Product placement in television and movies has been around for a while. Seeing a āreal lifeā 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 Bullockās character explaining to Sylvester Stalloneās unfrozen cop from the 90s that Taco Bell won the franchise wars and ānow all restaurants are Taco Bells.ā 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 aliensā 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 Paxtonās character, who drives a brand new Dodge Ram pick-up. But the bad guys, led by Carey Elwesā 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 ārealā company to be in this movie for authenticity. But I for one canāt look at a FedEx shipping box without thinking about two things: That weird angel drawing and āWilson! Wiiilllsooonn!ā
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. Itās 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. Thereās even a scene where Michael J. Foxās character of Marty McFly goes into the 1955 cafe and orders a Pepsi Free, Pepsiās diet drink. The soda jerk tells him if he wants a Pepsi heās 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 āReeseās piecesā as he happily munches his way down the trail that Elliot has left for him. Interestingly, Spielberg wanted to originally use M&Ms, but couldnāt secure the rights. Hersheyās, who own Reeseās, stepped up and the rest is history.
Contributor: Randy
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.
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.
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.
hannah: her character worked at “chotchkies”. it was a knock off of the fridays, applebees, bennigans line of restaurants.
Does that Gevalia coffee ad count?
Transformers was an hour and a half advert. Surprised it wasn’t on here for Burger King/Chevy/Mountain Dew. It had it all.
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.
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?
I wish people would read all the freakn’ comments before *****ing that somthing wasnt on the list.
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.
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.
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 *****ing 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.
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.
Some time ago, I looked up Adam Sandler on Wikipedia and it had a long list of product placement in his movies.
I really thought the Nike Logo on the armor in A Knights Tale was clever
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.
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.
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.
The Terminal had a lot of advertising for Borders.. You could see the sign for the store in almost every scene.
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
Supersize me has alot about McDonalds in it!
Hmm…. Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle?
“50 First Dates”
Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups and Spam.
Odd combination, but still workable.
What about “Nike” in Forrest Gump?
(And definitely Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle)
how bout Dr. Pepper in X-Men 2?
Apple was also in National Treasure 2.
i agree with those people who said mac and me. that movie didn’t only endorse McDonalds but Coca-cola as well. ^_^
Nokia in “Cellular”
If I remember right, SWAT (the movie) placed Dr Pepper heavily. (At least they are advertisting something good.)
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).
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.”
Can’t forget eBay in Transformers!!
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
I love the product placement in Shrek like Tower of London Records
Nokia in Cellular, Matrix, and Transformers
@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
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.
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.
Can someone tell me what mello yello does?
Not sure if it has been mention but “I, Robot” was really just one huge commercial
I’m surprised nobody mentioned windex in my big fat greek wedding!
wt about harold and kumar get the munchies white castle
What about Nascar in talladega nights.
The Wizard starring Fred Savage was basically a 90 minute commercial for Nintendo and it’s bull**** product the Powerglove.
“Looney Toons Back in Action” had blatant advertising for Walmart, though done in a hilarious fashion with Bugs Bunny (at least to me).
trfan:
or blatantly warner bros. and nike with Space Jam
Taco bell? I would bet my house that the restaurant from demolition man was pizza hut! can I hear Fail?
you should have added spam in fifty first dates
Can someone help me match these correctly?
1 American Idol
2 Bee Movie
3 ET: The Extra-Terrestrial
4 Extreme Makeover Home Edition
5 Forrest Gump
6 Friends
7 Good Will Hunting
8 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
9 Jurassic Park
10 Seinfeld
11 Spider-Man 3
12 Survivor
13 The Apprentice
14 The Office
15 Transformers
with these products:
Bumble Bee Tuna
Ford Expedition
Dominos
Dunkinā Donuts
Junior Mints
Apple
7-Up
Reeseās Pieces
Bose
Hummer
Nike
Dr. Pepper
Coca Cola
Charmin Ultra Strong
Sears
CT I think we are in the same class LOL!
So far I have the following
1. Coca Cola
2. Bumble Bee Tuna
3. Reeses Pieces
4. Sears
5. Dr Pepper, Apple, Nike – I think we are only suppose to have one if so I think it should be Dr. Pepper.
6. ???
7. Dunkin Donuts
8. Nike
9. ???
10. Junior Mints
11. Bose
12. Charmin Ultra Strong
13. Dominos
14. Apple
15. Hummer – really this has a hummer, apple, and bose included per a website I found but I think the teacher only wants 1 per.
So if I have them all right then that would leave Ford Expedition and 7-UP and I have been searching but for the life of me cannot figure them out.
What about the biggest product placement! Mack and me and McDonald’s as Well! They even have the Ronald with the kids.
Speaking about Back to the Future, what about all of the AT&T endorsements in Part II. They would not leave you alone throughout the entire movie.
the chevy camaro in transformers
A couple that are definitely worth mentioning would be: Converse in I, Robot, Dr. Pepper in SWAT, and the first Transformers movie is basically a two hour long GM/Chevrolet commercial. All of the Autobots are Chevy or GM vehicles. It is even to the point that the Decepticon police car is a Mustang(it doesn’t have markings, but it’s obvious that it is).
Number 1 has to be from Waynes World with about 10 different product placements within 20 seconds, clearly a joke but hilarious
What the hell, people? “Mac and Me” goes totally forgotten? The movie that was a complete rip-off of “E.T.” AND a blatant commercial for McDonald’s? A little boy meets a cute/ugly/innocent alien and they spend, like, the entire movie bonding over Big Macs at the golden arches. I’m thinking this little gem came out circa 1985. This has to be THE biggest douchechill moment in cinema history, re: product placement.
Another product placement in Happy Gilmore, whether purposefully done or accidental, was Boston Bruins.
aha
He nearly always had a hat or a jersey on with their logo on it.
Or the Stallone flick “Cliffhanger”. Black Diamond apparently paid over a million bucks for product placement and the close up/money shot was of their harness buckle failing, killing a character! (and the buckle would have held that load in real life too).
Anyone know of a movie with jelly beans as product placement? Could be Jelly Belly or other brand. I’m doing research, and there’s lots of good information in these postings. Thanks!
If I may suggest a bonus: The infamous Dunkin’ Donuts scene from the daredevil episode of Psych. Hysterically out-of-place, which the actors respond to visibly, intentionally.