Product placement in movies - The best and worst

These are hard economic times for everyone, even Hollywood. So sometimes, but only when they really have to, the poor dears must subtly advertise a product to earn a few shiny pennies… and if you believe that you’ll believe anything!

Product placement has been around since the dawn of cinema. After all, it’s an enormous screen to advertise on. Big films attract big companies and they pay big bucks to have their product front and centre on the big screen. Here are some of the most shameful displays ever.

I, Robot - The only detective to ever wear Converses
‘I, Robot’ is a far better film than it has any right to be; as a sort of modern day ‘Blade Runner’ (just not as good of course). The film is almost completely undone in its first few minutes however, when a mish-mash of obvious product placements slap the audience right in the face.

Nothing was worse than the converse scene, when Will Smith opens a package containing the trainers and tells his mum: “These are vintage All-Stars, 2004,” and jokes if she wants a pair herself. Spoiler alert: she doesn’t

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Casino Royale – Watch your mouth
Another great film despite the shameless product placement. Made by Sony Pictures’, the film was firstly obliged to throw in as many Sony products as possible, including Blu Ray disks and phones.

There’s also a small sequence of Bond driving his decidedly non-Aston Martin but sensibly low key Ford Mondeo - which looks suspiciously like a car advert. Worst of all is the exchange between Bond and Vesper Lynd in an otherwise quality scene. “Rolex” she asks admiring his watch. “Omega,” replies Bond, suppressing the urge to slap her for her sheer ruddy nerve!

Independence Day - iSave (the world)
‘Independence Day’ was doing so well until that ending. The product placement was kept to a minimum, the acting wasn’t completely terrible. The dog survived. It was fun! Then came the ending, which saw the odd couple of fighter pilot Will Smith and super-geek Jeff Goldblum launch into space, travel to the invading alien’s mothership and save the day thanks to their all-powerful Apple Macbook. If this had actually happened we’d understand why Apple has such a devoted cult-like following. But it didn’t.

Evolution - Head and Shoulders above most product placement
This is the other extreme. In Ivan Reitman’s alien invasion comedy ‘Evolution’, Head & Shoulder is essential to the story! In fact the shampoo is what they use to eliminate the enormous alien blob sure to otherwise take over the world.

The alien race is nitrogen-based and by the miracle of symmetry David Duchovny’s character works out that the aliens might well be killed by selenium, and what has lots of selenium? Why Head & Shoulders of course! Cue a finale that sees the heroes shooting a lot of shampoo up the alien butt before an actual advert for it right at the very end. That’s comedy folks!

ET - Just what exactly are Reese’s Pieces?
Remember when Steve Spielberg was sentimental without trying to make the audience fall in love with a horse? Turns out it’s a lot easier with an animatronic alien. ‘E.T’ is a classic of course but watch it again and you’ll notice the film’s peculiar obsession with Reese’s Pieces. Not a single person in the 80s left their local cinema not wanting to buy some, or if they were in Britain, wondering what on Earth they are. We still love the little fella though.

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Transformers - If it doesn’t have a logo on it, it’s probably about to blow up
Naturally, the concept of both cartoon and film is entirely product placement - they were toys first. Director Michael Bay is also no stranger to selling out, as we’ll see later, and he had lead robot Bumblebee start life as a banged up Camaro.

After a quip from Megan Fox it turned into an impossibly shiny brand new model – that promptly went on sale in real. Later in the film some choice electronic devices transform into Decepticons, like an Xbox 360 and a vending machine with an enormous Mountain Dew logo on it.

The Island - Bay goes meta
It’s Michael Bay again, but this time he goes meta with his product placement. If he had meant it would easily be the most intelligent thing he’s ever put on film. The futuristic blockbuster stars Ewan McGreggor and Scarlett Johnasson, the latter of which was part of a perfume ad campaign around the time of the film. In the film they play clones of existing people, and in Scarlett’s case that person just so happens to be an actress... who has recently starred in a perfume ad campaign. The twist of the film is played out in the form of product placement! We’re confused too.

Spider-Man - The corporations even caught Spidey in their web
Product placements work worst when they noticeably but only slightly change the pacing and direction of a scene. Imagine the cafe scene in Michael Mann’s ‘Heat - a duel of words between Al Pacino and Robert DiNero - if half way through there was a lingering shot of some Nescafé Original?

In Spider-Man we have a shot where Peter Parker tests out his new powers and webs a pristine can of Dr Pepper with the camera staying still just long enough for us to register the brand name. Later on there’s a car chase that sees Spidey land on a car riding alongside a beer truck which just so happens to have a wonderfully lit Carlsberg logo on the side. Not subtle.

Tropic Thunder - TiVO tribulations
While not as plot-crucial as ‘Evolution’s’ Head & Shoulders, Ben Stiller’s mediocre-fest comedy ‘Tropic Thunder’ has a whole sub-plot devoted to a little thing called TiVO (think American Sky+). Stiller’s character Tugg Speedman wants a TiVO brought to him in the jungle where he’s currently filming. It’s up to his agent, Matthew McConaughey, to get it to him. Safe to say it’s mentioned a lot through the course of the film.

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Percy Jackson and the Lightening Thief - Ooh it’s so shiny!
Villainess Medusa, played by Uma Thurman, is just a small part of ‘Failed Attempt To Start a Franchise From a Series of Pre-Teen Books #37’. She gets a memorable end though when she catches and is mesmerised by her own reflection, which gives hero Percy just enough time to chop off her head for future use. If that didn’t sound sinister enough, her reflection is in the back of an iPod touch.

Wayne’s World - We see through you Myers!
The most blatant and shameless example of product placement you will ever see on film.... and yet they get away with it because it’s played for laughs. As Wayne and Garth’s TV show ‘Wayne’s World’ becomes popular they start to sell out in a scene which sees them drinking Pepsi, eating Pizza Hut and wearing more Reebok than it should be legal to wear. The audacity is what makes it funny and continues the film’s trademark fourth wall-breaking. Product placement that worked, and probably made them all a few quid.