A while back, I visited a Planet Hollywood where they were showing a video montage of product placement in films. Seeing those clips edited together was very amusing, and I was surprised at how laughably blatant some of it is.

So I thought it would be fun to see some examples of product placement in movies on DVD. I found a few in my own collection, but I'd also like to see..
The giant Times Square Coca-Cola sign in Superman II
The lotto winner carrying the huge iMac box in Final Destination 2
and who can forget the Reeses Pieces in E.T.

I'll start things off with these....


Spider-Man


Ghostbusters


Ferris Bueller's Day Off

im not at home right now but i hereby request the shot in Cant Buy Me LOve with the "Jolt" Cola in the background.

that is if anyone has the inclination

ahhh Jolt Cola... the good ol days...

I remember a bunch of these in E.T.

Wayne's World 2 had a product placement spoof.

Torque - the laughably bad female biker joust battle sandwiched between two giant MOUNTAIN DEW signs. It looked more like a commercial than a movie scene...

Here's a few more...


Fight Club


Fargo


Grand Canyon (Glover fidgets with his Coke can throughout the scene, and finally throws it into a dumpster.)

dilligaf, your Jolt comment reminds me of the 'Like Cola' machine in the background of Waiting for Guffman.
Does anyone have the Sopranos? They're constantly drinking Coke, Minute Maid, and Snapple.
Isn't there a shot of Arnold hiding behind a Pepsi machine in T2?

I'm not sure the Fight Club one counts, as it is necessary to the film. Anti-consumerism is part of the theme.

Yes, the Torque one is the best. "In the Mountain Dew corner - the goodie! In the Pepsi corner - the baddie!"

(just in case you thought i was serious or somethin')

Sure it counts. It's product placement by definition...

Product Placement Basics
"Basically, there are three ways product placement can occur:
-It simply happens.
-It's arranged, and a certain amount of the product serves as compensation.
-It's arranged, and there is financial compensation. "
[source: money.howstuffworks.com]

I also thought this was interesting... Here's what [Edit: David Fincher] says about the appearance of Starbucks in Fight Club...

"When I first moved to LA in 1984, you could not get a good cup of coffee in Los Angeles to save your life. I mean, it was really pathetic. Then Starbucks came out, and it was such a great idea: good coffee. And when it became successful there were, like two or three on every block. It's too much of a good thing. But they read the script, they knew what we were doing, and they were kind of ready to poke a little fun at themselves. I mean, they wouldn't let us use their name on the coffee shop that gets destroyed by the piece of tragic corporate art, but they were willing to give us the rest of their stuff. We had a lot of fun using that - there are Starbucks cups everywhere, in every shot. In The Game we had this joke, 'cause (cinematographer) Harris Savides' nickname is Haggis, so there's this can of haggis in every scene - in Michael Douglas' office, on the shelf ... So the Starbucks cups became like that. 'Do we have room for a Starbucks cup?' 'Yeah!' But, no, I don't have anything personal against Starbucks. I think they're trying to do a good thing. They're just too successful."

Sure that isn't a David Fincher quote?

Anyone have a picture of Bill Cosby drinking a Coca Cola in Leonard Part 6? Perhaps the most blatant product placement of all time! (He even makes sure the label is facing the camera!)

Indeed it is. My brain got crossed since the quote came from edward-norton.org and had a big Ed Norton pic on the page. Sort of an Edward Norton product placement if you will...

http://www.edward-norton.org/fc/articles/empire.html

Bye Bye, Love

BY ROGER EBERT / March 17, 1995

Cast & Credits
-------------------------
Dave: Matthew Modine
Vic: Randy Quaid
Donny: Paul Reiser
Directed By Sam Weisman

The movie opens at a McDonald's, in a long and shameless product placement. "Bye Bye, Love" looks, in fact, like a McDonald's commercial for its first 10 minutes, as the restaurant serves as neutral turf where ex-wives can drop off the kids for their ex-husband's visitation rights.

Speaking of McDonald's product placement have you seen Supersize Me? My wife was watching this in the next room and I don't know what it's about, but I noticed that the main character was eating McDonald's food in just about every scene! Shameless!

I hope it's not being said here that product placement is a bad thing. It can be used to add to the realism of a film.

While it doesn't happen in movies alot, remember when sitcoms of the 80's and 90's have scenes of eating or drinking, and they're eating a bag of Ray's Potato Chips, while drinking a Cola-Cola? I mean, here we are, watching something that is at least supposed to be *like* real life, but we get these obviously fake brands, and if they're fake, the show must be (if the script didn't give it away).

I'm a fan of MVP Baseball, which replaces the real ads in baseball stadiums with fake ads. For the PC version, we have a rather large community of modders that correct this by putting in the real ads in the ballparks, not for product placement, but for realism. We want how it looks and feels in real life to be reflected in the cyber version.

And that's how I want my movies. I don't want them drinking a COLA, or heading to a Burger Monarch or Kansas Fried Chicken. I don't want movies to become any more of a big commerical than many of them are, but I don't want everything to be fake either.

That's a good point TheKing.

I do think product placement is going too far when the original story is altered to accommodate a product.

I also think it can be distracting, like in the Spider-Man example. When I first saw it I was mentally pulled out of the movie and I began imagining some exec in a board room getting all fired up.. "And when this spider teenager finally hits his target successfully with his web, his prize is none other than an ice cold can of refreshing DR. PEPPER! And then just watch the snot-nosed kids push their way through the aisles to get their hands on a cup, because they all want to be just like their special hero, Mr. Spidey!"

But if a script happens portray a man who talks to a volleyball, then by all means, go ahead and make it a Wilson.

Sorry to be off topic, as I realize this was supposed to be about screen shots but I can't help but chuckling at Home Alone, when one of the relatives says "Fuller, take it easy on the PEPSI," placing undue emphasis on the word pepsi.

Also in Meet Joe Black "Laura Scudder's Peanut Butter" is prominently mentioned, as is a Jiffy and Skippy, but the preferred brand of Death is obviously Laura Scudders.


PS> Back to the Future part 2 featured product placement quite prominently (Pizza Hut, Nike, Pepsi, etc.). I don't have my set with me but perhaps someone could post screenshots of the offending matter.

Shrek 2 when they enter the town to go to the castle to meet Fionas Parents. I think one of the spoofs is starbucks.

Seinfeld has lots of intentional product placement. And if I recall, they weren't paid to do it, but chose to do it cause they thought using real brand names, etc., was funnier.

As for that Spider-man Dr. Pepper scene, it always bugged me. I mean, what were they thinking? It should've been a can of Dew!!!

We need some caps of last week's Red Zone..(Smallville) episode

Here are some products of the future...


Back to the Future Part II


Back to the Future Part II


Back to the Future Part II


2001


2001


Training Day - Notice the look-alike brand.

Other high profile product placement examples...

Risky Business - Ray-Ban sunglasses
Demolition Man - Taco Bell
You've Got Mail - America On-Line (AOL), Apple, IBM and Starbucks
Austin Powers - Pepsi and Starbucks
Cast Away - FedEx and Wilson
Men in Black II - Ray-Ban sunglasses, Mercedes Benz, Sprint, Burger King
Jerry Maguire - Reebok and Nike
The Firm - Red Stripe Beer
Mission Impossible - Apple Powerbook
I, Robot - Audi
Minority Report - Lexus

What about Cast Away? The first fifteen or so minutes were a love letter to FedEx.

Best picture I could find online, unfortunately.



Maybe someone can find a better screen shot?