, "Oh, I don't drink alcohol. This is just Coke Zero."

It wouldn't seem so bad if he'd just said "coke", as that's fairly generic sounding.

Official explanation is that Scott is always associated with the number zero throughout the film (a giant '0' is even on the background of the Cera-only UK posters, while the boyfriends get 1, 7 or whatever behind them). Whether that's just Wright making the best of a bad situation I don't know.

[Buchstansangur]

[Consignia]

What game is that Lucozade from?

[NoSleep]

In the first series of Heroes there's a three minute advertisement for a car that Hiro & Ando hire and then speak about in detail (I'm "car blind" so I've forgotten what make/model).

[Buchstansangur]

What game is that Lucozade from?

Superfrog

[NoSleep]

In the first series of Heroes there's a three minute advertisement for a car that Hiro & Ando hire and then speak about in detail (I'm "car blind" so I've forgotten what make/model).

It was a Nissan Versa and appears in more than one episode;

http://heroeswiki.com/Nissan_Versa

[Nik Drou]

I was rewatching Talladega Nights the other day and, although it's part of the joke and consistent with the subject matter, there's probably more products in there than I've ever seen in one movie.  You've got Wonderloaf, Powerade, KFC, Domino's, Fig Newtons, Coca-Cola, Old Spice, Kodak, Applebees, Goodyear, Big Red, Taco Bell, Budweiser, Tide, Perrier, Jenga and much more. 

[gmoney]

Has anyone seen the shit-Brit-zombie-flick Doghouse? It's set in a tiny rural village that has a MASSIVE Gillette billboard towering over it. Said billboard takes up most of the screen on several occasions. Combined with the film's rampant sexism and the presence of Danny Dyer, watching it feels like being trapped inside a Nuts magazine.

Yes. It's particularly ridiculous as it's clearly the only reason that the plot strand exists. I can imagine the screenwriter getting a semi as he crowbarred it in for some extra cash.

[An tSaoi]

Mærsk in any film that features shipping containers.

[Custard]

That Marty McFly sure liked his Pepsi and Nikes, eh?

[kidsick5000]

Yes. It's particularly ridiculous as it's clearly the only reason that the plot strand exists. I can imagine the screenwriter getting a semi as he crowbarred it in for some extra cash.

I doubt he got a semi. Any writer having to squeeze in some product placement is probably despairing at having to do it in order to get their story, good or bad, put on screen.
Some films want to mention real companies to give their film some basis in reality. But otherwise, they just need the money.
It depends on how much they are willing to sell to get the job done.

[Claude the Racecar Driving Rockstar Super Sleuth]

That Marty McFly sure liked his Pepsi and Nikes, eh?

But everyone likes Back to the Future, so it's alright.

Similarly, the Toy Story films are pretty much a big toy advert. Not surprising, as merchandising has been an integral part of family movies since Star Wars, but it's the first one I can remember in which some of the toys already existed before the film. They even have a scene in the first one in which Mr Potatohead and Rex talk about which companies made them.