# Should Paramount obscure the Budweiser logo in the movie 'Flight'? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [November 6, 2012, 2:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034 "2012-11-06T02:16:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/21 "2012-11-06T18:29:06Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > Ah, but _Repo Man_ wasn’t being cheap; Alex Cox was making commentary on society throughout the film, and having every food product be generic was a part of that commentary. 😃 I agree. ---
**Author:** ![gaffa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e68b1a/32.png) [@gaffa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gaffa)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/22 "2012-11-06T18:40:39Z")
“Put it on a plate, son. It will taste better.” ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/23 "2012-11-06T19:23:43Z")
It’s their trademark. If they didn’t license Paramount to use it, Paramount has no choice but to give in. ---
**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:** [November 6, 2012, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/24 "2012-11-06T19:53:13Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > It’s their trademark. If they didn’t license Paramount to use it, Paramount has no choice but to give in. Wrong. Trademark law does not require that all uses of trademarks be licensed. This is not an infringing use; no license is necessary. ---
**Author:** ![nion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c5a1d2/32.png) [@nion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nion)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/25 "2012-11-07T06:35:44Z")
I don’t really care for fakey generic stand-ins for real products. Having the real thing, even as a part of the background, can make a movie infinitely more immersive for me. Budweiser left a chip on my shoulder, anyway. The all-American company that sold out to a foreign conglomerate. American pride, indeed. That’s almost as bad as IBM selling out to Americas greatest commercial rival China. I have a hard time feeling bad for these kinds of companies. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/26 "2012-11-07T06:44:28Z")
Does the film endorse being an alcoholic? Does the FAA changes the rules on flying a plane while drunk because it’s so cool? ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 7:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/27 "2012-11-07T07:20:34Z")
> [@Gerald\_II](#): > > Nobody wants their brand, regardless of product, to be unfairly associated with something negative. How is it unfair in any way to depict consumption of alcohol by an alcoholic? Are we somehow positing that alcohol magically has nothing to do with that consequence? ---
**Author:** ![Gerald\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Gerald\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerald_II)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/28 "2012-11-07T10:27:13Z")
> [@runner pat](#): > > “Hey guys, did you know you can get drunk on Budweiser? And all this time, I was drinking it for the taste.” > :rolleyes: I think it’s more associating a negative event with a particular brand. Kind of like the opposite of when a popular movie features a certain product in a positive way. Like Tom Cruise wearing Ray Bans in Risky Business or when 007 drives the newest BMW. ---
**Author:** ![Gerald\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Gerald\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerald_II)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/29 "2012-11-07T10:32:44Z")
> [@nion](#): > > I don’t really care for fakey generic stand-ins for real products. Having the real thing, even as a part of the background, can make a movie infinitely more immersive for me. Yeah, I always hated that when I was younger. Only when I got older, and noticed certain times in film when it was more prominent than it should be, did I start to dislike product placement. I remember Blade III had a part in the middle of the film which seemed like an ad for the iPod. Really took me out of the film, although it was a bad film regardless. ---
**Author:** ![Gerald\_II](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Gerald\_II](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gerald_II)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/30 "2012-11-07T10:36:13Z")
> [@Feyrat](#): > > How is it unfair in any way to depict consumption of alcohol by an alcoholic? Are we somehow positing that alcohol magically has nothing to do with that consequence? No, but why single out one brand? I’m not saying that I agree with that necessarily but I can see why that one company would be upset. People are pretty susceptible to things like that, intentional or not. You put a picture of a cowboy with a cigarette brand and people think smoking that particular brand makes them appear more rugged. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/31 "2012-11-07T12:05:22Z")
> [@Gerald\_II](#): > > No, but why single out one brand? I drink a fair number of pints of beer each week, mostly (relatively) expensive draft beer. The guys who come in to rapidly down as much cheap beer as possible (and are generally assumed to be alcoholics) choose Bud. That is my experience, and would contribute positively to my movie appreciation in this case. ETA: then there are the extreme cheapskates who pick up two sixes, and choose whatever is absolutely the cheapest. Milwaukies Best is popular with them. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/32 "2012-11-07T14:36:39Z")
Actually, Bud is the beer for noisy bars. No matter the noise level the bartender can always understand ‘Bud’, and they _always_ have it, _everywhere_. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/33 "2012-11-07T15:10:51Z")
> [@](#): > > “We have asked the studio to obscure the Budweiser trademark in current digital copies of the movie and on all subsequent adaptations of the film, including DVD, On Demand, streaming and additional prints not yet distributed to theaters.” My WAG: Anheuser-Busch doesn’t expect Paramount to do this, and in fact doesn’t even really want them to. They just want to be formally on the record that they don’t condone using their product in the way it is shown being used in the film. This way, they get the free publicity from the product placement in the film, they get extra publicity from news articles like this one, and they get to let everyone know that they think alcoholism is bad, mmmkay? ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/34 "2012-11-07T18:11:04Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > My WAG: Anheuser-Busch doesn’t expect Paramount to do this, and in fact doesn’t even really want them to. They just want to be formally on the record that they don’t condone using their product in the way it is shown being used in the film. > > This way, they get the free publicity from the product placement in the film, they get extra publicity from news articles like this one, and they get to let everyone know that they think alcoholism is bad, mmmkay? That sounds like the usual corporate win-win solution. I see no harm in AB asking. If I were responsible for the film I’d politely decline. As long as it stays out of the courts, no harm done. ---
**Author:** ![Neidhart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Neidhart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neidhart)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2012, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/35 "2012-11-07T22:40:49Z")
> [@Cheshire\_Human](#): > > Actually, Bud is the beer for noisy bars. No matter the noise level the bartender can always understand ‘Bud’, and they _always_ have it, _everywhere_. If you don’t mind that it tastes like wet cornflakes. ---
**Author:** ![Cheshire\_Human](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Cheshire\_Human](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheshire_Human)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034/36 "2012-11-08T00:47:12Z")
I didn’t say Bud was _good_… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-paramount-obscure-the-budweiser-logo-in-the-movie-flight/640034.md?page=1)