Subscribe to ListverseTop 10 Blatant Examples of Product Placement in Movies
- Published March 21, 2008 - 168 Comments
Product placement in television and movies has been around for a while. Seeing a “real life” product in a movie helps to give that movie a sense of realism. Usually, these placements are subtle: a can of Coke seen when a refrigerator door is opened, a box of Cheerios on the breakfast table. Others, however, are in your face, up close and personal. Some are so obvious it seems the producers simply had the screenwriter leave a blank in the script and sold the spot to the highest bidder. Here are my top 10 examples of blatant product placement in the movies.
One entire scene revolves around Sandra Bullock’s character explaining to Sylvester Stallone’s unfrozen cop from the 90s that Taco Bell won the franchise wars and “now all restaurants are Taco Bells.” They then proceed to a fancy, sit down place where no Mexican food is present at all. It has nothing to do with the plot of the movie and any restaurant name could have been used. I guess Taco Bell was the highest bidder.
In the mid 90s, Apple Computer (now Apple, Inc.) was facing a crisis. Very few people were buying their computers and Apple needed to get in the public eye in a positive way. So, in 1996, they put their computers on the silver screen in, not one, but two blockbuster movies. In M:I, Tom Cruise uses a PowerBook to communicate with the bad guy (and girl) and ultimately save the day (and his reputation). In ID:4, Jeff Goldblum uses a PowerBook to plant a deadly computer virus in the attacking aliens’ mothership. I even remember an Apple commercial that tied in with Mission:Impossible.
The vehicles that Jeff Goldblum and team use while exploring Site B were a new Mercedes Benz SUV. Steven Spielberg took great care to frame a shot that showed the famous Benz logo up close. Again, a commercial by Mercedes was shown on television to capitalize on this movie placement.
Like #8 this is another vehicle placement. What makes it so bad is that Dodge, I think, hurt themselves. The good guys all have old beat up clunkers, except for Bill Paxton’s character, who drives a brand new Dodge Ram pick-up. But the bad guys, led by Carey Elwes’ character, all drive black Dodge mini-vans. Of course, one of them gets impaled by a tornado thrown pole and then gets tossed around and eventually blown up by said tornado.
In the DVD commentary, the director, Robert Zemeckis, said they needed a “real” company to be in this movie for authenticity. But I for one can’t look at a FedEx shipping box without thinking about two things: That weird angel drawing and “Wilson! Wiiilllsooonn!”
This represents a legitimate practice; advertisers sponsoring a NASCAR racing team and plastering their logo all over the car and driver. However, after seeing this movie, every time I see a Mello Yello, I think about Tom Cruise and that black car driving through the wreckage.
I mention this one because the National Football League is extremely particular about the fictional use of any of its franchises or logos in movies and television. Most movies that concern a professional football team use a fictional one. It’s surprising then that the Miami Dolphins were in this movie at all.
Like #5 this represents a legitimate practice; a professional athlete doing product endorsements. But like #10, this one could have gone to any product. Subway just happened to win the bidding war. This one is also noticeable because in subsequent airings on cable and network television, the Subway t-shirt that Adam Sandler wears in parts of the movie has its logo blurred out.
The cola wars were going on hot and heavy in 1985 when the first installment of Back to the Future premiered. Pepsi was winning and in order to capitalize on that momentum they were featured heavily in this movie. There’s even a scene where Michael J. Fox’s character of Marty McFly goes into the 1955 cafe and orders a Pepsi Free, Pepsi’s diet drink. The soda jerk tells him if he wants a Pepsi he’s gonna have to pay for it. In Part 2, Marty travels to 2015. Doc Brown tells him to go to the Cafe 80s and order a Pepsi. He gives him a $50 bill to pay for it.
This is the one that really started it all. Although product placement had been around before 1981, this movie put the practice into overdrive. No one will ever forget E.T. croaking out the words “Reese’s pieces” as he happily munches his way down the trail that Elliot has left for him. Interestingly, Spielberg wanted to originally use M&Ms, but couldn’t secure the rights. Hershey’s, who own Reese’s, stepped up and the rest is history.
Contributor: Randy
March 21st, 2008 at 5:14 am
Subway….”they always &^%$ you at the drive-thru” – Joe Pesci in Lethal Weapon 2(or three)
March 21st, 2008 at 5:16 am
The Dodge placement was great and timed perfectly with the release of the truck. A couple interesting things though… I think Carey Elwes’ character in twister was actually driving a big black Chevy Suburban or something- the perfect arch nemesis for our hero’s Ram. Also, if you’re ever at Universal Studios in Orlando check out the Twister attraction. They actually have a Dodge Dakota with Ram badges in the attraction!
March 21st, 2008 at 5:19 am
I have a mjor beef with product placement – I just don’t get the fuss it causes because I never, ever notice it. An Apple laptop in Independance Day? I’ve watched that film umpteen times and never, even noticed it before. So much for advertising if you don’t notice the product.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:27 am
The mercedes benz should of been higher on the list like at #4 spot or around that
i mean that was a great choice of car to put in there and it was a sick car aswell
March 21st, 2008 at 5:29 am
I watched the Super Mario Bros movie today for the first time in ages. Towards the end of the movie a little bomb-omb is making it’s way to blow up King Koopa and stamped on the bottom of his foot is the “Reebok” symbol. Talk about an odd product placement!!
March 21st, 2008 at 5:29 am
I don’t remember E.T. actually saying ‘Reeces Pieces’…
Remember The Fifth Element? I wonder if McDonalds will really be like that in the future…
March 21st, 2008 at 5:54 am
Ripley’s “Alien Stompers” by Reebok in Aliens – I almost bought a pair!
March 21st, 2008 at 5:54 am
Man, you forgot the most blatant of all time: Wayne’s World.
Wayne and Garth sit around discussing artistic integrity and their inability to ’sell out’ to a sponsor- all while endorsing products by Pepsi, Domino’s Pizza, Reebok, and Nuprin.
Not saying it wasn’t funny, but the product placement was definitely in your face.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:02 am
Apple Computer was also in Forrest Gump when he “invested in a
fruit company and wouldn’t have to worry ’bout money no more”
- I agree with Yarr, Wayne’s World for sure needs at least an honourable mention
March 21st, 2008 at 6:03 am
Excellent list!
Another good one: Starbucks in Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me!
March 21st, 2008 at 6:05 am
Yarr: Yeah, that was a good one, though I was shooting for one company/product per movie/scene.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:09 am
What about the scene in Pulp Fiction where Jules and Vincent talk about what Big Macs and Quarter Pounders are called in Europe?
March 21st, 2008 at 6:13 am
Phoenix: You may be right. I may be thinking of the commercial tie ins that had the E.T. voice saying “Reese’s Pieces”
March 21st, 2008 at 6:18 am
I don’t mind product placement sometimes if it is done the way FedEx was in Castaway. It can make the everything just seem more real to me. If Tom Hanks was working for SpeedyMail, the movie would have been the same, but it could have added a touch of cheesy.
Then again, some great scenes happen because of the lack of product placement:
“Big Kahuna Burger? That’s that Hawaiian burger joint? I hear they got some tasty burgers”
“Mmmm, this IS a tasty burger”
March 21st, 2008 at 6:27 am
How ’bout ‘Total Recall.’ Mars was full of product placement… MARS Today (newspaper), Hilton, Pepsi. Killian’s Red… just to name a few
March 21st, 2008 at 6:28 am
What about Popeye’s Chicken in “Little Nicky” – the movie was atrocious and, all the more so, because they kept plugging Popeye’s Chicken.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:47 am
I think it’s already been mentioned, but Wayne’s World is classic in this area.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:50 am
Yarr: Little, yellow, different.
I think E.T. does say Reese’s Pieces. I vaguely remember a scene where he starts repeating it.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:52 am
I think it was in Kung Pow (can’t really remember for sure), when the one guy is walking down this old historic street, and all of a sudden you see this brand-new Taco Bell…and he’s singing, “Taco Bell, Taco Bell, Product Placement for Taco Bell”…hahaha…that’s pretty blatant…but it was also a pretty crummy movie.
March 21st, 2008 at 6:58 am
Coca Cola in Blade Runner.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:00 am
Anyone notice that every car on the freeway in the second Matrix movie is a GM vehicle?
March 21st, 2008 at 7:01 am
What about Calvin Klein underwear in “Back to the Future”?
March 21st, 2008 at 7:03 am
There’s another scene in Independence Day, right before Will Smith gets marries and he hugs his new stepson, who has a backwards hat on, and the adidas logo on the hat literally fills up the screen for like twenty seconds. It makes you love Will Smith’s fatherly side AND want to play soccer all at the same time…
March 21st, 2008 at 7:09 am
“Return of the Killer Tomatoes” had a good scene (w/ George Clooney) where they made fun of product placement. George’s character is holding a candy bar and moving around but is always making sure that the candy bars name on the wrapper is always faceing the camera.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:09 am
Monolithic corporations are a greater threat to our freedoms than all foreign terrorists combined.
The unholy alliance between politics, corporations and every country’s elite class is a horrid danger to the masses of the world.
Beware, people.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:16 am
the calvin klein one is a good suggestion! What about I, Robot? “Nice shoes”…(now show full screen picture of Converse)
Also Swordfish, i seem to remember absolutely blatant Heineken advertising (open up fridge and focus on the Heineken) – i tell you, that was so much like an ad. Oops better get back to work. Damn you listverse, damn you to heck (tate?)
March 21st, 2008 at 7:22 am
McDonalds in “The Fifth Element.” Disgusting.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:29 am
The Wayne’s World bit is right here:
As well one for me was the fact that Chevrolet was the main supplier for all the Autobots in Transformers. They had commercials as well… Not to mention the fact that Bumblebee was originally a VW Bug.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:31 am
I cannot believe I Robot as a film has been left out. There are numerous blatent product placements in that, possibly topped by converse shoes. Will Smith pulls them out the box and starts talking to his mum about how great they are. The Audi was also quite obvious.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:38 am
Seriously, no “Mac and Me”?
or
“The Wizard”?
March 21st, 2008 at 7:43 am
What about Species 2? In the beginning of the movie the back portion of the spaceship going to Mars is covered with corporate logos. That was probably one of the most blatant uses of product placement in a movie. It seemed like the director wanted to get all of the product endorsements out at the same time. Every time I see this scene I chuckle thinking that an alien would fly by, see the logos, and then be compelled to stop by Earth for a Pepsi.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:44 am
T
March 21st, 2008 at 7:45 am
I knew everyone would come through in spades with movies I had forgotten or had not seen. I might have to expand this to a top 20 or 30 list.
Here’s one I totally forgot that should be in the top 10- Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle. I mean the product is in the movie title, for goodness sake!
Keep ‘em coming.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:46 am
The worst word I found in internet is the word “BUY”.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:50 am
dc: I loved the movie The Wizard when I was a kid. Although if you mean the product placement in that movie being Nintendo…I don’t think that would really count considering it was pretty integral to the whole movie. Unless you think they should have made up a whole video game system for the movie.
March 21st, 2008 at 7:59 am
You forgot white castle, from harold and kumar go to white castle. :0)
March 21st, 2008 at 8:14 am
Cheerios in Superman (1978 version, the classic). You may not recall it immediately, but it happens when young clark kent is contemplating leaving early in the morning(before dawn) while still on his parents farm. His mother goes into the kitchen, where nothing is illuminated except for one pool of light over the kitchen table, into which she places a large box of…Cheerios! The only thing seen! Look kids, Superman eats Cheerios and so should you!!!
I’ve always loved that one.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:18 am
In Europe Taco Bell was replaced by Pizza Hut as the only restaurant in Demolition Man.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:27 am
Sorry Randy, but ET did not start it all.
The Spielberg classic was released in 1982. Kubrick’s 2001 (released 1968) has Dr. Floyd flying to the moon on a PanAm Space craft, calling home on an AT&T and eating at Howard Johnsons (there may have been more placements, but I remember these).
This is not to minimize Lyrebyrd’s comments (both were Oscar winners), but I think that Kubrick was much more deliberate.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:53 am
What about The Italian Job and its remake? What other car has not one but two feature-length movies that do little but show off the car?
March 21st, 2008 at 9:04 am
I’m glad someone mentioned Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle! It was the first movie I thought of when I read this list! Great list by the way, I never noticed some of these product placements, saw Independence Day soooo many times and never once noticed the brand of computer that was used to save the day.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:32 am
I’d like to echo “I, Robot.”
“Vintage 2005!”
March 21st, 2008 at 9:34 am
What about the scene in Wayne’s World when they talk about selling out to sponsors while he’s eating pizza hut and doritos, drinking pepsi, wearing Reebok, and taking Nuprin for his headache? That’s the most in your face product placement i’ve ever seen.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:37 am
how bout fat bastard in austin powers singing the chilis baby back ribs song?
March 21st, 2008 at 9:40 am
Head And Shoulders on Evolution, the whole ending of the movie is basically a Head And Shoulders advertisement. Or Sony in Casino Royale although it wasn’t too much in your face I guess, but I couldn’t help but cringe when Bond watched a surveillance tape on BluRay.
March 21st, 2008 at 9:57 am
++ on the Evolution bit. It was a great movie till the end, when the whole damn thing became a giant ad for Head and Shoulders.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:11 am
Awesome list, I thought Reese’s Pieces would be number one, it’s the only product placement I could think from a film when I saw the list title!
A minor nit pick: It’s Cary Elwes, not Carey.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:32 am
What is there no Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle?
Seriously? What the hell?
Listverse failed me again!
March 21st, 2008 at 10:34 am
Just things. When Demolition Man was shown in Thailand, it didn’t have any Taco Bell. The Subtitle and the dub use Pizza Hut instead, as it’s the only franchise outside McDonald that makes any sense, despite the logo being Taco Bell.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:46 am
Awful, awful movie – Antitrust. The Pepsi product placement is so ridiculous, it’s blinding. Characters racing down empty, dim hallways, to come face to face with a glowing, fluorescent Pepsi machine.
Or what about all the Red Bull(shit) in Snakes On A Plane?
March 21st, 2008 at 11:01 am
In the movie “Gone in 60 Seconds”, they promte ‘65 Mustang shelby. I have no complain about it.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:11 am
Wayne’s World should be top 5 at least. Where else do they so blatently point out that they are doing product placements?
March 21st, 2008 at 11:12 am
One of the best uses of product placement in movies is the recent Transformers movie. They made GM cars look HOT! Not an easy thing to do imo.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:14 am
My recent favorite was the complete commercial for Applebees just placed whole into Talledega Nights.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:27 am
What about the Air Forces endorsement of “Top Gun” ? I remember seeing somewhere where they wanted the Marines to endorse “Hamburger Hill” but they declined.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:31 am
What about Josie and the Pussycats? I seem to remember a LOT of blatant product placement.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:40 am
Me and my friends have a drinking game for Josie and the Pussycats. Every time there is an obvious product placement you take a drink. No one has ever made it all the way through the movie.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:47 am
What about “Kung Pow! Enter the Fist!”? I remember them singing very loudly, “Taco Bell! Taco Bell! Product placement Taco Bell. Enchirito. NACHO BURRITO!” And in the deleted scenes the bad guy gives a bag of Taco Bell to the Evil Council.
Also, to fivestring63, “Top Gun” is a Navy movie. The Navy let them use their planes with a real Top Gun pilot flying them. The Air Force hated it. However, the Air Force played a HUGE part in “Transformers” (notice that none of the planes are CGI). Speaking of which, “Transformers” was the longest GMC commercial of all time.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:53 am
the recent spate of “spoof” movies (Epic Movie, Scary Movie series, etc.) are full of product placements.
March 21st, 2008 at 11:55 am
the Harry Potter movies shamelessly endorse the following:
Bertie Botts Every Flavor Bean
Ollivanders Wands
Nimbus (TM) brand broomsticks
Ford Anglia
Chocolate Frogs
March 21st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I was surprised to only see two others mention the transformers movie. Even though I thought it was done ok.. it was huge product placement.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:10 pm
how can you forget the massive amount of product placement in Wayne’s World? The best product placement ever.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:33 pm
What about White Castle in Harold and Kumar go to WhiteF**KING CASTLE?!?
March 21st, 2008 at 12:48 pm
Independence Day – the cigars at the end? product placement doesn’t always involve a brand name, especially if they are pushing tobacco.
March 21st, 2008 at 12:51 pm
come to think of it, how about a top ten list of movies where tobacco is plugged, start with lethal weapon…
March 21st, 2008 at 12:52 pm
how about “little yellow” newprin, doritos, and pepsi all in “waynes world”
March 21st, 2008 at 12:53 pm
ahh didnt see landos comment
March 21st, 2008 at 1:03 pm
“Coneheads” also had a Subway placement.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:15 pm
Wayne’s World doesn’t count, because those placement were intentionally blatent. That scene was meant to be a parody of that type of advertising strategy. In the context of this list, the placements that should be included are ones that are meant to be subtle and almost unnoticeable. It’s all about subliminal mind control…
March 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Tropicana in The Sixth Sense. Sick.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:29 pm
Yeah, I suppose the two Italian Job movies aren’t particularly subtle either…they still want to make me run out and learn handbrake turns though…
March 21st, 2008 at 1:39 pm
I did see the gone in 60 seconds.. but i wouldnt consider that product placement, because most people dont have the money to buy the older cars in that movie, they even put down a lot of the “new” cars of that time in the movie.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:41 pm
Of course Harold and Kumar got to White Castle was blatently advertising oh I don’t know, White Castle, but it also had Doritos advertised in that one seen in the gas station or whatever the hell it was. Can’t wait to see the sequel.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:43 pm
I don’t have a problem with product placement as long as the name of a product is in it’s proper context. For example, if a movie character says, “I’m gonna get a beer” and he does, it’s OK if the bottle has a Budweiser label on it. At least that’s realistic. What I hate is products that are advertised WAY out of context. In “Back to the Future” Marty and his skateboard hitch a ride on a moving jeep. The driver of said jeep turns to notice Marty and he’s wearing a baseball cap. The cap’s logo…is it Red Sox or Tigers? Nope, it says “Mountain Dew.” Who on earth wears a baseball cap that has a soft drink label in front?
March 21st, 2008 at 1:49 pm
Starbucks in zoolander, austin powers.
March 21st, 2008 at 1:51 pm
I don’t think it counts as blatant product placement when the featured product is essential to the plot, like “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle”–greasy little burgers are the perfect stoner meal, and McDonald’s are too numerous to have trouble finding one, so White Castle makes sense.
Also, they never showed a single Apple product in Forrest Gump, it’s not product placement just to mention being a stockholder.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:03 pm
My favorite is the “All – Seeing – Eye” which is everywhere. Owner : New World Order Corporation.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:03 pm
So, I haven’t read any of the other comments, but Wayne’s World? Blatant product placement? And, um, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle? It’s in the name! lol j/k
P
In regards to the Blade Runner/Coke placement, I actually liked that “commercial”. The geisha eating a cherry or something. If they actually had that commercial today, I wouldn’t change my Coke consumption one bit.
I was working at Subway and discussed the marketing in Happy Gilmore with my boss. He mentioned how screwed Subway got in Lethal Weapon, but thoroughly enjoyed the shameless plugs in Happy Gilmore. I counted: the t-shirt, using the 6 foot sub boxes as a golf bag, and having him hit the ball off of a Subway sign in the end to nail it. There were more, of course.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:06 pm
One can see the logo in Forrest Gump and the gist is that one should invest in Apple to make easy money; it’s most definitely a product placement.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:13 pm
The new movie “Doomsday” obviously got a lot of money from Bentley; apparently a Bentley can drive through a bus unscathed, lose a door and have it mysteriously back again in the next scene, and sit in a crate for 30 years with no maintenance and be as good as new when it’s found. Also it seemed like an odd choice; while it is undoubtedly an awesome car, I don’t think millionaires are the primary demographic of post-apocalyptic action movies.
My favorite product placement, however, is the opening scene of A Fish Called Wanda.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:22 pm
I thought Bond films had the most blatant product placements. Take Casino Royale for example, it was practically a 2-hour long ad for Sony. In that film, every electronic gadget featured was a Sony — from the Sony Ericsson phones, to the Vaio laptops and Cybershot cameras, and even Bluray players! It was overwhelming and even seemed desperate. (It was a good film nonetheless.)
By the way, according to Wikipedia, FedEx did not pay the filmmakers anything for their presence in the movie. So it was like a free publicity for them.
March 21st, 2008 at 2:43 pm
I like this list.
Sinbad going to McDonalds in Houseguest.
Leo – drinking a Sprite in The Departed.
Subway in Austin Powers Goldmember
The Porsche comercial their running again of course reminding me of Tom Cruise in Risky Business who even uttered the line – “Porsche there is no substitute”
March 21st, 2008 at 2:44 pm
what about harold and kumar go to white castle
it’s i n the freaking title
March 21st, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Has we don’t have ‘White Castle’ over here in the UK the film was called ‘Harold and Kumar get the munchies’. A much better title in my opinion……………………………………………………….the film’s still shit tho.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:06 pm
I think another really obvious product placement example is the Dr. Pepper cans in Spider-Man.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:08 pm
nice idea for a list! Loved it. Yeah, I agree, Harold and Kumar go to White Castle-I mean it’s right in the title. There are a lot of examples unfortuntately, like the scene in “Pulp Fiction” where the entire conversation is about McDonald’s and the “Royal with cheese”–my personal fav has to be in “Wayne’s World”, when Wayne is doing it on purpose and holding up the can of Pepsi like he’s a spokesmodel (he does it with other stuff…it’s an entire scene) priceless.
March 21st, 2008 at 5:11 pm
theres the red ryder bb gun in a christmas story.
but could you imagine if back in the 40’s if ad execs were as evil as they are now, what they would do with Citizen Kanes “Rosebud”? I can see that damn walmart smiley face hawking sleds in my mind now
March 21st, 2008 at 7:38 pm
Dave (#57), just how many times have you watched Josie and the Pussycats and claimed it was for playing a “drinking game”?? Sounds like quite a few! haha!
March 21st, 2008 at 8:02 pm
Worst product placement of all time:
Minority Report. Tom Cruise is walking through the “headquarters” and there is a freaking commercial playing on the T.Vs in the hallway. I think it was for Mazda or Chevy or something. I couldn’t only make it through that movie once. But that product placement really broke down that fourth wall for me.
March 21st, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Y’all can’t forget the brilliant pop placement in The Client. I believe it was for 7up where the cop offers the drink to a kid who had witnessed a suicide, and then bags the same can for evidence to check for fingerprints as the kid is leaving. It may have been Sprite… Its been a logn time since i seen the movie
March 21st, 2008 at 9:27 pm
for back to the future, miller high life is laced throughout that film. watch closley next time, a couple parts are in the 50s there are high life trucks all over, and at the end when when doc pours a high life (and the whole can)in the mister fusion.
March 21st, 2008 at 10:31 pm
How about White Castle? Herold & Kumar? That’s what that movie’s all about!
March 21st, 2008 at 10:57 pm
What about Popeyes in Little Nickey??
March 21st, 2008 at 11:23 pm
“I thought Bond films had the most blatant product placements. Take Casino Royale for example, it was practically a 2-hour long ad for Sony. In that film, every electronic gadget featured was a Sony — from the Sony Ericsson phones, to the Vaio laptops and Cybershot cameras, and even Bluray players! It was overwhelming and even seemed desperate. (It was a good film nonetheless.)”
I agree with Skipps, but on top of that (and Die Another Day is guilty of this too), there’s Ford all over the place. Why would Bond drive the Ford Edge, out of all things? Oh right, because it wasn’t available at the time of the film’s release, and Ford needed to plug it. Aston Martin (owned by Ford) makes sense, since Bond drove them before on at least four occasions (Goldfinger, Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, The Living Daylights), but the Jaguar XKR and redesigned Thunderbird in Die Another Day were just gratuitous. At least it’s better than the Z8 in TWINE, which appears for all of two seconds before its destruction.
Finally, the most blatant product placement in Casino Royale was the Omega plugging.
VESPER: Rolex?
BOND: Omega.
VESPER: Beautiful.
Serves no other purpose than to tell people to run out and buy an Omega Seamaster to be just like James Bond
March 22nd, 2008 at 12:45 am
On Bond product placement …
I still recall a scene in one of the early Roger Moore Bond movies, where he’s in bed with some gal and checks his watch — it was one of those new-fangled DIGITAL wristwatches! The audience gasped in amazement. They were just coming on to the market and still cost around $800-$1000 bucks. Never mind the car chases and explosions … THIS was the scene everyone would be talking about at school and in the office.
Now they give’em away in cereal boxes.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:00 am
Seriously!?!?! How can you have a lit like this and NOT include “I, Robot”? Five pure commercials in the first ten minutes! The Converce All-Star one even has Will SMith looking directly in the camera and say something like “I want Converce All-Star because I want the best”. Smile at the camera, teeth twinkle, then go back to dour-faced detective.
Oh, and of course “Wayne’s World”, with five minutes of nothing but product placement. It was done as a joke, but it’s still waaay more blatant and obvious than ANY of the ones on this list.
March 22nd, 2008 at 1:38 am
I think that Dodge’s product placement was worse in “Fantastic Four; Rise of the Silver Surfer.” Especially when they’re talking about the jet having a hemi in it.
The Mello Yello really isn’t that bad when you consider that for a number of years, there actually was a Mello Yello car on the track.
Apple in ID4 also isn’t that bad if you consider the movie a spoof (which it seems as was intended if the deleted scenes as described on imdb.com are read.) I heard a comedian say that they expect us to believe that an Apple computer, a computer that can’t communicate with 90% of the computers on Earth will be able to communicate with alien computers. In the words of the great Bill Cosby as Noah, “Riiiiight…”
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:45 am
how about in 50 First Dates? That huge Spam truck that just arrived with the delivery.
In Bruce Almighty…the car he drove was a Saleen S7.
You’ve Got Mail – the IBM Thinkpad, AOL, Starbucks (just like in Zoolander, Austin Powers, etc..)
Would Charlie and the Chocolate Factory count? It’s a whole movie devoted to that famous Candy Maker company..
March 22nd, 2008 at 5:10 am
Ironically just recently watched the commentary on back to the future and him paying with a $50 was said to be cut from the sequel..wondering if it was in the original…not that this anything to do with product placement…none the less.
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:39 am
Transformers (Live Action). Much as I enjoyed the movie and can’t wait for the second, you can’t say “product placement” without bringing to mind this one.
Obviously a movie about cars is going to have some brand names thrown about, but the entire thing was a giant “Buy American” advertisement. Chevy, GMC, Peterbilt, Pontiac, the police car that was supposed to look like a Ford Mustang, etc. Compare this to the original Transformers – Jazz was a Porsche and Bumblebee was a VW Beetle, both of which are made in Germany (and originally by the same guy). Then also look at the smaller stuff – at the beginning of the movie, we see Capt. Lennox talking to his wife via Hewlett Packard (HP) computer (and she’s talking back on another model of the same brand). And so on.
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:20 am
Though Josie and the Pussycats contains huge amounts of logos and brand mentions (in order to make the plot work), none of it is actually “product placements” according to the directors. On the commentary track they say none of it was paid for by the 73 mentioned companies.
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:31 am
I seem to remember people making a big stink about all the Marlboro signs in Superman II. I usually don’t notice product placement, though. Most of the time, when I see a brand name in a movie, it’s part of the movie. I’d only consider it gratuitous if it doesn’t add to the film at all.
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:48 am
Hmm, here’s another one, Tony Jaa’s “Tom-Yum-Goong”, aka “The Protector” in the US.
The major sponsor of the movie is the Thai energy drink “M-150″. It’s all over the movie.
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:21 am
@manashiori
No Charlie and the Chocolate Factory doesn’t count.
The candy itself isn’t really all that famous for being great candy, its famous because it was made up in the mind of Ronald Dahl and has been featured in different reals of media. Its not even its own company, believe it or not.
The candy appeared first in literature, in the book the movies are based on. It wasn’t until later that a subsidiary of Quaker Oats started producing candy under the Wonka brand name, to capitalize on the success of the book and the new (at that time) movie with Gene Wilder. (Thats capitalism for you, folks).
Then, sometime later in the 80’s (I don’t know the year), Nestle bought the rights. So Wonka is really more of a brand name than a company.
March 22nd, 2008 at 8:22 am
EDIT: Roald Dahl.
I don’t know why I put an “n” in his first name.
I realized that I did that RIGHT after I hit submit.
That’ll teach me to not proofread.
March 22nd, 2008 at 10:59 am
I think that in Casino Royale the sony product placement made the movie a little cheesy.
March 22nd, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I seriously hated this movie, but Applebee’s in Talladega Nights. They had a freakin commercial for Applebee’s DURING the movie!!
Nothing is more blatant
March 22nd, 2008 at 4:55 pm
wasn’t there a scene in office space where he was eating Cheetos and was the restraunt that Jenifer Aniston worked at in the movie real?
March 22nd, 2008 at 6:05 pm
^Someone correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the restaurant Jennifer Aniston worked in a TGIFridays? Or was it a take off on Fridays? I remember her wearing suspenders and having lots of pieces of “flare”…
March 22nd, 2008 at 7:36 pm
I gotta disagree, chershey–in Forrest Gump the Apple stock is just referencing another historical event in how it made instant millionaires of it’s shareholders. The logo is only shown as a visual gag, it clues in the audience as to what “fruit company” Forrest is referring to. It’s no more an endorsement than his staying at the Watergate Hotel.
March 23rd, 2008 at 1:21 am
I like this list. It’s good for TV and movie watchers to notice product placement, being aware of these attempts to influence us is at least a step towards not being brainwashed.
ONE thing, I find it completely offensive to see cigarettes and cigars used and glorified in so many movies. I believe that there are deals made behind the scene to include scenes making tabacco use appear enjoyable, sexy, or “cool”.
March 23rd, 2008 at 7:31 am
@ D Holmes
Thanks for that. No worries…I used to spell it with an N.
I’ll have to add on the list the one from Mercury Rising when Simon drank Swiss Miss.
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:58 am
What about starvucks/tim hortons?
March 23rd, 2008 at 4:28 pm
wasn´t it pizza hut in demolition man??
March 23rd, 2008 at 5:27 pm
Why have I gotten this far down the thread and not seen anyone mention the Mountain Dew drink machine Transformer in Bay’s “Transformers”? It fired Mountain Dew cans out of its cannon arms for heaven’s sake!
March 23rd, 2008 at 5:31 pm
Reading of that movie “Mac and Me” and blatancy, how about a list for most blatant hollywood knock-offs?
March 23rd, 2008 at 8:45 pm
You should of put on “Harold and Kumar go to White Castle” and “Wayne’s World” !!!
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:34 pm
if you dont like big red then fuck you!
-talladega nights
March 23rd, 2008 at 9:53 pm
Where is the COKE in The God’s Must Be Crazy?
March 24th, 2008 at 5:37 am
In the movie “Brainstorm” they sure liked to drink Coca Cola. I started laughing at how many Coke cans kept showing up. In the lunchroom scenes a Coke machine practically takes center stage.
March 24th, 2008 at 7:23 am
I seem to remember Seiko watches being featured in the 80’s Bond flicks-a different Auto Co. each movie in the 70’s and BMW in the 90’s.
March 24th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Your missing the matrix and I think it was mountain dew (or at least one of the softdrinks), blattent adverts happen about 5 times in that movie.
March 25th, 2008 at 6:05 am
hannah: her character worked at “chotchkies”. it was a knock off of the fridays, applebees, bennigans line of restaurants.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:21 am
Does that Gevalia coffee ad count?
March 25th, 2008 at 11:02 am
Transformers was an hour and a half advert. Surprised it wasn’t on here for Burger King/Chevy/Mountain Dew. It had it all.
March 25th, 2008 at 1:36 pm
Casino Royale: Rental Car was Ford Mondeo, Aston Martin company is owned by Ford. Land Rover, Jaguar Lincoln.. all owned by Ford Motors Co. and appeared in Casino Royale….
LAME.
March 25th, 2008 at 5:40 pm
i liked how in waynes world they made fun of all those corporate sponshorships all the while fooling us YET again with advertisements..does anyone remember this?
March 26th, 2008 at 7:46 am
I wish people would read all the freakn’ comments before bitching that somthing wasnt on the list.
March 27th, 2008 at 6:36 am
Okay. Wayne’s World was a good example of product placement, but it was done tongue-in-cheek as a parody of all the “real” product placement done in movies and television. For that reason, I did not include it on the list.
I also agree with #104 and D Holmes about Wonka candy in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”.
As for Transformers, I saw it, but didn’t really notice all the product placement. I wrote the list using examples that I felt were blatantly obvious. Taco Bell/Pizza Hut in Demolition Man is a good example. It had absolutely nothing to do with the movie and if it had been removed, the plot of the movie would not have been affected in any way. Most (I said most) of the items on the list would fall into the same category.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:51 pm
i tend to think that adam sandler has some sort of contract where every film he does has one very blatant product placement. besides for the previously noted happy gilmore and little nicky, there’s the pudding from billy madison and a few others that i can’t recall.
as for the bond films, i don’t think anyone has mentioned the norelco electric shaver in die another day. you see the box neatly displayed on the table and then it cuts to bond just finishing his shave with the brand name clearly on display, shot just like a tv add.
March 27th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I’m remembering Adam Sandler in Little Nicky, he’s sitting on a bench with the demon dog eating a bucket of Popeye’s chicken. He looks at the dog and says “Popeye’s chicken is fucking awesome!” Which is still what I think to this day when I drive by a Popeye’s. There’s also a scene at the end where Popeye’s chicken saves people from the spawns of Satan. Product placement is one thing, but Popeye’s chicken has supernatural powers.
March 27th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
also, a few people mentioned subway in lethal weapon 2, which reminds me:
when i first saw that movie (or when i first saw it after becoming aware of product placement in movies), i wasn’t aware that subway has drive thrus. so i thought that they were promoting subway while simultaneously taking a jab at their drive thru competition (mcdonalds, burger king, etc). however, after finding out that subways do actually have drive thrus in some areas, i found it rather odd that subway would pay the lethal weapon producers to include a rant about how their service sucks.
there are other movies that do this too. there are a few different real life products in the weather man that are reffered to as “things that people would rather throw out than finish.” and there are several big business brand names in fight club despite its anti-corporate themes. counter productive product placement would make a nice list too, but i can’t think of any more.
March 27th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Some time ago, I looked up Adam Sandler on Wikipedia and it had a long list of product placement in his movies.
March 28th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
I really thought the Nike Logo on the armor in A Knights Tale was clever
March 29th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Oh wow I remember most of these! Especially the E.T. with ther Reeses pieces and Subway in Happy Gilmore, and Pepsi in Back to the Future. It’s just as bad as in Wayne’s World, which was done in an obvious, humorous way.
March 29th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
The Taco Bell thing was there as a joke. The only reason it was Taco Bell was that they had the scene and Taco Bell was the one that went for it. Of course it’s not essential to the plot, it’s there to show how crazy the future has become, just like the cops that follow the computer instructions on how to take down a criminal or the fact that there’s a museum of weapons because nobody owns a gun. It’s not like they wrote the scene so they got some sweet Taco Bell money.It’s not like they wrote the scene so they got some sweet Taco Bell money.
March 29th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
I liked the FedEx one, thats all I can think of too! “Wilson? WILLLSOOOOON im sorry im sorry!” and then the histarical crying because he lost a volleyball with a face painted on it.
March 30th, 2008 at 3:09 am
The Terminal had a lot of advertising for Borders.. You could see the sign for the store in almost every scene.
March 30th, 2008 at 7:27 am
What about evolution the head and shoulders shampoo used to keep the guys hair clean and dandruff free and they also did a add at the end of the movie i can no believe that it isnt in this list
March 31st, 2008 at 2:47 pm
Supersize me has alot about McDonalds in it!
March 31st, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Hmm…. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle?
April 9th, 2008 at 3:26 pm
“50 First Dates”
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Spam.
Odd combination, but still workable.
April 19th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
What about “Nike” in Forrest Gump?
(And definitely Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle)
May 12th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
how bout Dr. Pepper in X-Men 2?
May 18th, 2008 at 11:12 am
Apple was also in National Treasure 2.
May 26th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
i agree with those people who said mac and me. that movie didn’t only endorse McDonalds but Coca-cola as well. ^_^
June 4th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Nokia in “Cellular”
June 5th, 2008 at 2:47 pm
If I remember right, SWAT (the movie) placed Dr Pepper heavily. (At least they are advertisting something good.)
June 7th, 2008 at 6:21 am
I am Legend has an advertisement for Batman Vs. Superman in it. This might not yet be a product, but eventually I think it will be(Unfortunately).
June 9th, 2008 at 4:46 am
How about the blatant advertisement of the Apple iPod in Blade Trinity? It wasn’t the placement of the gadget itself that was annoying, but the accompanying dialogue of Hannibal King was making it look and sound like it was a commercial embedded in the movie.
“She’s making playlists. Likes to listen to MP3s when she hunts. Her own internal soundtrack,you know? Dark-core, trip hop, whatever kids these days are listening to. Me? I’m more of a Kenny G fan.”
June 27th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
Can’t forget eBay in Transformers!!
July 7th, 2008 at 2:11 am
all james bond films should b in this i mean all the astons then bmws and then in casino royal every electrical thing was a sony
July 10th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
I love the product placement in Shrek like Tower of London Records
July 10th, 2008 at 5:18 pm
Nokia in Cellular, Matrix, and Transformers
September 4th, 2008 at 12:07 am
@Amanda – I was just about to say;; What about Herald and Kumar go to white castle? That WHOLE MOVIE was about white castle! And it worked, after I seen it I craved (no pun intended) white castle for MONTHS. :O
September 4th, 2008 at 6:15 am
Here’s a new one. I went to see the new Vin Diesel movie Babylon A.D. with a friend last night, and at one point during the movie it showed the outside of an airplane with a giant Coca-Cola logo on it. My friend and I thought that that was funny and were laughing about the company that obviously won the spot for product placement.
December 3rd, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Product placement isn’t all that bad and sometimes it’s necessary in movies. It ties them more into real world scenario’s. Can you imagine if in Fast and the Furious or Transformers, all the cars were made up or if Jeff Goldbloom had an emblem of a lemon on his computer in Independence Day? That would be dumb. Although some movies do put it in your face a bit much, yes Transformers was one big GM commmercail.
I’d have to say the worse was in a movie called Torque. The movie is awful, but if you happen to watch it late one night at 3 a.m. after drinking all night, ok
anyways, there’s a fight scene near the end where these 2 women are fighting on their motor cycle and out of nowhere they are in front of a HUGE Mountain Dew sign. I’m mean they go from a warehouse looking area to fighting in front of a Mountain Dew sign. You gotta see it to understand how blatant this add was thrown in there.
December 7th, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Can someone tell me what mello yello does?
December 8th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
Not sure if it has been mention but “I, Robot” was really just one huge commercial
December 13th, 2008 at 11:27 am
I’m surprised nobody mentioned windex in my big fat greek wedding!
January 1st, 2009 at 2:27 pm
wt about harold and kumar get the munchies white castle
January 6th, 2009 at 11:36 am
What about Nascar in talladega nights.
January 13th, 2009 at 6:51 am
The Wizard starring Fred Savage was basically a 90 minute commercial for Nintendo and it’s bull**** product the Powerglove.
April 3rd, 2009 at 8:44 pm
“Looney Toons Back in Action” had blatant advertising for Walmart, though done in a hilarious fashion with Bugs Bunny (at least to me).
April 3rd, 2009 at 9:04 pm
trfan:
or blatantly warner bros. and nike with Space Jam
April 28th, 2009 at 2:05 am
Taco bell? I would bet my house that the restaurant from demolition man was pizza hut! can I hear Fail?
June 25th, 2009 at 8:19 pm
you should have added spam in fifty first dates