6 Movies That Were Glorified Commercials
June 30, 2009 · Print This Article
Tivo and Digital recording technology allows us to fast forward through commercials. Ad block plus and pop up blockers handle them on the net. Hollywood knows whats up, and have for years. And every once in awhile they will blatantly sell out just to show us that they can bend the entertainment world over and plunge their penis of advertising deep into our brains.
The Italian Job (The Remake) - Released May 11, 2003 The Italian Job is a movie about a gold heist. In a typical breach of criminal code, a thief steals gold from his fellow thieves. The remedy? Steal it back, of course! Using Mini Coopers.
How’d they do it? They (Includes Marky-Mark) modified three BWM Mini Coopers to be extra light, but carry a lot of weight. Then they drove them through all sorts of California roads, sewers, and various other tight spaces.
After the release of the movie, BMW reportedly saw a massive spike in Mini Cooper Sales. Looks like their plan worked. How did they manage to effectively have their automobiles cast as the stars (The cars saw over 30 minutes of actual screen time, more than Edward Norton, who played the badguy!) of the movie?
Here’s the tricky part, the reason it isn’t technically considered a commercial is the fact that no money traded hands. BMW reportedly donated 32 Mini Coopers to Paramount studios to use, wreck, modify, (and advertise) in the shooting of the movie. BMW has yet to respond to repeated requests of 32 Mini Coopers for our sequel to the movie, We want Mini Coopers Too!
Knight Rider (The remake) – As you may remember from the good old days of pre-drunken-hamburger-fit David Hasselhoff, he starred in a TV show called Knight Rider. The show featured a Pontiac Trans Am muscle car known as KITT (Knight Industries Two Thousand) that could talk, auto-pilot, had personality, and likely hid Mr. Hasselhoffs booze stash whenever pulled over. When the new series came out in 2008, it featured a 2008 Ford Shelby GT500KR Mustang.
Why? Because Ford paid them. That’s right, the iconoclastic TransAm was replaced with a mustang.
We’re not saying it’s a bad car, we’re just saying one should be enough. Seriously, Ford, you paid and agreed with NBC to advertise the Ford Mustang. Did you really have to work KITT’s transforming into an F-150 4X4 pickup, an E-150 van, a Flex, and a Crown Victoria Interceptor, into the plot as well? In what was clearly a reach-around deal, , Ford also helped promote the series, while the series obviously promotes Ford. Is it any coincidence the Shelby GT500 is designated KR for the retail market? While many say no, we say “We’ll put you on the front page for a week if we can have one.”
Demolition Man – Ahh, Demolition Man. Who can forget the Sly Stalone movie you never knew whether to laugh or shake your head at. It was clearly laughable, especially when one is left to ponder the replacement of toilet paper by the ‘3 shells.’ Set in 2032, the movie is basically a pseudo Utopian society where violent crime is practically unheard of. Thus, when a famous violent criminal is released from cryogenic prison, no one is prepared for his escape and ensuing mayhem on the city. The product placement come’s about a third of the way through the movie. Still baffled by society, Sly wants to go on a date with Sandra Bullock (and seriously, who doesn’t?) so she suggests they go to Taco Bell. Sly looks hurt, and comments on how Taco Bell is, even by today’s standards, only borderline ‘food.’ Sandra then says, “After the franchise wars, every restaurant is a Taco Bell.”
That includes fancy Italian restaurants, Bistro, everything. Although, since anything bad for you is illegal (including alcohol, caffeine, contact sports, non-educational toys, meat, spicy and unhealthy food, table salt and tobacco). Considering that, one has to wonder just how that Taco Bell stays in business. And for all you non-American readers out there, all releases of the movie in countries other than the United States replaced Taco Bell with Pizza Hut.
Castaway - In Cast Away, Tom Hanks is a high ranking employee in a shipping company and on a fateful three hour tour delivery flight, his plane crashes into the ocean off course and he is the only survivor. Did we mention the name of his company? Don’t worry, the movie did it enough for us. (Try to youtube search a montage of every fedex/Wilson mention) Yeah, that’s FedEx. Mentioned countless times, countless logos, and even repetitions of their slogans dot the movie.
Then there’s Tom’s best friend on the island. Finally succumbing to curiosity and the need to survive, he opens the packages, save one, washed ashore from the plane (while muttering something about the FedEx integrity) and finds a Wilson volley ball. He names it Wilson after leaving a bloody hand print on it and giving it a face. Wilson gets almost as much screen time as Hanks (and far more than any other character) and eventually gets lost prior to rescue. Tom almost dies trying to save his volley ball friend, and one of the most well-known movie cries of all time was birthed in his cry for his lost friend. While we were unable to dig up payment by FedEx for their role in the movie, Wilson released this volleyball to capitalize on their ‘co-star.’ Then Fedex capitalized on the unopened package.
You’ve got mail – Do we even have to go that deep into this one? 
Anyone who’s ever used the internet and e-mail knows the charming glib ‘You’ve got mail’ that plays every time someone with AOL logs in and has new e-mail messages. It’s the title of the movie, the chime plays at least a dozen times throughout the movie. Arguably, it’s the best placement ever because they never ACTUALLY had to say the name of the product (AOL), but everyone recognized it immediately. While no money reportedly changed hands in the making of this movie (by Warner Brothers), less than 2 years later, AOL merged with Time Warner, the parent company of Warner brothers. This movie was likely the catalyst in that transaction. The movie did make one crucial mistake regarding the e-mails. In 1998, they were received immediately, rather than going through all the buffers, filters, servers, and providers, causing your e-mail to take just as long as snail-mail. That and the nerve racking SCREECH kshhhhhhh grrrrwarblewarblewarble of the internet connecting.
ET – Concluding our list for today is ET. It’s the movie about that alien who looked kind of like a heap of rumpled foreskins and liked Reese’s Pieces far more than any human should. Ok, so that’s not quite true. Reese’s Pieces are a heavenly mixture of peanut butter and colored chocolate shell we should all indulge ourselves in regularly. We can has moneyz nao?
Steven Spielberg approached Mars to try and place M&Ms into the movie, but they declined, likely stating they didn’t want their product associated with foreskin. He then tried Hershey, wanting to use Hershey’s Kisses. Probably realizing a squirming pile of foreskins trying to open Kisses repeatedly would make you vomit, they said to stick with the Reese’s Pieces, causing their product sales to jump nearly 65% immediately, according to the always truthful Wikipedia. Also, there was about a million dollars inked out in exchange for placement, which is like, a bajillion of today’s dollars.
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How could you leave out Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle ?
Castaway wasn’t paid by FedEx, at least that’s what they claim.
I’d add any movie with Will Smith – over the years he’s become overly promotional in dropping namebrands over and over again. I, Robot was the worst with the shoes.
Hei and what about Hancock… American Eagle, youtube…
Or ‘The Wizard’!
one movie puts all these to shame. Josie & the Pussycats. I know, I know. Why do i even know this? Because it was a movie starring HOT CHICKS. hahaha. Seriously, that whole movie is subliminal advertising (*SPOILER*: which happens to be a hugh part of the plot).
oh yeah, and Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby
one hell of a 2-hour commercial.
How could you leave out Transformers?
The Italian Job used MINI Cooper’s because it was a remake of the 1969 movie of the same name, that also used mini coopers.
It didn’t hurt MINI, that’s for sure, but there was a reason for using them beyond advertising.
How could you forget “The Wizard”??
That movie was all about SMB3
How about that heaping pile of dung so bad they made it twice called Transformers.
Umm. I’m not saying that this article isn’t spot on. but the KR in the GT500KR label is actually a throw back to the old Shelby KR tag meaning “King Of The Road”. I’m sure it’s no coincidence they are using the KR edition. but it does not mean Knight Rider. In fact, most dealerships that have KR edition mustangs have problems selling them. They are $100+k cars that are not street legal, which makes it might ironic that they are Kings of the Road, they are not legally allowed on.
What Women Want
the movie actually is one big Nike commercial; it really is; the whole movie centers around making a commercial for Nike
And what about Fantastic Four? The product placements in that movie were ridiculous.
Uh… Cloverfield, Nokia, ITS EVERYWHERE.
dude. what about back to the future part TWO. fuck
OK, and while you’re at it, what about parts 1 and 3 too, dumbass. All 3 had obvious ad placements. Oh and while we’re at it. What about every fucking movie ever made in the last 50 years.
A more recent movie with less than subtle advertisements is the movie Drag Me to Hell.
They had the Mac guy as the lead’s fiance, who used two Mac computers for work.
Both the main character and her fiance both had Iphones.
Scenes bedroom scenes you can see Iphone docks and accessories on the bed stand.
ROFL. umm… The word you want is ‘iconic’, not ‘iconoclastic’. Dictionaries are your friends.
Mac & Me
End of discussion.
Since you got the plot points of Demolition Man wrong, it’s a good bet you haven’t watched it. Yes, Taco Bell is in there…for less than 5 minutes as a part of Stallon’s reward, not as a date. The scene is supposed to be humorous and show how things in the future are hardly ever as you envision or plan them. Product placement? Certainly. Was the movie designed for product placement of Taco Bell? If you think so, then how come you’re not whining about the Hot Dog jingle on the “radio” early in the movie?
God this is why I can’t stand Top X lists.
@Jason
You were half right about the KR. The actual MSRP was in the 80’s. Dealerships were asking more than 100k for them but if a dealer sat on one long enough, you could get it for sticker. Secondly, they are street legal. Why would you call something King of the Road if it couldn’t legally be driven on the road. There was nothing about a GT500KR that would have made them illegal.
@John Scrovak
As Jason said, KR has nothing to do with Knight Rider. As a consumer you could purchase a Shelby GT, GT500 or a GT500 KR. The KR designation harkens back to the late 60’s GT500KR.
The worst hour and a half commercial (Er.. bad movie) was “Mac & Me”. It was covered from beginning to end with McDonald stuff.
@Byrd You are correct the 80’s Gt500Kr’s were street legal. And I may be incorrect here on ALL of the gt500kr’s out there. but I’ve seen a few at a few different dealerships, and everyone of them is clearly labled not street-legal due to EPA restrictions. there might be some modern street legal models available, I guess i was generalizing based off of personal experience, which is a no-no.
thats a bad list. js
How in the world could you leave “The Wizard” off this list. Every moment of that movie is a commercial for some Nintendo product, most notable being SMB3, The Power Glove, and the Nintendo World Championships, but also including minor spots for The Adventures of Link, Rad Racer and numerous other NES games.
So what was the reason to feature Mini Coopers in the 1969 edition of this movie?
I also remember the Return of the Killer Tomatoes lampooning product placement. But that may not have been an “iconic” film…
The movie ‘Evolution (2001)’ is a big ad of head and shoulders shampoo!
Knight Rider is a TV show, not a movie. Kind of strange to have it in this list.
Also, iRobot and The Wizard were left out.
Total Recall. Most shameless list of product placements ever.
“Bye Bye Love” was worse than almost all of these. Almost every other scene took place at a McDonalds.
A great drinking game for Josy and the Pussycats is to drink everytime you see product placement…
Sorry to be the grammar Nazi here but you meant “iconic” not “iconoclastic”, unless the TransAm was outcast.
Also, Twilight was an Apple/ Glitter commercial, wasn’t it?
Another bump for Transformers. Freaking 120 minute GM ad.
omg I <3 <3 <3 that movie, when I saw it in the theatres (I was old enough to see it in the theatres :\ ) Every little kid like me in the place stood up and cheered wildly when they announced…. Super Mario 3. We all collectively jizzed our pants.
Addendum to last post: The movie was I was talking about was The Wizard. I know, totally lame right? Lame like a fox!
It’s not a BMW Mini Cooper (Or BWM, as you have it spelled). You wouldn’t call it a Honda Acura TSX, or a Toyota Lexus ______ would you?
Also, Demolition Man seems to be more of an advertisement against Taco Bell, if you ask me.
The first Italian Job movie was offered free cars by Fiat if they would make the main cars Fiat modelss, but they turned it down because they wanted a British car since it was Brits doing a heist in Italy. The iconic British mini is the Mini! I believe it cost them more to do it that way.
The product placement stuff is pretty bad. Anyone notice how in Forgetting Sarah Marshall there is a giant Mac monitor with the Google homepage on it prominently in the background of his apartment? A surprising one was Quantum of Solace…. I remember seeing at least 3 Ford cars in it.
Someone didn’t do their homework.
“Mac and Me” is the biggest commercial masquerading as a movie ever made.
Here’s Ronald McDonald pimping it in a trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNjACYfQlbI
The dancing scene inside the McDonald’s is the most ridiculous thing to ever occur on Earth. Ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NdvO0tmNjGo
Transformers?
Most expensive AD.
The Wizard was the most blatant commercial in the history of movies. SMB3 and the Power glove.
Product placement is glorious, an achievement of capitalism.
I think the ‘cast away’ product placement was more there to illustrate Tom hanks’ characters touch with reality. It gives the movie more of a realistic feel. But nonethless it didn’t need actual brand names. Making them up would have been less effective though.
Just watched a re-run of The Terminal and that was full of product. Burgewr KIng, Hugo Boss, some American Bookstore I can’t remember the name of, etc etc
You think Michael Bay from Transformers 1 and 2 fame was paid by the US military for some of the scenes that should of had the tune from Team America “America, F@#% Yeah!” in the background?
In the Knight Rider part, you probably meant to say the TransAm was “iconic,” not “iconoclastic.” It doesn’t make sense to say the TransAm breaks the icon, which is what “iconoclastic” means, since it was the icon for the show.
It’s “Stallone,” not “Stalone.”
No point in even delineating all the numerous minor problems with punctuation.
I’m available for hire for editing so please email me. I will do the work for a very decent price, and it looks like you need the help.
what about “the last ride”? 90 minute ad for the new gto, and just about every other car in it was a gm.
that is not cool. I love E.T.! the reason is Drew Berrymoore of course! She is a hotty. but i found someone hotter……..
http://tinyurl.com/572ng5
So…
TV shows are movies now?
Was it really that hard to either conform the content to the title or the title to the content? You fucking wrote both of them, after all.
Ok ok, I got one, check this out. How about any movie where they’re doing some seriously high tech, government-related or whatever “hacking”.. on a Macintosh!! PWAHAHAHAHAH!! Cracks me up every time. It’s like the FBI using Fischer Price My First Tape Recorders for wires on undercover sting operations. Seriously, what are they going to use? *Thinks up a similarly gay proprietary name for intricate tech software* Ok I got it.. we’ll call the super-secret phone tapping and audio splicing program “Smelly Bug (TM)”. Awww, Smelly Bug!
Actually Knight Rider was also a made for TV movie before the new TV show came out and was actually a lot better then the new series.
* Knight Rider (1982 TV series), the original 1980s television series
* Knight Rider 2000, a 1991 sequel movie to the 1980s television series
* Knight Rider 2010, a 1994 made-for-television movie loosely based on the 1980s series
* Team Knight Rider, a 1997 spin-off television series based on the 1980s series
* Knight Rider (2008 film), a made-for-television film pilot to the 2008 television series
* Knight Rider (2008 TV series), a series following both the 2008 film and the 1980s TV series
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knight_rider
Ummm, what a bunch of tards – Cast away didnt get a penny from FedEx for their logo being in the movie.. it was completely not motivated by money…. Thats a fact. The director mentions it during the directors commentary on the DVD – they didnt bother cus it delays a film to work out the total ammount of time a logo shows on the screen and the area used – this cant be worked out b4 shooting the film and would delay the film if done after final editing… Tards
er… taco bell was changed to pizza hut?
nope, an iv seen it twice, on Irish tv