Trekker's 10 Worst Product Placements in TV/Movies

[porthos_the_powerful]

9 - I, Robot - Converse Shoes:
There was a LOT of product placements in this movie.
A lot. But Converse is the one that sticks out the most in my mind. Moments into the movie Will Smith's character -a technophobic Chicago policeman- opens up a package containing something he bought off eBay. Inside the package? Some Converse shoes circa 2004. The year? 2035. Yep. He bought 31 year old shoes off eBay, because he's so into them and apparently Chicago is plum out of vintage clothing stores. Oh, and the shoes are in near-perfect condition.

Think about this for a moment. Sure, vintage-style clothing is always a market but when's the last time you saw some shoes from 1978 that were anywhere near wearable?

There's a pretty healthy vintage NOS (new old stock) shoe market on eBay for shoes from the 40s, 50s, etc. Not my cup of tea, but some guys really love those spade soles and chunky gunboats and there's always unsold stuff turning up in warehouses or stockrooms. So the concept of the Converse shoe thing was actually pretty decent. The extended discussion about the shoes between the characters later on, not so much...

Personally I found the JVC radio/entertainment centre in I, Robot far more egregiously blatant. The logo filled the entire screen for ages.

But generally, I found most of the product placement worked in the same way the stuff works in BTTF or Blade Runner - it sets the future scene. I'm thinking esp. of the scene where Will Smith steps out of his apartment the first time, and of his Audi.

... and Guinness, and Nokia, and Ben & Jerry's, and GAP, etc. etc.

The film even has an ad break of sorts in it.

Minority Report's use of product placement, using it in future advertising actually one of my favourite parts about the movie. It's cool, it says something about the world the characters live in, and it works with the story.

The Island -- why do clones who don't know anything about the outside world need a big huge sign telling them their video game is on Xbox?

That was the first thing that came to mind for me, too. Hilariously blatant and absurd.

I need to rewatch the movie because I honestly can't remember that.

Why settle for just one absurd bit of product placement when you can have them all? The Island has always been my choice for king of insane advertising.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeVQwomIgjs

 

[Nerys Myk]

2001: A Space Odyssey

Pan-Am
Bell
Hilton
Aeroflot
Parker Pens
Howard Johnsons
IBM
GM
American Express
Parker Bros.

Not sure if they were the "worst"

 

[Non Sync]

Oh, has anybody mentioned the BA billboard in Moonraker? Not the most forceful maybe, but definitely the most memorable

Also the 7 Up billboards and other signs.

 

[Non Sync]

As annoying as product placement is, I find it even more annoying when we see someone drinking out of a plain white can that simply says "beer" or "cola" on it...or a plain white bag that says "chips"

Anybody wanna invest in a cmpany that makes GENERIC brand soft drinks, sold (almost) exclusively to film & TV productions that don't want product placement?!

Return of the Killer Tomatoes started off using generic brands until they interrupted a scene to announce the production has run out of money. The break the 4th wall and someone suggests product placements. They do a number of shots plugging various products.

 

[wamdue]

I can't believe nobody mentioned the X-Box 360 coming to life in Transformers, and also that cellphone they made come to life in the box.

you forgot the MTN Dew machine

oh god, I hated that movie, but that part was so awful, it made me hate it even more.

 

[Turtletrekker]

At least the Budweiser product placement was slightly more subtle (but no less silly).

This one really upset me. I mean really-- the advanced humanity of the 23rd century still drinks Budwiser? Humanity has advanced but beer hasn't? Doesn't sound like a Trekian utopia to me... (In case you can't tell, I hate Bud as well as Coors and Miller. Give me a micro-brew anyday...)

ironman - tony stark eating a burger from burger king... at a press conference...

Yeah that one was bad. He asks his aide for a real American hambruger, instead he gets one from Burger King.

I mean, sure, Ilike Burger King too but it wouldn't be the first thing I'd want to eat after being held captive in a cave for however long.

I seem to recall the BK thing being something that Robert Downey Jr. mentioned he did in real life after a binge.

 

[God Magnus]

oh god, I hated that movie, but that part was so awful, it made me hate it even more.

While it's quirky and certainly not everyone's cup of tea, the "Mountain Dew" robot gained quite a bit of a fan following among the Transformers fandom. His popularity even led to a (non transformable) figure being made and a fan-suggested name becoming his official name: Dispensor! http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Dispensor

 

[Vance]

^ That is a good point about Blade Runner.

To be fair, the plethora of ads was deliberate, and not actually all sponsored. It was to envoke Hong Kong, etc, where those guady neon signs were all over the damn place. Notice they're all part of the dressing and not actually focused in shot anywhere. (IE, no establishing shot saying 'Coca Cola' that lingers despite Leon choking Decard or something.)

 

[Vance]

ironman - tony stark eating a burger from burger king... at a press conference...

Yeah that one was bad. He asks his aide for a real American hambruger, instead he gets one from Burger King.

I mean, sure, Ilike Burger King too but it wouldn't be the first thing I'd want to eat after being held captive in a cave for however long.

To be fair, one of my high school teachers was a hostage in Iran, and he mentioned that he and several other hostages, when freed, hit McDonalds's right off the bat. IT was a priority to them.

Burger King was an odd choice, perhaps, from the narrative.. but I really can see Tony Stark hitting a drive thru... a cheap fast-food hamburger really is oddly reassuring.

 

[Trekker4747]

oh god, I hated that movie, but that part was so awful, it made me hate it even more.

While it's quirky and certainly not everyone's cup of tea, the "Mountain Dew" robot gained quite a bit of a fan following among the Transformers fandom. His popularity even led to a (non transformable) figure being made and a fan-suggested name becoming his official name: Dispensor! http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Dispensor

The dumbest thing to me about the Mountain Dew machine was that it had only Mt.Dew in it! Why wouldn't there be other Pepsi products in it?

 

[Vance]

The dumbest thing to me about the Mountain Dew machine was that it had only Mt.Dew in it! Why wouldn't there be other Pepsi products in it?

No, the dumbest thing was that Hasbro said "Yeah, fans really WANT this as a toy" and all the twenty or so fanbois on www.tfwiki.net who really did bought it and no one else.

Really, I have seen 'one cola' machines before, but usually in a bank of a whole lot of 'em. "Coke machine, Dr. Pepper Machine" etc.. at like airports or stadiums or something.

But we're talking about a movie where one of the three main story arcs is completely and utterly forgotten and the characters in it just... don't do anything else or even appear for the entire third act and climax. So.. eh.

 

[LutherSloan]

It's hard to compare the older films to recent ones like Transformers, where the movie is literally just a long advertisement.

 

[wamdue]

oh god, I hated that movie, but that part was so awful, it made me hate it even more.

While it's quirky and certainly not everyone's cup of tea, the "Mountain Dew" robot gained quite a bit of a fan following among the Transformers fandom. His popularity even led to a (non transformable) figure being made and a fan-suggested name becoming his official name: Dispensor! http://transformers.wikia.com/wiki/Dispensor

and again I am left to question the sanity of the Transformers Fandom

 

[Kirok_Blue]

I was impressed with Mike Judge's Idiocracy, where we have some NEGATIVE product placement. Didn't Fudruckers, Starbucks, Carls Jr, and CostCo try to sue him? Couple that with the presidential cabinet member who actively uses the Carls Jr product placement in his day-to-day speech.

 

[captcalhoun]

people whinging about Transformers and product placement.

IT'S A FUCKING TWO HOUR TOY ADVERT!!!!!!!!!

*ahem*

 

[Zulu Romeo]

people whinging about Transformers and product placement.

IT'S A FUCKING TWO HOUR TOY ADVERT!!!!!!!!!

*ahem*

But I can't buy Megan Fox in the shops...

 

[Random_Spock]

This is a list I just came up with of the first things that popped up in my mind. Add, discuss, amend as you may see fit.
2. The Wizard - The Whole Fucking Movie
This whole movie is just an advertisement for Nintendo. Pure and simple, more-so Nintendo Power Magazine. This movie was made for ONE reason: To sell Nintendo games.

1. Smallville - Stride Gum
An entire fucking episode was made for this series solely to promote Stride Gum. Stride Gum apparently has a factory in Metropolis, a short drive from the titular town of our beloved super mopedope Clark Kent, and some evil fuck-tard in their R/D department has decided to take the meteor fragments from recent meteor showers (we know these fragments as kryptonite) and infuse its radioactive, rocky, goodness into gum. Strangely, this isn't the oddest use for kryptonite in Smallville which has been used as an enhancement for tattoo ink, sports drinks, perfumes, fuel-enhacment for street-racers and for ring-stones. Seriously, the stuff is like duct tape AND WD-40 rolled into one. There's nothing it can't do, we'll except not make a certain Kryptonian sick.

Anyway, this episode centers around the Gum-form of Kryptonite's versatile-for-all-consumer-goods-self and apparently chewing this gum -as Pete (a once regular, now greatly recurring character) does- gives one super-powers, it turns Pete into Mr. Fantastic. Or, rather, Mr. Incredible Douchebag. To make all of this worse while talking with Clark about the problem they're facing with their mutual friend Chloe learns of this Stride gum's power and states, "I guess next time I guess they won't make the flavor last so long." It's the first time I ever told Chloe to shut up.

I agree about the Wizard. Nothing but a huge ad for Nintendo.

I have one to add...

Not an entire episode of a show... but product placement none the less .

During the episode, 'Detour' (The X-Files)... the show 'When Animals Attack' was mentioned along with the fact that it's on Fox . Brilliant just brilliant.

Thanks Fox for that one.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

Oh, has anybody mentioned the BA billboard in Moonraker? Not the most forceful maybe, but definitely the most memorable

Very memorable:

 

[Jadzia]

One of the most deliberate and obvious was the dancing pepsi can in The Golden Child, which held the camera for a good two minutes.

Unlike some of the above examples, this scene is inseparable from the movie.

 

[Zulu Romeo]

One of the most deliberate and obvious was the dancing pepsi can in The Golden Child, which held the camera for a good two minutes.

Unlike some of the above examples, this scene is inseparable from the movie.

I don't know, the dance scene in the McDonald's and the moment where the alien is revived after consuming some Coca-Cola® seemed inseparable from the film in Mac and Me.