Robert Zemeckis' Cast Away gives FedEx and their logo a fair amount of screen time, but did the shipping giant specifically pay for product placement within the film? The now-iconic 2000 survival drama stars Tom Hanks as Chuck Noland, a FedEx troubleshooting manager who's always making every second of the day count in pursuit of efficiency, across a range of Cast Away movie locations. Viewers are introduced to his character while he's literally racing against the clock in the hope to maximize the speed of a FedEx warehouse in Russia.
The chaotic busyness of his professional life completely bleeds into his personal life, as well. Unfortunately, it takes his work plane going down and becoming stranded on a deserted island for Chuck to begin truly inventorying all that he had going for him in his life before Cast Away's timeline. Hanks, who is as busy as ever, plays this character who finally has all the time in the world, but no true purpose or anyone to share it with. Though Chuck is separated from his job (and civilization in general) so early in the film, he's able to cling to a few consistent things in his life. These include his volleyball-crafted best friend, Wilson (which seems to be another example of superb product placement) and the locket with Kelly's (Helen Hunt) picture in it.
But the FedEx logo and the concept of shipping packages are also ever-present in the film. The opening scene even features a company truck. Also, when he's first stranded, Chuck goes through all of the boxes that were on the plane--except for one. The unopened FedEx package with the artsy wing design on it, which he leaves alone out of a sort of reverence and as a sliver of hope, keeps him alive just as much as his other prized possessions. And when he finally escapes the island and makes his way home, the FedEx logo is still extremely prevalent. He flies back on a company plane and the logo looms in the background when Chuck enters the room where he's planning on reuniting with Kelly. But, funnily enough, despite FedEx's heavy influence, they didn't actually pay for product placement in the film.
However, according to a 2000 article from The Sacramento Bee, FedEx understandably "oversaw the brand's involvement" in the true life-inspired Cast Away. Gail Christensen, who was the managing director of global brand management at the time, said, "As we stepped back and looked at it, we thought, ‘It’s not product placement, we’re a character in this movie.’ It’s not just a FedEx product on the screen. It transcends product placement." And that's a good point; just as the island is its own character and the ever-present threat of death is the antagonist, FedEx is certainly another role. After all, a great deal of the film takes place within Chuck's own isolated survival experience and psyche. And the company is one of the few pieces of his old life that still serve as a beacon of hope.
And FedEx's role in Cast Away wasn't just solid publicity for the shipping company itself. Another great component to the way it's incorporated is how smoothly it's done, rather than in a tacky or aggressively corporate tone. In the Sacramento Bee article, the film's screenwriter (William Broyles Jr., who's also worked on other Tom Hanks-featuring movie hits like Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan) said of the company's symbolism, "FedEx is emblematic of how we all live." Not only does FedEx's use in Cast Away encapsulate the break-kneck speed of modern life, but it also drives home a message about hope and the chance to regain the sense of connection that it facilitates on a daily basis.