# Most Blatant Product Placement **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 27, 2005, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718 "2005-05-27T04:01:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![midget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@midget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midget)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/21 "2005-05-27T06:00:46Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Yeah, but ET was one long M&Ms and Oreos commercial. Those were Reese’s Pieces ---
**Author:** ![midget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@midget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/midget)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/22 "2005-05-27T06:03:47Z")
> [@midget](#): > > Those were Reese’s Pieces And that was NOT a constructive post 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Loopus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loopus/32/15343_2.png) [@Loopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loopus)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/23 "2005-05-27T07:15:33Z")
Moving away from movies and into video games, there was the NES game _M.C. Kids_, about two kids’ adventures in **McDonaldland**. Also for the NES, there was actually a game called _Yo! Noid_, starring Domino’s Pizza’s creepy mascot. There were games (called _Spot_) for both the NES and Game Boy starring the 7-Up spot. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/24 "2005-05-27T08:07:53Z")
I always thought _Cast Away_ was the worst. The beginning is largely a FedEx commercial, and it’s about as entertaining. Actually it’s a FedEx commercial almost the whole way through. Best product placement, I think, is the extended spoof of product placement in _Wayne’s World_. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/25 "2005-05-27T08:50:43Z")
_Folks!_ did a cute take on product placement that was actually a plot point. Don Ameche plays a fuddy-duddy old man who’s going broke, and his son Tom Selleck is trying to help him. What no one knows is that Ameche’s got 10,000 shares of McDonnell-Douglas stock hidden in the basement, but since he’s gone senile, nobody understands when he tries to tell them. So we get many conversations like this: Selleck: “What are we gonna do to get money?” Ameche: “I know…McDonnells!” Selleck: “Hungry, Dad?” Ameche: “Umm, yeah.” So they go to McDonalds. 🙂 In _Manhunter_, William Petersen is having an important bonding conversation with his son while standing in a supermarket aisle. Then, out of the blue: Petersen: So, what kind of coffee does your mom like? Kid: I think she drinks Folgers. Petersen: Yes, Folgers is good. Let’s get some Folgers. Sometimes I wonder if some original scripts are written with product placement in mind, with \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ in place of the brand names they’ll eventually stick in. ---
**Author:** ![Tarrsk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/97f17d/32.png) [@Tarrsk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tarrsk)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/26 "2005-05-27T09:53:44Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > I always thought _Cast Away_ was the worst. The beginning is largely a FedEx commercial, and it’s about as entertaining. Actually it’s a FedEx commercial almost the whole way through. Not a very good one, then. Use FedEx, get your package delivered five years late and waterlogged! Or worse, FedEx: Our Planes Crash! I’m pretty sure **Blake’s** scenario is correct, anyway. The creators of _Cast Away_ weren’t paid to use the FedEx logo; rather, it was just an effective way of indicating to the audience that Tom Hanks’ character was a delivery man without resorting to lengthy exposition. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 10:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/27 "2005-05-27T10:57:08Z")
In Twister the ran around looking for all the soda cans the could find to fix Dorothy. All the cans they found and/or bought-- it must have been thousands-- were Sprite cans. ---
**Author:** ![Odinoneeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/97f17d/32.png) [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/28 "2005-05-27T12:03:42Z")
The movie “Return of the Killer Tomatos” had a scene like in Wayne’s World, but much better. Throughout the first half of the movie or so, they’re drinking from cans labeled “soda” ala Repo Man. About halfway through you hear “cut cut” and the director comes out and says they can’t afford to finish the movie. Then one of the characters (played by George Clooney) says, “Hey, instead of drinking this generic stuff, let’s sell some ad space” So they cut to a new scene where they have lines like “Hey I’m thirsty” “Well how about, a Pepsi” (shows can to camera) “Well that sounds good, but I’m in the mood for a beer” “Well we have Budweiser” (shows bottle to camera) Then near the end of the film, they two heros are rushing to save the girl and jump on a couple of 4 wheelers then proceed to do a commercial for them. Then one says “Havn’t we made enough money yet? We need to get going” ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/29 "2005-05-27T12:33:19Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > Ignore me, I am an idiot. Did you say something? I wasn’t listening. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/30 "2005-05-27T12:44:43Z")
Evidently, **Leonard Part VI** was particularly blatant about Coke product placement. I recall one clip where Bill Cosby is sitting on a couch with a can of Coke in his hand, staged so that the can looks bigger than Cosby’s face. Then, last season, **Arrested Development** had a great joke about Burger King placement, where they kept mentioning BK in very blatant and obvious ways, including the narrator saying, essentially, “Burger King, yummy!” Ford sponsored the TV show **The FBI**. All FBI agents in the show drove Fords. All criminals drove other cars. And Ford changed their tagline to “Ford has a Better Idea” to tie it in ( **F** ord **B** etter **I** dea). ---
**Author:** ![Merijeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f05b48/32.png) [@Merijeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merijeek)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/31 "2005-05-27T13:20:42Z")
> [@Blake](#): > > My vote for most gratuitous after “I, Robot” was in one of the “Lethal Weapon” movies. The characters, who just left a hotel with full room service, pull into a Subway and buy some subs and sodas and then spend several minutes arguing about it. It was quite obviously written in after the script had been finalised and actually destroyed the continuity of the movie. Are you thinking of the scene with Joe Pesci and “They FUCK you at the drive through!”? Because if you are, well, I really don’t see that as product placement. That’s kind of like McD’s paying for time in a movie and the movie mentioning something about how McDonald’s always gets your order wrong. Isn’t it? -Joe ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/32 "2005-05-27T13:33:13Z")
1.) The **Dr. Pepper** placement that’s unbelievable blatant in **Godzilla 1985**. Dr. Pepper was already running a series of ads parodying Godzilla when this came out, so it wasn’t a stretch. It only shows up in the “American” scenes (which, as with the original 1954 Godzilla, were filmed separately and later, using different actors including Raymond Burr). There’ll be a Dr. Pepper vending machine in the background at some army base, or a soldier will be shown, full-screen, drinking from a can of Dr. Pepper with the label ostentatiously facing outwards so you could read it. Hilariously bad and blatant! 2.) **Terminator 2** – **Pepsi** this time, with a vending machine in the Galleria Shopping Mall corridor, and characters drinking Pepsi. 3.) **James Bond movies** are pretty blatant about shilling, although sometimes it’s handled with a _bit_ of class ( **The Living Daylights** – “The list indicated an inferior brand, so substuituted Bollinger”). The worst is the Rio chase scene in **Moonraker** , which seems to have been set up solely as an excuse to run by a bunch of billboards touting thye products. 4.) I highly recommend **Return of the Killer Tomatoes** , an underrated movie that deserves tyo be known for more than an early appearance by George Clooney. It’s funnier than the original, with higher production values (they had more money). Halfway through, they claim that they are running low on cash, so they very deliberatly and blatantly start pushing products, holding them only so the logos show, etc. The funniest part is that they’re all real products! Is it parody? Or the Real Thing? ---
**Author:** ![Pashnish\_Ewing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8797f3/32.png) [@Pashnish\_Ewing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pashnish_Ewing)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/33 "2005-05-27T13:36:31Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > I recently watched _I, Robot_ for the first time. It’s set a generation or so in the future, and literally _in the first two minutes_ after the credits Will Smith opens up a package from a future e-bay like company and smiles: “Vintage 2004 Converse running shoes!” I dunno. I didn’t see the movie, but I think I would have been more distracted if they made up some kind of Generic Brand [sup]TM[/sup] shoe for him to marvel over. In just about every case I’d rather the producers use real products rather than fake ones. Who cares if they get a few more bucks in the process? Pash ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/34 "2005-05-27T13:45:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Ford sponsored the TV show The FBI. All FBI agents in the show drove Fords. All criminals drove other cars. And Ford changed their tagline to “Ford has a Better Idea” to tie it in (Ford Better Idea). When **Mad** magazine parodied the show, they made a big deal about gthis, ostentatiously showing the cars, and even adding a character named “special guest agent L.T.D. Thunderbird” I heard that the old series **Route 66** featured a car made by the same company. Apparently at the end of each season, they found some excuse to have the car traded in or replaced so they were always driving the most recent model. ---
**Author:** ![RobuSensei](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/919ad9/32.png) [@RobuSensei](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobuSensei)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/35 "2005-05-27T13:52:11Z")
> [@Biggirl](#): > > In Twister the ran around looking for all the soda cans the could find to fix Dorothy. All the cans they found and/or bought-- it must have been thousands-- were Sprite cans. Y’know, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Twister, but I could’ve _sworn_ that they were all Pepsi cans… Recently, I picked up a used copy of an old PS game (1996) called WipeoutXL. It’s a futuristic racing game. The tracks, loading screens, menus, and all are liberally plastered with Red Bull logos. It’s actually annoying how prevalent they are. Oddly, the back of the box says (in English), > [@](#): > > Red Bull is a trademark used under licence. Red Bull[sup]TM[/sup] is tradnmark (sic) of Red Bull Ges.m.b.H. The inclusion in WIPEOUT XL of “Red Bull” and any all (sic) messages associated thereto is for visual performance only and in no instance forms the publication of or is intended to be construed as an advertisement forthe (sic) same. PSYGNOSIS LIMITED hereby makes no statement as to the availability or otherwise of “Red Bull”. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/36 "2005-05-27T13:57:46Z")
There was some movie in the late '80s with Fred Savage, which ends up being a commercial for “Super Mario Bros 3” and the Nintendo glove. ---
**Author:** ![Fringe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b5a626/32.png) [@Fringe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fringe)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/37 "2005-05-27T14:15:29Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > There was some movie in the late '80s with Fred Savage, which ends up being a commercial for “Super Mario Bros 3” and the Nintendo glove. That would be “The Wizard”. ---
**Author:** ![La\_Llorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@La\_Llorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/La_Llorona)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/38 "2005-05-27T14:18:16Z")
> [@Tarrsk](#): > > Not a very good one, then. Use FedEx, get your package delivered five years late and waterlogged! Or worse, FedEx: Our Planes Crash! > > I’m pretty sure **Blake’s** scenario is correct, anyway. The creators of _Cast Away_ weren’t paid to use the FedEx logo; rather, it was just an effective way of indicating to the audience that Tom Hanks’ character was a delivery man without resorting to lengthy exposition. Indeed, I seem to recall having read something (in _Time_? _Newsweek_?) to the effect that FedEx tried everything they could think of to keep _Cast Away_ from using their company as pretty much a bastion of unreliability, but didn’t (iirc) think it was worth the trouble of suing to prevent it. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/39 "2005-05-27T14:20:01Z")
> [@Agrippina](#): > > There was some movie in the late '80s with Fred Savage, which ends up being a commercial for “Super Mario Bros 3” and the Nintendo glove. _Ahem_, everyone _knows_ it’s called the Powerglove. 😛 This last season of 24 was prety bad with the Cisco prpduct placement. Everytime a character had to use a video phone, or look up onto a large screen, the Cisco logo would be there. Hell, once scene was really bad. A character goes to use the phone, and the camera cuts to the cisco logo on the phone, _then_ pans up to the actual vuideo screen so we can see who se’s talking to. Make it al ittle mroe obvious, why don’t you? You could at least jsut have the phone logo in the same shot, you don’t have to make a shot JUST FOR IT! ---
**Author:** ![sqweels](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f19dbf/32.png) [@sqweels](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sqweels)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/40 "2005-05-27T14:29:32Z")
In _There’s Something About Mary_ they pretty blatantly push Anheiser-Bush products. > [@](#): > > The worst is the Rio chase scene in Moonraker, which seems to have been set up solely as an excuse to run by a bunch of billboards touting thye products. Yeah, that movie contained no fewer than 3 ads for 7-Up. I can’t think of what other product placements were in it, tho. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718.md?page=3)