# How exactly did movie product placement work before the 90's? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 28, 2018, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308 "2018-03-28T01:32:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/21 "2018-03-28T15:38:17Z")
> [@Leo\_Krupe](#): > > That’s interesting. Not being snarky; a real question: why then do shows often blur out T-shirts or cap logos? Do the trademark holders object? If so, why not just change shirts? (I’m sure this has been asked before–it’s too obvious a question. It’s a good question, and it mostly happens on reality shows. [There’s more than one answer to it, including](https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2017/05/why-are-logos-blurred-on-reality-tv-shows/): - The owner of the logo may not want their brand associated with the show’s content - The producers don’t want to give away what would essentially be free advertising (and, most likely, the owner of the logo wasn’t willing to pay the producers to have it shown) - The producers or the network have a sponsorship arrangement with a competitor to that brand - It’s copywrited material (particularly in the case of artwork) ---
**Author:** ![dorvann](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df705f/32.png) [@dorvann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dorvann)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/22 "2018-03-28T19:10:55Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > The earliest example in my own personal memory is the 1978 _Superman_ movie which prominently features a box of Cheerios and has a line in the closing credits (“Cheerios by General Mills”). One of my earliest memories of product placement is also from _Superman_. During the Metropolis fight, Superman throws Zod (or maybe Non) into a giant _Coca Cola_ neon sign. ---
**Author:** ![ZonexandScout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zonexandscout/32/544_2.png) [@ZonexandScout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZonexandScout)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/23 "2018-03-28T19:39:16Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > It’s a good question, and it mostly happens on reality shows. [There’s more than one answer to it, including](https://www.realityblurred.com/realitytv/2017/05/why-are-logos-blurred-on-reality-tv-shows/): > > - The owner of the logo may not want their brand associated with the show’s content > - The producers don’t want to give away what would essentially be free advertising (and, most likely, the owner of the logo wasn’t willing to pay the producers to have it shown) > - The producers or the network have a sponsorship arrangement with a competitor to that brand > - It’s copywrited material (particularly in the case of artwork) Don’t forget that the shirt or sign might be offensive or obscene. When it comes to reality shows (like _ **Cops** _ or its descendants), it’s probably just much easier to blur anything out that might involve having to get in contact with the manufacturer or the owner of the copyright. Why waste the time when you can just tell the editor to get rid of it? ---
**Author:** ![caligulathegod](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/caligulathegod/32/9685_2.png) [@caligulathegod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/caligulathegod)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 8:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/24 "2018-03-28T20:20:32Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > One of my earliest memories of product placement is also from _Superman_. During the Metropolis fight, Superman throws Zod (or maybe Non) into a giant _Coca Cola_ neon sign. Don’t forget the Marlboro truck, as well. Plus, Lois Lane chainsmokes throughout the movie. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/25 "2018-03-28T22:03:46Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > But no trademark holder objects to free exposure of the product. _Ivory Snow_ might have objected to their product placement in the Marilyn Chambers movie _Insatiable_. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/26 "2018-03-28T22:27:49Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > - The owner of the logo may not want their brand associated with the show’s content Are you suggesting that the logo’s owner has any ability to force this, or that it’s just good manners on the part of the show’s producer to not show it? I’ve seen this suggested a number of times, but I don’t think there’s any obligation here. If I’m filmed being an asshole while holding a can of Coke that you can read the label of, the Coca Cola corporation can’t make me blur out the can because they don’t like what I’m doing while holding it. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/27 "2018-03-28T22:30:15Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Are you suggesting that the logo’s owner has any ability to force this, or that it’s just good manners on the part of the show’s producer to not show it? > > I’ve seen this suggested a number of times, but I don’t think there’s any obligation here. > > If I’m filmed being an asshole while holding a can of Coke that you can read the label of, the Coca Cola corporation can’t make me blur out the can because they don’t like what I’m doing while holding it. Like showing that Coke is the preferred soft drink of neo-Nazis? ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/28 "2018-03-28T22:41:17Z")
> [@gaffa](#): > > Like showing that Coke is the preferred soft drink of neo-Nazis? I think that’s taking worry over something a bit too far. Coca Cola is practically as embedded in society today as water and air. Oh looky! Oxygen is the preferred respiratory chemical of Neo-Nazis! Don’t show them breathing! People are smarter than that. One would hope. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/29 "2018-03-28T23:04:24Z")
[_And God Spoke_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hcl6jzgFu4&t=0m30s) Classic. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LH75](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lh75/32/4438_2.png) [@LH75](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LH75)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/30 "2018-03-28T23:13:30Z")
My older brother worked in the advertising industry in the 70’s and 80’s as a media buyer. One of the accounts he worked with was STP Oil. He told me at the time that STP paid a large sum of money to have a guy walk through a scene in the movie Airplane! wearing a white coverall with a large STP logo on the back ---
**Author:** ![eunoia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eunoia/32/97_2.png) [@eunoia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eunoia)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/31 "2018-03-28T23:27:42Z")
Google “James Bond product placement”. Watching some James Bond movie on TV has to be my earliest memory of product placement signage, and I pointed it out to my dad, who just spent the rest of the movie pointing out that much more than signage and logos was also product placement. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2018, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/32 "2018-03-28T23:48:43Z")
When one of the relatively recent James Bond films was released (I think Goldeneye) an article I saw said the production cost was recovered solely through the product placement fees. ---
**Author:** ![TBG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@TBG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBG)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/33 "2018-03-29T01:43:57Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > This brings to mind a pre-‘90s example that apparently didn’t make the Wiki page: sure, Pepsi paid good money to get Michael J. Fox earnestly declaring for their famous drink in BACK TO THE FUTURE — but they’re not going to _not_ have him ask to buy a Tab, because that’s just too good an opportunity to pass up. Only to have it messed up by implying Pepsi Free didn’t have sugar. It did, if Marty wanted it otherwise he should have asked for Diet Pepsi Free. Regular Pepsi Free had no caffeine, not no sugar! ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/34 "2018-03-29T02:28:44Z")
the yalso tend to cover up brands that are regional …like on the original Roseanne all their food was the ralphs store brand … Theres not a ralphs grocery store past Nevada let alone in Illinois … ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/35 "2018-03-29T02:53:37Z")
> [@iamthewalrus\_3](#): > > Are you suggesting that the logo’s owner has any ability to force this, or that it’s just good manners on the part of the show’s producer to not show it? > > I’ve seen this suggested a number of times, but I don’t think there’s any obligation here. Not obligation, per se, but fear of legal action, in at least some cases. As the article I linked to earlier states: > [@](#): > > Even if it’s legal, production companies and their network bosses are going to err on the side of extreme caution, because television is a risk-averse industry. That’s especially true in reality television, where budgets are getting tighter and tighter. > > On an episode of The Jay and Tony Show Show, Jay and Tony talked about having to blur logos on one of the Gigolos cast members’ underwear: “We had to blur those Louis Vuitton logos … on his little short underwear because they could have seen it and said, You’re fucking with our brand … because now people associate our brand with his penis.” > > Louis Vuitton might have said that, but it’s not against the law to wear a brand’s underwear in a reality TV show. > > Again, though, even if it’s legal, fighting any kind of battle in or out of court is more expensive than just getting rid of the logo. And sometimes companies are litigious: Emerson Electric sued NBC over an episode of Heroes in which a character had her hand mangled in a garbage disposal with its brand name. The company later dropped its lawsuit. ---
**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/36 "2018-03-29T07:15:12Z")
> [@eunoia](#): > > Google “James Bond product placement”. Watching some James Bond movie on TV has to be my earliest memory of product placement signage, and I pointed it out to my dad, who just spent the rest of the movie pointing out that much more than signage and logos was also product placement. I had the watch he wore in +++++++ ! (movie name blurred out because they haven’t paid me 🙂 ) My dad bought it in HK and my mother wore it for a while. It wasn’t magnetic, didn’t deflect bullets or help unzip girls… ☹ ---
**Author:** ![BobArrgh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobarrgh/32/2881_2.png) [@BobArrgh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobArrgh)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/37 "2018-03-29T13:20:45Z")
What about the Reese’s Pieces being used to lure ET? When Mars turned down the offer to have M&Ms in the movie, Spielberg went with Hershey’s, who didn’t even have to pay for the placement. They ended up paying a million dollars afterward, for movie/candy tie-ins. Source: Snopes ([Did M&Ms Turn Down 'E.T.'? | Snopes.com](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/taking-it-et/)) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/38 "2018-03-29T15:51:14Z")
> [@dorvann](#): > > One of my earliest memories of product placement is also from _Superman_. During the Metropolis fight, Superman throws Zod (or maybe Non) into a giant _Coca Cola_ neon sign. That’s actually from\* Superman II\* which I think also had an awkward product placement for Cellophane. ---
**Author:** ![DesertDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/desertdog/32/11503_2.png) [@DesertDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DesertDog)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/39 "2018-03-29T16:27:30Z")
> [@ZonexandScout](#): > > Don’t forget that the shirt or sign might be offensive or obscene. the film, _Burning Man: Beyond Black Rock_ is a documentary that for the most part covers on the effort it takes to put it on or show up with some art. The opening scene is The Man collapsing in flames then text appears in the corner, _The Man Burns in 364 Days._ Among other things, three artists are shown planning and executing their piece for the next event. One of them involved the artist making a life cast of a model for his work. The nude woman was fine with the film makers, but the logo on the artist’s polo shirt was blurred. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2018, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308/40 "2018-03-29T16:45:45Z")
> [@BobArrgh](#): > > What about the Reese’s Pieces being used to lure ET? When Mars turned down the offer to have M&Ms in the movie, Spielberg went with Hershey’s, who didn’t even have to pay for the placement. They ended up paying a million dollars afterward, for movie/candy tie-ins. Also, McDonald’s in [_Mac and Me_](https://www.avclub.com/ronald-mcdonald-approved-case-file-151-mac-and-me-1798218494). And everything else in [_Mac and Me_](https://worstmoviesevermade.com/mac-and-me-1988/). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-exactly-did-movie-product-placement-work-before-the-90s/811308.md?page=3)