# The most shameless product placement seen in a movie. (and ruins the movie for you) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 23, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709 "2003-06-23T05:29:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2003, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/101 "2003-07-01T21:51:34Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Abe \* > See also another game, Wipeout, for fictional brands that are presented with impressive care; most of the Wipeout brand logos look good enough to be real FEISTAR ROOLZ! šŸ˜ƒ > [@](#): > > Speaking of the glorious Atari and of film, in **Terminator 2** the young hero uses an Atari Portfolio (the smallest laptop of its time, and one of the slickest) to hack into an ATM and Cyberdine Corp. Yet (to my recollection) the Atari logo on the laptop is not shown and the laptop is never shot clearly. Only those familiar with Atari computers would have recognized the model by its size (fits in a pocket), design, and keyboard. Later in the film there is a shot of Missile Command, an arcade game also made by Atari. I donā€™t know why T2 didnā€™t do a better job of showing Atariā€™s logoā€¦ Considering how cheap Atari Corp. was at the time (thanks to the Tramiel familyā€™s infamous penny-pinching techniques), I seriously doubt Atari paid for the endorsement in **T2.** The Portfolio was probably selected solely due to its small size. Not sure if Atari Games paid for the **Missile Command** placement, but I doubt it ā€“ I imagine it was used just because it tied in to the movieā€™s subtext of nuclear war. Its presence in the arcade was especially noticable IMO, just because it was _really dated_ compared to the other games at the time. ---
**Author:** ![Abe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f1d935/32.png) [@Abe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Abe)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2003, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/102 "2003-07-04T12:38:13Z")
I thought it may have been an in-joke of some kind, but then why not show the palmtop computer more prominently, so at least the logo could be glimpsed? Perhaps they thought it would have been too much? Anyway, as I recall there was a connection of some kind between some of the makers of T2 (possibly the director himself) and Atari, and a few years ago I did glimpse a site that mentioned some sort of connectionā€“could not find it again though. Itā€™s also entirely possible that Missile Command was picked simply because it was an established game that would have been recognized by many people and, as you say **rjung** , because itā€™s a good fit to the nuclear war theme. ---
**Author:** ![HelloKitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ecccb3/32.png) [@HelloKitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HelloKitty)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/103 "2003-07-05T03:50:24Z")
I thought of this thread as we were watching **Sum of All Fears** last night. The movie was mildly entertaining for about the first 20 minutes, then a couple product placement situations ruined it for meā€¦ **Absence of Product Placement:** The major characters (including the POTUS and several members of the cabinet) go to an important football game (Super Bowl? Playoff game? This is not made clear) in Washington (or was it Baltimore?). The teams wear very conspicuous non-NFL uniforms, which brings the movie to a screeching halt for me. I guess the NFL said, ā€œWe donā€™t support Ben Affleck moviesā€ when asked for permission to use actual football uniforms/team names. But it wasnā€™t nearly as annoying as theā€“ **Shove it Down Our Throats Product Placement:** OK, this is a mild spoiler, but there is a bomb hidden in a certain place midway through the ā€œstoryā€. Said bomb is hidden in, of all things, a **cigarette machine**!!! The camera zooms in and pans down lovingly from the top of the machineā€™s brightly colored and clearly marked Marlboros, Camels and Marlboro Lights to show us that the bomb is hidden inside this machine. We would have been able to figure this out even without the 5-minute examination of cigarette packaging. To add to the implausibility (as if Ben Affleck as Jack Ryan wasnā€™t enough), the cigarette machine looked like a regular candy machine, where you just put in your coins and the pack drops down. Not only are cigarette machines all but illegal now, they definitely wonā€™t be found in a major sporting venue and have never looked like a candy machine. God was that annoying!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mariemarie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/58f4c7/32.png) [@Mariemarie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mariemarie)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/104 "2003-07-05T04:06:49Z")
I agree with **Baldwin** : _What Women Want_ was mostly a long Nike ad, and it ruined the movie. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 6:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/105 "2003-07-05T06:41:57Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by stochastic \* > \*\*I did a little bit of technical advisory work on the movie _Outbreak_. I spent a couple of days working on the laboratory sets, making sure they looked scientifically correct. The microscopes used in the film were on loan from Zeiss. After setting up the 'scopes, the Zeiss rep proceeded to practically wallpaper the lab with Zeiss logo stickers without anyoneā€™s permission. I spent over an hour peeling the damn things off reagent bottles, refrigerators, water baths, incubators and cabinetsā€¦it appeared that Zeiss made everything put in that lab. Completely pointless action on the repā€™s part: Joe Blow movie viewer ainā€™t gonna know or care who Zeiss is, and those scientists that could bear to sit through that piece of crap movie would be annoyed by all those logos stuck on products Zeiss doesnā€™t make. \*\* Tee hee. I worked for Fisher Scientific at the time, who also loaned a lot of lab equipment for the set. I had to return all of our items to stock when they came back, testing for proper operation and refurbishing as necessary. I _wondered_ why that Marathon centrigufe had a Zeiss logo on it. ---
**Author:** ![vandal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/858c86/32.png) [@vandal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vandal)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/106 "2003-07-05T19:53:28Z")
In T3, surprisingly, there werenā€™t too many gratuitous product placements. The ones I can remember were a US Rentals building across from the animal clinic, and of course, the shameless one going to the Xenadrine EFX trailer that was shown for in clear view for at least 10 seconds. ---
**Author:** ![Fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bc8723/32.png) [@Fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fish)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2003, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/107 "2003-07-05T21:41:02Z")
I have to agree with **Abe.** Iā€™m not sure why this board objects so stridently to a forty-foot tall advertisement for Coke on your movie screen when thereā€™s probably one _right outside your window_ anyway, sitting in the quadrangle of your local high school or university, plastered in the pages of a history book, or filling space at the front of your VHS copy of _Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade._ As Abe noted with Stephen King, part of immersion and characterization is about the quick-hit product identification. With Macintosh, it has two things going for it, product-wise. One, a recognizable logo. Two, it has the reputation of being the underdog, the little guy, used by creative types and people who (forgive me) think different. If youā€™ve got a fifth of a second on a movie screen to show that a character is a rebel who carves his own path, what do you show? A generic plastic box devoid of character? Or a bright colored box with an underdog reputation? Ditto for beer: show a character who drinks Schlitz or Coors and youā€™ve got an everyday kinda guy (in American terms, that is). But show him drinking Fish Tail Ale, or Pyramid Brown, or Guinness, or that funky Japanese beer thatā€™s sold in the plain silver can, and youā€™ve got a completely different take on the character. This was the case in _The Whole Nine Yards_ when Rosanna Arquetteā€™s character was shown driving a bright yellow new-model VW Beetle. The movie took no money for the ad, according to Jonathan Lynnā€™s commentary. He said VW would have paid them if Matthew Perry had driven the car. Lynn said no, that was the wifeā€™s car, because that was appropriate to her character. VW said no thanks, weā€™ll pass; weā€™ve already got the demographic that petite cutesy women drive Beetles, we want to expand our product lineā€™s image. Matt drives, we pay. Otherwise, go away. I have to say that sometimes, yes, the product logo is _particularly_ irritating when itā€™s obvious. The Coke can in _Ghostbusters_ was mentioned. Why? Because not only was it logo placement, but a continuity error. The camera shifts position a few feet for a two-shot, and yet the Coke can turns 180 degrees to show both sides of the can, each perfectly aligned. I always notice it, during that scene. Doesnā€™t ruin the movie, though. FISH ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/108 "2004-09-04T04:05:41Z")
> [@Fibber McGee](#): > > What gets me is that every once in a while a movie will try to poke fun at product placements in movies by showcasing a few really obvious ones and playing it for laughs. So they try to have their cake and eat it too by having big name product placements _and_ earning cool points by making fun of the very thing theyā€™re doing. > > _Wayneā€™s World_ actually managed to pull this sort of joke off really well, making for one of the funniest moments in the film. > > _Josie and the Pussycats_ was just a really bad movie though. The whole theme of rampant consumerism and marketing is evil just played like an excuse to cram in as many product placements as possible. Iā€™m about 33 minutes into the Josie movie right now. Even if itā€™s suppose to be a joke, the amount of product placement in this movie is one of the most off puting things Iā€™ve ever seen in a film. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/109 "2004-09-04T04:51:38Z")
I hated ā€œTwisterā€ passionately from start to finish, but one thing that REALLY annoyed me was: Helen Hunt and Bill Paxton kept making snide remarks about Cary Elwes and his team. Paxton sneers that Elwes & his researchers arenā€™t even ā€œrealā€ scientists because they accept corporate sponsorships. God, what hypocrisy! The entire movie is one long ad for Pepsi Cola!!! If Elwesā€™ character is evil and desevres to be killed because he accepts corporate sponsorship, then EVERYONE associated with ā€œTwisterā€ deserves to die a slow, painful death. - And on a smaller but still relevant point: Iā€™m from New York City, where there are good, locally owned pizza joints on every corner. NO self-respecting New Yorker gets his pizza from Pizza Hut. But Iā€™ve seen numerous movies (most notably Tom Hanksā€™ ā€œBigā€) in which New Yorkers are shown bringing home a pie from Pizza Hut. I would only bring my family in New York something from Pizza Hut if I were feeling suicidal. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/110 "2004-09-04T05:09:21Z")
_flees the zombie thread_ I was reading through this thinkingā€¦ These are some old movies people are bitching about! And who is this user Iā€™ve never heard of? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/111 "2004-09-04T13:25:48Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > _flees the zombie thread_ > > I was reading through this thinkingā€¦ These are some old movies people are bitching about! And who is this user Iā€™ve never heard of? > > :smack: I revived this thread because I wanted to comment on the product placement in a movie I was watching. As Iā€™ve seen so many here criticized for starting a new thread when there are exixting ones on the same subject, I did a search and found this one. So now thereā€™s criticism for reviving a year old thread. I donā€™t know who the user is you are refering to or if itā€™s me or not, but I canā€™t believe youā€™re familiar with everybody who has ever posted at this forum. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/112 "2004-09-04T13:39:14Z")
In **Time After Time** thereā€™s a whole scene in a 1979-era McDonalds. I listened to the commentary and Nicolas Myer, the director, said he never intended it to be a product placement. Maybe it didnā€™t seem like that then, but today it does. ---
**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:** [September 4, 2004, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/113 "2004-09-04T13:40:07Z")
good morning friends, my older brother worked in advertising in the 70ā€™s and 80ā€™s. he was responsible for purchasing space for stp oil products. he did some of the product placement ads, but mostly determined markets and time slots for brodcast commercials. he described the perfect place for a brodcast commercial: the first network television brodcast of ā€œgone with the windā€ scarlet, home to find the devastation the war has left around tara finds a radish field and falls to her knees and eats one. she chokes on it and then shakes her fist at the heavens. ā€œiā€™ll never be hungry again! if i have to lie, cheat steal or kill, as god is my witness iā€™ll never be hungry again!ā€ fade to black, cut to a kentucky fried chicken commercialā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/114 "2004-09-04T14:52:36Z")
The one that bugged me the most was all that Blue Sun product placement in **Firefly**. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/115 "2004-09-04T14:56:43Z")
Yoyodyne Propulsion ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/116 "2004-09-04T16:10:02Z")
From ATMB: > [@](#): > > What if I want to continue / add to the discussion on a topic that was mentioned in an old thread? > > Start a new thread with a link to the old thread. A general guideline for ā€œoldā€ would be a thread older than three months. * * * Just giving you the information, I personally donā€™t see anything wrong with it but you asked why you were getting criticism. ---
**Author:** ![Menocchio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de053/32.png) [@Menocchio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Menocchio)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/117 "2004-09-04T16:25:20Z")
In Micheal Almereydaā€™s lackluster 2000 Hamlet takes place in the modern day. Denmark is a corporation. Hamletā€™s an amateur filmmaker rather than a playwright. Okay, so far so good, exept that it also opened the door to introducing product placemnet in Shakespeare! In the first glimpse of the ghost, he fades away before Horatioā€™s eyes, revealing, in full glory the Pepsi (Coke? I donā€™t recall) machine the spectre was in front of. Also, Hamlet delivers ā€œTo be, or not to beā€, the most famous and celebrated lines of dialogue in teh English language, while strolling through whatā€™s clearly a Blockbuster video. Shameful. Bill Murray was a hoot as Polonius, however. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/118 "2004-09-04T16:41:50Z")
> [@International Playboy](#): > > I revived this thread because I wanted to comment on the product placement in a movie I was watching. As Iā€™ve seen so many here criticized for starting a new thread when there are exixting ones on the same subject, I did a search and found this one. So now thereā€™s criticism for reviving a year old thread. > > I donā€™t know who the user is you are refering to or if itā€™s me or not, but I canā€™t believe youā€™re familiar with everybody who has ever posted at this forum. First of all, I was just kidding. I was just making a comment on the fact that all the movies mentioned were older ones, and I felt silly when I realized that it was because it was an old thread. It was just a good-natured comment. Thus the smack. If I were criticizing YOU, I would have used the putz smiley. Or a roll-eyes, or something similarly rude. Secondly, if you _really_ pay attention, youā€™ll see that the ā€œruleā€ is that you bump a thread less than 3 months old; otherwise you start a new one. I really donā€™t care one way or the other, but since you seem to be eager to jump down my throat for making a light-hearted comment, Iā€™ll just clarify that point for you. And finally, I donā€™t claim to know everyone, or even a vast majority of people on this board. However, when thereā€™s a much higher than average number of strange names in a Cafe Society thread, I scratch my head. ---
**Author:** ![TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tellmei_mnotcrazy/32/3419_2.png) [@TellMeI\_mNotCrazy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TellMeI_mNotCrazy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/119 "2004-09-04T16:59:04Z")
After a few minutes of reflection, I apologize for anything in the previous message that comes across as less-than-civil. Iā€™m really just having one of those days. ---
**Author:** ![International\_Playboy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/48db29/32.png) [@International\_Playboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/International_Playboy)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2004, 5:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/120 "2004-09-04T17:32:10Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > First of all, I was just kidding. I was just making a comment on the fact that all the movies mentioned were older ones, and I felt silly when I realized that it was because it was an old thread. It was just a good-natured comment. Thus the smack. If I were criticizing YOU, I would have used the putz smiley. Or a roll-eyes, or something similarly rude. > > Secondly, if you _really_ pay attention, youā€™ll see that the ā€œruleā€ is that you bump a thread less than 3 months old; otherwise you start a new one. I really donā€™t care one way or the other, but since you seem to be eager to jump down my throat for making a light-hearted comment, Iā€™ll just clarify that point for you. > > And finally, I donā€™t claim to know everyone, or even a vast majority of people on this board. However, when thereā€™s a much higher than average number of strange names in a Cafe Society thread, I scratch my head. Thanks for the clarification. I realize itā€™s hard to read ā€œtoneā€ in a post and when I saw the smack in the head thing, I took the whole thing as criticism. And like itā€™s ā€œone of those daysā€ for you, I had just gotten out of bed and checked my email when I clicked on this thread. I have never seen the ā€œ3 month ruleā€ and I thought I was doing the right thing. Like I said before, I see so many posts that say something in the vein of ā€œthere is already a thread on this subject here.ā€ As for not being familiar with my name, I have been on a hiatus from here for several months as it was getting too addicting and interfering with work. Up to about February, I was pretty active on this board and only returned this week. And **Loach** , what is the ATMB? I donā€™t see the rule you quote in the SDMB FAQs or Forum Rules. Anyway, Iā€™m sorry for the post above. And this hijack Iā€™ve caused too. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709.md?page=5) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709.md?page=7)