# 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:** 11\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/141 "2004-09-06T16:42:43Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > Interesting. The scene in the diner, he mentions both Tab and Pepsi Free (if you want a Pepsi kid, you’re gonna pay for it!) There’s the JVC Camcorder that he taped Doc’s events with, and the Mr. Fusion was a nifty nod to Mr. Coffee, I thought. By what they were saying, most of the companies and products they chose to include were chosen just by how well they emphasized that Marty was in a different time. Texaco changed its logo quite a bit, for example, whereas Shell hadn’t, so they chose Texaco for the gas station. In another scene, where Marty gets a drink from soda machine, they said they chose Coke because the 1955-style bottle and design was so different from the 1985 style, while Pepsi didn’t look all that different. Tab and Pepsi Free were just chosen for the jokes on their names, imo. Incidentally, according to the writer, Einstein was originally a chimp. One of the producers insisted they change it, on the grounds that “movies with chimps never make money.” Good call. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/142 "2004-09-06T20:04:36Z")
> [@](#): > > In Time After Time there’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 didn’t seem like that then, but today it does. That scene was in the novel, so I wouldn’t blame Nicolas Meyer. In the book, H.G., after a lifetime of 19th Century English food, finds that a Big Mac is the most delicious thing he’s ever tasted. In _2001_, I think the use of some real brands (like Pan Am) was intended to make it clear that they weren’t depicting a distant future unconnected to the lives of contemporary (1968) viewers – having a Pan Am commercial space shuttle is a way of saying “This is going to happen; you’ll see it in your lifetime.” Of course, it’s 2004 and I’m still waiting… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Bird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Little\_Bird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Bird)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/143 "2004-09-06T23:09:41Z")
> [@JThunder](#): > > _Mac and Me_. Yeah, that’s the one I opened this thread to post about. Of course, that movie was already ruined by everything else in the entire movie…so I guess it doesn’t really fit the bill. ---
**Author:** ![Agrippina](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8797f3/32.png) [@Agrippina](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Agrippina)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/144 "2004-09-07T00:30:23Z")
> [@Baldwin](#): > > That scene was in the novel, so I wouldn’t blame Nicolas Meyer. In the book, H.G., after a lifetime of 19th Century English food, finds that a Big Mac is the most delicious thing he’s ever tasted. Wait a minute—I didn’t know the movie was based on a novel. I’ve tried Googling, but could find nothing except the writers of the screenplay. ---
**Author:** ![jsc1953](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jsc1953](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jsc1953)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/145 "2004-09-07T14:58:27Z")
> [@Uvula Donor](#): > > Also, I’m not at all certain that the use of Howard Johnson’s, AT&T, and Pan Am in _2001_ were actually product placements. It’s more likely that given their market leadership at the time the movie was made, Kubrick and Clarke extrapolated their future market dominance. 2001’s use of product placement was also revolutionary for sci-fi. Up to that point, every object & product in a sci-fi movie was generic (probably true of movies in general, actually…). By putting the Pan Am & AT&T logos in his movie, Kubrick makes a subtle but crystal-clear point that this world of 30 years in the future is very much an extension of our own; some things are different, some things are immediately recognizable. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/146 "2004-09-07T16:03:03Z")
> [@TellMeI'mNotCrazy](#): > > Which leads me to wonder - if it’s a high-grossing film, does product placement really make much of a difference in profits? How much do these companies pay nowadays? I believe either Spiderman 1 or one of the later Bond movies managed to pay 90% of the cost of making the movie solely through produce placement. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/147 "2004-09-07T16:36:36Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > 2001’s use of product placement was also revolutionary for sci-fi. Up to that point, every object & product in a sci-fi movie was generic (probably true of movies in general, actually…). By putting the Pan Am & AT&T logos in his movie, Kubrick makes a subtle but crystal-clear point that this world of 30 years in the future is very much an extension of our own; some things are different, some things are immediately recognizable. The other logo in 2001 was IBM - on the console of the Orion and Aries 3b spaceships - **not** HAL. I’ve read a ton about 2001, but have never seen anything to indicate that Kubrick was paid for the product placements - it was not done in those days. And AT&T is not allowed to use the old Bell System logo under the terms of the consent agreement. It makes me a bit nostalgic, since I started out working for the old Western Electric. BTW, the Death Star came before the AT&T logo - reverse product placement? ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/148 "2004-09-07T17:00:57Z")
Product placements don’t ruin movies for me, and some aren’t “shameless” but more essential, like “Cast Away”. I feel like **Abe** in that regard. Sometimes they just kind of “jolt” me out of my “movie mindset” though. A recent one was a guy eating McD’s during “S.W.A.T.” which I enjoyed as an action movie. There’s no real point to having the guy eating. The camera just kind of lingers on it for a minute and they make a couple of jokes about his wife finding out. It almost seemed like they were trying to make me think it WASN’T a product placement by being very blatant about it. ---
**Author:** ![cbawlmer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cbawlmer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cbawlmer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/149 "2004-09-07T18:02:52Z")
I like the product placement as it is used in a movie like _Back to the Future_, where it establishes the different time in which Marty has found himself, in a shorthand that makes sense to alost everyone in the audience. I’m also glad for the product placement in Elliott’s room in _E.T._, because if I ever want to show my kids EXACTLY what was in a kid’s room when I was that age, all I have to do is show them that movie. “Look! Stratego! And a Speak & Spell!”, etc. Perfect time capsule. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/150 "2004-09-07T18:29:09Z")
I opened this thread to make a comment about the Yahoo! ad in _Inspector Gadget_, but it appears I beat myself by more than a year. > [@SPOOFE](#): > > I always hated how Quentin Tarantino shilled out in _Pulp Fiction_. All this talk about “Big Kahuna Burger”, a Big Kahuna Burger drink cup, burger, fries… > > I boycott Big Kahuna Burger in its entirety because of this. Oh, come on! That’s ridiculous! Big Kahuna Burger, now that is a tasty burger. There’s no point in boycotting them over it. However, I’ve never been a fan of big tobacco, and I don’t smoke, but if I did, you can be sure I’d never buy any Red Apple cigarettes. ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2004, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-most-shameless-product-placement-seen-in-a-movie-and-ruins-the-movie-for-you/183709/151 "2004-09-07T18:53:15Z")
I thought the name was made up. Is it a chain or just a well known local joint? [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=7)