Product advertising and blockbuster films go together like peas and carrots. Brand placement in films is a skyrocketing business, as the product placement industry is projected to exceed $10 billion. Product placement in films makes up 18.9 percent of that figure, according to QP Media's Global Branded Entertainment Marketing Forecast, 2018. Clearly, that's a lot of dough.
Product placement in film isn't always a bad thing. Sometimes seeing recognizable brands adds to how realistic a film feels to an audience because they see events unfolding on-screen within a very similar, and at times, identical reality to their own. However, here are 10 films that failed to preserve the illusion of cinematic adventure with their product placements.
White House Down
In this Olympus Has Fallen twin, Jamie Foxx plays U.S. President, James Sawyer. In a charged combat scene, President Sawyer is depicted wearing his red and white Nike Air Jordan IVs, frantically kicking an enemy until finally yelling, "Get yo' hands off my Jordans!"
Many fans feel that this scene in the film is utterly ridiculous. A president wearing Jordans, along with his otherwise conventional presidential attire, is already kind of silly, but Foxx's line pushes it too far.
Skyfall
Since when does James Bond drink Heineken? Get this man a martini! The typical James Bond product placements, such as the Aston Martins, the Rolexes, and Omegas, as well as all of the designer clothing worn by the throng of women who've been in the series, is not a problem.
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These types of luxury product placements at least serve the purpose of conveying class differences between different characters. The cars are nice, too, but James Bond doesn't drink Heineken.
Jurrasic World
Although cars in films are not a problem, Jurassic World overdoes it, somewhat, with their overt partnership with Mercedes Benz. Literally, every character drives some sort of Mercedes, and many fans feel it's just frustrating to watch. It's like one big commercial and Mercedes' significance as a luxury brand serves no purpose within the context of the story.
Mercedes Benz was definitely able to capitalize on advertising value with this move, and Jurrasic World did plenty well in the box office despite this rather minuscule flaw, so the fans are really the only ones who lose in this situation. Unless that is, you are a fan who is also considering buying a Mercedes Benz.
The Intern
The Intern is a bubbly comedy starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway. De Niro is the intern and Hathaway is the founder/boss at an online fashion retailer, making it a wacky reversal of traditional roles.
People online have vocalized the headache they felt in the scene displayed above, where De Niro drinks his finely placed Stella Artois while Hathaway helps him create his Facebook profile. They hit two birds with one stone, trying the savvy audiences' patience. Guess what happens next? De Niro takes a trip to Starbucks!
Avengers: Endgame
Product placement in the Avengers franchise has been relatively acceptable. The makers of the films do a great job of creating a realistic atmosphere that really resonates with its audience because of familiar brands, clothing, vehicles, etc. Thus, the products displayed on-screen at least have some artistic purpose.
However, the same could not be said about Avengers: Endgame. Although the film is truly a terrific finale to the most recent phase of MCU, the way it incorporates Fortnite into the mix with Thor is borderline unforgivable. The movie is set five years in the future and it's likely that no one will be playing Fortnite by then. Fortnite simply does not fit into Avenger: Endgame's timeline, so it feels forced here. The film's multitude of other product placements are either vehicles or weaved in subtly enough to make fans accept them.
The Internship
Many have challenged that The Internship is just a funny extended commercial for Google. The argument has validity, as the majority of the movie takes place at Google headquarters and the brand can be seen throughout its two-hour runtime. At least, in this case, Google HQ is a pretty fascinating setting and exchanges between Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson, and brainiacs like Josh Berner's character, are amusing.
The Internship is an instance of blatant, unapologetic corporate-partnering in the form of entertainment. Nevertheless, Wilson and Vaughn are so magnetic that the comedy is quite a decent watch.
Transformers: Age Of Extinction
This one is bad. Director Michael Bay is notorious for the abundance of product and brand placements he laces into his films. The entire Transformers franchise is coated in marketing dollars, and very unapologetically so.
In Transformers: Age of Extinction, mad scientist/business guru Joshua Joyce (played by Stanely Tucci) is demonstrating a new material that can transform into anything. The first object Joyce makes, after asking, "Do you like music?" is a Beats Pill. Another thorn in this earth-crumbling adventure film is when Mark Whalberg's character hits a Bud Light truck with his spaceship.
World War Z
Pepsi got their hold on World War Z, an adrenaline-pulsing thrill ride of a movie. Right at the point of resolution in the film, where Pitt's character essentially figures everything out, he stops at a Pepsi vending machine and has himself a refreshing can.
Then, heroically, Pitt breaks the machine and all the Pepsi cans tumble out onto the floor and the surrounding zombies start sprinting towards the noise. They must really want that Pepsi!
Man Of Steel
The product placements in Man of Steel are so extensive, as brands like IHOP and Sears are laced into different characters' backgrounds. For instance, Superman's Mom works at Sears in the film. This wasn't in the comics.
Additionally, when Superman is a child and saves a bus full of kids from drowning, he notably rescues a red-headed bully. Then, later in the film, Superman crashes into an IHOP as he's fighting off extraterrestrial soldiers, and the same red-headed bully is the manager of IHOP. How ridiculous is this? A whole action sequence occurs within the IHOP and as Superman flies away, audiences can see the big blue IHOP sign beaming in the sky behind him.
Jack And Jill
No product placement beats the whole Dunkin Donuts bit Al Pacino takes on in this Adam Sandler comedy. A musical routine takes place in a Dunkin Donuts restaurant and Pacino sings a jingle about his "Dunkachino," as he dances around with staff and people in donut costumes. You can see the pain on Pacino's face as he carries out the bit, and it definitely wasn't appreciated by audiences, either.
From a marketing standpoint, Dunkin Donuts struck the goldmine on this one. Not only is their store used as a setting in a box office juggernaut's (Sandler) movie, but they also have a little jingle that'll lodge the DD brand into audience members' heads until they cry.