What was this film? But more about the commercials within.

Cafe Society
1

I saw a made-fo-TV movie, most likely in the 1990s, that seemed similar to (or maybe could have been, but I don’t think so) 12:01. I believe it was science-fictiony, whatever it was. I think it was about the same timeframe, but that’s all I have to go on. Can’t remember an actor or a hint of plot.

But the interesting thing about the movie was that the film was internally linked to the ads. For example, a character walks past a poster for [something] on a wall that had a recognizable name (that you were supposed to just think was set dressing), but the next commercial break, the first commercial was for that product.

I would have thought it was just a coincidence, but the pattern repeated through the movie. One scene had the protagonist filling his car at a service station, and the camera panned down to his [product] bumper sticker, and sho’ nuff at the next commercial break, the product on the bumper sticker was the lead commercial.

This all struck me as very new and unusual at the time. I was aware even then, of course, of “product placement”, but this went beyond that. The lingering camera work on the embedded ads went beyond someone eating a Subway sandwich while drinking a Coke, which are realistic, natural actions, or even James Bond name dropping products. This movie struck me as being written around the ads, not the ads being shoehorned into the film. It seemed very “heavy handed”, for lack of a better descriptor. It was too obvious, once you noticed it.

Does anyone remember this? It’s difficult to do a general search, because there are too many other things that turn up.

I was also wondering if this was unique or if it still goes on. And if the movie ever came out on DVD, were the embedded ads removed?

2

It wasn’t Wild Palms, was it? For some reason, that was the first thing that jumped to mind.

3

No, that isn’t it. I still haven’t seen that one.

4

The Italian satire The Icicle Thief plays with this idea, but it doesn’t seem to match your other criteria.

5

I knew this could be a tough one.

I’ve been thinking a bit, and maybe the movie is about a secret experiment? I keep going back to 12:01 (heh heh) in my head, but my memory says it was a different movie that I tied together in my memory filing system with 12:01 because they were similar, but not the same. Maybe the film involved an experiment that Could Destroy The World?

Because of the posts here, I found that wikipedia lists all made for TV movies by year, and I tried going through them, but nothing stood out so far. I hoped the title would flash familiar.

6

Was it the TV edited alternate ending to Big?

7

The OP’s description kind of reminds me of the first episode/pilot for “Six Feet Under”, which had ads for various funeral home supplies which, IIRC, you then saw them using in the episode.

8

Kentucky Fried Movie
or
Loose Shoes

9

I wish!

No, this did exist. But I fear from the limited information I can give that it would take someone who not only saw the movie but noticed the internal ads to recognize it.

I can always broaden my wikipedia search outside of the 1990s, or read every movie description.

10

So these were ads for real products then, and not fake ads which were actually part of the movie?

The closest thing I can think of was the Lisa Catera incident.

Return of the Killer Tomatoes also has an amusing gag where the movie runs out of money halfway through and they have to resort to aggressive product placement to pay for the rest of it. (Warning: clip contains disturbingly young George Clooney.)

But neither of these are really what you’re describing.

11

The USA Network program Mr. Robot has fake ads for E-Corp (the fictional corporation at the heart of the story) products and services during the real commercial breaks.

Edited to add, the since-cancelled ABC sitcom Better Off Ted also had fake ads for its corporation’s products and services.

12

My friend Phil wrote 12:01; I watched it, and don’t remember the tie-ins you’ve described. I’ve e-mailed him to check, and to see if he has any ideas.

13

Yes. I wish I could remember some; that would probably help.

These aren’t the ones from the movie, but they give you an idea. For example, the characters walk past a poster on a wall that is a movie poster (let’s say, Apollo 13), and then the next commercial break started with a trailer for Apollo 13.

Then perhaps the bumper sticker on the car was an Allstate sticker, and the lead commercial at the next break was Allstate.

Let’s say then in the next act, the car drives by a billboard featuring McDonalds, and lingers much more thanks usual (like 5-10 seconds). Of course, the lead commercial at the next break was McDonalds.

It went like this all the way through. Mind you, it didn’t affect the movie. No one stopped to have discussions about the benefits of reverse mortgages, or how much Aleve helped them with their problems. It was all visual only. And most people watching the film probably either didn’t notice, or just noticed it as regular product placement. But the tie in of the on-screen product placements with the next commercial was unique (as far as I can tell).

If I could ever figure out what the movie was, it would be interesting to find out if the embedded product placements were removed in the DVD release. It would be easy to excise them without being noticeable at all.

14

or The Groove Tube

15

I was watching ***Seinfeld ***tonight. The episode was the one where George meets the bald woman.

The next commercial was for the Women’s Hair Club.

Weird … or what? :dubious:

16

It was a serious movie. In effect, just a normal B-ish grade made-for-tv movie, with this unique extra.

I found a youtube video of the longer 12:01 and I agree it isn’t it. But in my mind, it had a similar style.

17

I came back to eliminate 12:01, but you beat me to it.

I don’t doubt what you say you saw, but it must have been a very unusual circumstance. To quote Phil’s response to my query:

“As to the commercial coming after the actual shot, you must know that on broadcast/cable those are two separate entities (ad buying department and programming). On the other hand, if he were watching on his laptop — who knows, the internet is keyed in to everything.”

18

“I have mood poisoning, must be something I hate”