The Product Placement that Never Dies

And the client hated it!

 Every year  for the past 16 years,3 to 5 times each year there is an article about the Product Placement I created for Popeye's Chicken in "Little Nicky"

The day the film was released, the SVP of Marketing called me up and said " Please call Newline and tell them to have Adam Sandler do a Voice Over the line " Popeye's Chicken is F'n Awesome" I said, "your asking that Newline calls back the 3000 copies at theaters and do a Voice Over and then Re-Relase it". He said "yes". "Ok then",  I said, "what should  they say?"... He replied, "Popeye's is really Good".. 

I took a breath ,then said " Ok so,  you want them to drop down how great Popeye's is right?" I quickly added " Lets see, there is Popeye's is alright, Popeye's is ok, Popeye's is good, Popeye's is very good, Popeye's is great, Popeye's is awesome, Popeye's is F'n Awesome. So drop down to good right?" He paused for a long time then said, " Ok maybe we should leave it, but the people here are pissed"

Sorry I had to mention that.

This is not an article about how brands don't realize what they really have because , if it was about brands making mistakes, I would tell you about how and why Airborne Express turned down " Castaway" with Tom Hanks" 

This article is about, how after 16 years, a product placement stays in the news, Ok most times it is articles like " The Top 10 worst Product Placements in Movie History" (we were # 5 ) or " The 5 Cheesiest Product Placements" (#3). 

This time, this Month we finally made #1 .. really..... Ill prove it.. 

 10 Hilarious Product Placements by Kylie Carlson,  

Many movies issue the use of product placement for more money. Brands will pay a certain amount of money to a movie, especially one they believe will do well, to have their product significantly placed within the movie so viewers will see it. Most products are usually seamlessly added into the movie character's everyday life with the products logo pointed to the camera, and then they move on. Simple.

However, there are instances in which movie makers do not flawlessly add in these products, and it ends up looking more like an oddly inserted commercial than a simple use of the product. Here are 10 unfortunate instances in product placement.

#1

 Popeye's Chicken in Little Nicky

This scene of a giant Popeye's chicken bucket isn't the only time the product is mentioned. The chicken is basically the key to the entire movie plot in this Adam Sandler film. It's the shiznit.

?#2

 Champagne in The Great Gatsby#3 

#3

Reese's Pieces in E.T.

#4

Converse in I, Robot

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Will Smith in I, Robot shamelessly strutted in his Converse All-Stars throughout the movie so many times that there is actually a Youtube video dedicated to all of the sneaker scenes.

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#5

Carl Jr.'s in Man of Steel

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Carl Jr.'s isn't the only brand making an appearance in Man of Steel. The film starring Henry Cavill is making a name for being the movie with the most product placements ever. Unfortunately, they are extremely obvious placements. And let's be real, that is so not how our burger's look when we order at lunchtime.

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6 

Nike in Back to the Future

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Nike made an appearance as the lace-free shoes in Back to the Future, making the shoes a hit. However, Nike didn't take the chance to profit on the shoes - only making 1,000 pairs of Hyperdunks, which showed the most resemblance to the shoes.

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#7

FedEx in Castaway

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Even though FedEx didn't actually pay for the screen time in Castaway, they did profit from the appearance - brand awareness significantly increasing in countries where the brand recognition was low.

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#8

Pizza Hut in Wayne's World

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In this instance of hilarious product placement, Mike Meyer's holds up a large Pizza Hut box in the movie Wayne's World while proclaiming that he will not bow to any sponsor.

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#9

BMW in Goldeneye

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$3 million seems like pocket change to the $240 million increase in sales BMW received after this product placement in the movie Goldeneye.Bond then went on to have a BMW in the next two movies. Talk about loyal customers.

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#10

Mercedes in Jurassic World

Every vehicle used in the new and highly anticapted Jurassic World was a Mercedes. The movie featured many of the brand's models, including the new GLE, the G63 AMG 6x6 and a small army of Sprinter vans and Unimogs.

So... we don't hate the product placement idea. The film gets more money, and on our side of things, it makes the movie actually seem more realistic. Superman's mother working at Sears seems to fit well, and even Superman's boyhood bully is now employed at IHOP. Don't bully in school kids, or the only job you'll ever get is IHOP manager, and then you'll have to wait on and serve your enemies pancakes. Though these product placements seem much more obvious than they should, all were successful at getting the job done and getting paid.