# 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:** 4
**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, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/61 "2005-05-27T18:49:06Z")
> [@RobuSensei](#): > > Y’know, it’s been a while since I’ve seen Twister, but I could’ve _sworn_ that they were all Pepsi cans… It’s been a while for me too so you could very well be right. My kids remember Sprite, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/62 "2005-05-27T19:53:55Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > No one’s mentioned The Apprentice yet? And they ain’t in it compared to _Survivor_. “Today’s reward challenge: the winners must use these tools from _Home Depot_… that’s HOME DEPOT! for our hearing impaired viewers… and make a giant cannister for their PRINGLES SURVIVOR TRIVIA POTATO CHIPS. Winners get to eat a KRISPY KREME DOUGHNUT and take a leak in a [SIZE=5]FREEZE DRIED FOLGER’S DECAF CRYSTALS[/5] jar.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/63 "2005-05-27T20:26:32Z")
> [@Art Vandelay](#): > > Tom Hanks character (the bad guy) is the CEO of a large chain of megalithic bookstores (read “Barnes & Noble”), Melanie Griffith (the character we’re supposed to root for) owns a cuddly-wuddly Kids bookstore (cue schmaltzy sentimental music!) that’s going to be put out of business by Hanks’ store. Meg Ryan, not Melanie Griffith. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/64 "2005-05-27T20:44:35Z")
I know I’ve mentioned this in a similar thread, but I may as well mention it again: **The Thomas Crown Affair**. In one scene, Rene Russo is talking to Denis Leary in the police station and suddenly stops talking, opens a Pepsi One, and proceeds to **lustily chug drink the entire can** , all while holding the logo perfectly aligned facing the screen, while everyone in the Police station watches her in silence for 30 seconds or so until she’s finished. Then the movie resumes with no comment on what just happened. Completely inexcusable, and I couldn’t get back into the spirit of the movie afterwards. Oh, and it was also totally out of character, since they earlier make a big deal out of the fact that she only drinks this certain kind of green wheat grass drink, and later in the movie she comments on how Pierce Brosnan had that wheat grass drink ready for her at breakfast. Why not go all the way with it? “Do you have Pepsi One, Mr. Crown? Because I only drink Pepsi One. The One stands for One calorie. One great calorie, One great taste. You only need One. Pepsi One.” ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/65 "2005-05-27T20:54:41Z")
**Back To The Future 2** : Pepsi Nike Sporting News Apple Pizza Hut Texaco Nintendo etc. ---
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/66 "2005-05-27T21:06:42Z")
Not that I’m proud of having seen it, but there’s a moment in _Torque_ when the two chick antagonists are revving up their crotch rockets preparatory to a joust-style charge, and _looming_ up behind each of them is a _freakin’ gi-normous_ billboard for soda pop. Pepsi and Mountain Dew, if I remember correctly. And if I do, that means the product placers did their job. :mad: On the other hand, you have the subversive use of placement in _Fight Club_, where the products appear in the background of all the worst scenes, e.g. putting the gun to the convenience-store clerk’s head with a soda machine and attendant logos displayed prominently in the background. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/67 "2005-05-27T21:15:35Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Meg Ryan, not Melanie Griffith. See, the product placements were _so_ blatant they overshadowed the actors in the movie. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/68 "2005-05-27T21:16:50Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > 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. I remember the tank chase scene in Goldeneye where he crashes through a container-load of beer. I do like the way they handle placement of cars, though: “Do try to not blow it up, 007”, “Aston Martin call it the Vanquish, we call it the Vanish”. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/69 "2005-05-27T21:24:08Z")
I have to repeat my mention of _Independence Day_, where in the SETI _ **LAB** _, someone finishes a can of soda and throws it into the recycling bin – the contents of which are **all Coca-cola**. As if the momolithic contents aren’t blatant enough, are you saying that in a scientific lab, no one drinks the Dew? ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/70 "2005-05-27T21:45:46Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > I have to repeat my mention of _Independence Day_, where in the SETI _ **LAB** _, someone finishes a can of soda and throws it into the recycling bin – the contents of which are **all Coca-cola**. As if the momolithic contents aren’t blatant enough, are you saying that in a scientific lab, no one drinks the Dew? C’mon, everybody knows the SETI lab has a contract with Coke! They don’t allow Pepsi products on site, security checks to make sure. 😃 **The Sum of All Fears** has a scene where there is a loooong closeup of a “candy” style vending machine that contains ALL CIGARETTES. And the vending machine is in the middle of the parking garage. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/71 "2005-05-27T21:57:44Z")
> [@KGS](#): > > 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. I came in specifically to mention _Manhunter_. It’s even more blatant than described. It’s not just a bonding conversation, daddy is explaining that yes, he really was institutionalized for a while, like the kids at school say. The entire time they’re having the conversation, Petersen is pushing a shopping cart past shelves and shelves of prominently displayed Proctor & Gamble products, arranged in ways that make no sense for a supermarket layout. Most of the screen is filled up with product placement, while Will Grisham (heh) tells his son that to catch serial killers, he had to train himself to think like them, and lost the ability to _stop_ thinking like them. “My mind was filled with unimaginably dark things, son. All the time. And that’s why I was in the hospital.” _beat_ “What’s that coffee you like? Folger’s right?” “Yeah, Folger’s.” Kid grabs can of Folger’s and puts it in the cart, pointing the label directly at the camera as he takes exaggerated care to place it in _just so_. All it was missing was the V.O. — “Folger’s fine coffee – preferred by more mentally-fragile criminalists than any other brand!” Cut to Hannibal Lector: “If you want the _scent_, smell a nice hot cup of Folger’s. Mmmmmmm.” Slurrrrp. ---
**Author:** ![Scissorjack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c67d28/32.png) [@Scissorjack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scissorjack)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/72 "2005-05-28T00:03:00Z")
I used to like the _anti_-product placement they had on Japanese TV whenever they were showing movies “proudly brought to you” by a sponsor who made a rival product: if Toyota had bought the slot, they would carefully put those pixellated mosaics normally used to mask errant willies over the grille badges of any other cars. Trouble was, it was so jarring it actually callled attention to the car Whose Name Cannot Be Shown: “Wait, I think I can make it out: G…M…C. Hmm, must be a Dodge Ram. Think I’ll go and buy one, just to piss 'em off.” ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/73 "2005-05-28T02:59:25Z")
I remember a shot in (I think) _Addams Family Values_ of Wednesday in which a huge billboard for Tombstone Pizza takes up about three-quarters of the frame. Extremely unsubtle. But my candidate for most egregious product placement is Spielberg’s _The Terminal_, with Tom Hanks. I don’t think there’s a single shot in the entire film that doesn’t include a brand name of one of the stores in the airport: Starbucks, Sharper Image, Borders, etc., etc., etc. And of course every single employee of every one of those fine stores is a wonderful, kind, sympathetic, competent human being. I would have enjoyed the film, if it hadn’t been for the constant intrusion of advertising. ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/74 "2005-05-28T08:30:53Z")
**Tomb Raider** probably had the most noticeable product placement I’ve seen. It’s been a while since I saw the movie, but I do remember product placement for _Vaio_ computers, and during a shooting scene there is a full-frame closeup of a Pepsi can getting shot. :rolleyes: There were more, but that’s all I can remember. And speaking of Tomb Raider, the games aren’t immune to product placement either. **Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation** (a game I actually enjoyed despite the product placement and the fact that everyone else seems to hate it) replaced Lara’s usual stopwatch with a specific type of _Timex_ watch. Timex also put product placement into the game **Shenmue** , by giving Ryo a Timex watch. That game also had ads for Sega products, like the Sonic and Virtua Fighter toys, plus you could play old Sega games from the 80s in the arcade. (I consider that fair game, though, since the game was made by Sega and it was more of an homage. Besides, I _liked_ collecting all the little Sonic toys!) As I recall, there was also a Sega Saturn (or was it a Genesis?) in Ryu’s room. I believe the game Animal Crossing also has a “Super Nintendo” item. And speaking of _Sonic_…there’s product placement in the **Sonic Adventure** games, too! In the Dreamcast version of Sonic Adventure, they had some downloadable web content (a feature that they _really_ didn’t take enough advantage of, but that’s another rant entirely) and one of the downloads was basically an ad for _AT&T_, who were sponsoring the game by providing internet access to Dreamcast owners. (You didn’t _have_ to use AT&T; I had the modem set up to dial my regular ISP that I already had, but it seemed like the vast majority of the people going online with their Dreamcasts didn’t realize that. Anyway…) There are also a few ads in the first level of **Sonic Adventure 2** , including signs on the wall advertising _Soap Shoes_, which are apparently tennis shoes with plastic grooves in them that allow you to grind down rails (which Sonic can do in the game.) There was also some snowboarding video game (Cool Boarders? I don’t remember) that had blatant _Butterfinger_ billboards along the snowboarding tracks. And then there’s **Super Monkey Ball** , which has the _Dole_ logo printed on all of the banana powerups, as well as one level with a giant Dole logo at the stating point and a Dole blimp floating in the background. ---
**Author:** ![StarsApart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecc23a/32.png) [@StarsApart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarsApart)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2005, 9:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/75 "2005-05-28T09:08:32Z")
> [@Troy McClure SF](#): > > Don’t forget that piece of shit _Josie and the Pussycats_. The whole thing was a giant ad for Target, AOL, Starbucks… you name it. I got the feeling that this was part of the point the movie was trying to make. The movie was about the general public (well, teenagers) being seduced by brand names and messages they didn’t even realize were there. By having the entire movie saturated with ads that not one character commented on (I remember a scene with a character showering in a Target-emblazoned bathroom), they were making a point. By the end of the movie, the saturation was so intense that the ads practically became subliminal on their own. Of course, by using real brands and not fake ones, they also made a buck or two… ---
**Author:** ![sewalk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@sewalk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sewalk)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/76 "2005-05-29T04:11:51Z")
> [@yoyodyne](#): > > In _Minority Report_ there were blatant ads for Lexus, Revo, Guinness, American Express, and Reebok. Obviously, these advertisers didn’t get it. A major, but somewhat subtle in the sense that no one made a pontification about it, point of the film was the overuse of advertising. {QUOTE=Ludovic]I have to repeat my mention of Independence Day [/QUOTE] What? Without mentioning the PowerBook? Talk about blatant. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/77 "2005-05-29T04:21:34Z")
How about Austin Powers? The second one had AOL and Starbucks. The third one had Taco Bell and Pepsi Twist. Do they even still make Pepsi Twist? ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 1:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/78 "2005-05-29T13:16:52Z")
**Little Nicky** , and Popeye’s Chicken. The only chicken that can stop the eeeeeevil minions of hell! ---
**Author:** ![Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Bambi\_Hassenpfeffer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bambi_Hassenpfeffer)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/79 "2005-05-29T14:28:31Z")
> [@Dooku](#): > > **The Thomas Crown Affair**. In one scene, Rene Russo is talking to Denis Leary in the police station and suddenly stops talking, opens a Pepsi One, and proceeds to **lustily chug drink the entire can** , all while holding the logo perfectly aligned facing the screen, while everyone in the Police station watches her in silence for 30 seconds or so until she’s finished. Then the movie resumes with no comment on what just happened. > > Completely inexcusable, and I couldn’t get back into the spirit of the movie afterwards. You stole mine. Of all the advertisements that I’ve ever seen in a movie, this one stands out as singularly the most egregious. Utterly inexcusable and poorly handled. ---
**Author:** ![Scuba\_Ben](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@Scuba\_Ben](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scuba_Ben)\ **Post date:** [May 29, 2005, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718/80 "2005-05-29T14:41:09Z")
In _The Fifth Element_, Bruce Willis crashes his taxi into a billboard of the Golden Arches. No product name, just the logo – but the logo is quite recognizable. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-blatant-product-placement/305718.md?page=5)