Corperate "Brand Name" advertizing in movies

I would like to get other film enthusiasts response to the upsurge in Corporate "Brand Name" advertising in movies. One movie I recently watched, which I liked "King of California" had at least a dozen really obvious examples of this including Coke, Phillips, Costco and McDonald's. When I watch a movie I do not agree to Corporate advertising as part of the film. And I think it is a degrading aspect in the film. At a point in the film I became more aware of the next "Big Name" corporate logo that flashed across the screen rather than the plot of the movie.

A documentary I watched recently which I can recommend and which addresses this issue is "The Corperation," at link http://www.netflix.com/Movie/The_Corporation/60034810?trkid=64596. I highly recommend this documentary as it starkly illustrates the vast power which the corperation has accumulated.

I remember a quote about corperations "A means by which one may accrure personal profit without personal liability," but do not remember the source.

Tags: advertising, corporations

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Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Knaldskalle on August 27, 2008 at 3:35pm: Avoid any James Bond movie if this bothers you. Nothing but product placement.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tommy on August 27, 2008 at 5:57pm: does that explain the gratuitous product placement in the austin powers films?

hey, has anyone else seen the vid where david lynch gives his opinion on product placement? good stuff.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Slappy on September 2, 2008 at 1:06pm: Yes.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Mr. Fankles on August 30, 2008 at 5:15pm: I remember that one. It was hilarious. Like Pepsi and Reebok and Heinz ketchup or something...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Gabriel_w/o_Wings on August 31, 2008 at 7:43am: David Lynch on Product Placement; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by mighty on August 31, 2008 at 7:46am: and so true.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Tommy on August 31, 2008 at 3:41pm: i'd agree that product placement to a degree is unavoidable, but i think the issue most have is when they make a really obvious point of it. again, i point to the austin powers series. was it goldmember where frau goes to visit dr. evil in prison and she's carrying a taco bell bag and a pepsi? i mean come on, at least try not to make it so obvious.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by 2McAbre on September 5, 2008 at 8:09am: Well what would have been a viable alternative?

A Dr. Pepper and a bag of KFC? But seriously...

I really just ignore that aspect of the films, though occasionally the blatant "In your Face" ones are rather funny (to me), you know the ones.

Where the scene stops and the actor faces the camera and says "Preparation H" soothes the burn" after a certain sex scene, or when the protagonist falls out the window and lands on the pointy end of the stick...; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by pihkal020 on August 31, 2008 at 10:14am: hmmm. You mention The Corporation doc.

Product placement is about the least offensive or worrying aspect of increasingly consolidated corporate power.; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bunghole on September 1, 2008 at 1:50pm: Well Ya'll - if you had grown up in the '50's and '60 you would have noted that product names were tactfully avoided, unless it were something obvious like a car. I suggest that ya'll watch some black and whites and see what I mean.

BTW, whether offensive or not, I respectfully submit that the perversion of a fine art, that is, movies into a long cooperate image showcase is an absolute tragedy. While we are getting the warm fuzzes fro the association of corporate logo's with the theme of the movie the cooperations are capitalizing on this to quell and control consumer responses to their outrages. Watch that link I posted earlier and you'll see what I mean. I was literally ill for a day after I watched it.

PS Thank you David Lynch!!!; ▶ Reply to This

Permalink Reply by Bunghole on September 1, 2008 at 2:04pm: Hey - Ya but I wanted to address that here because this is about movies, quality, what we like and don't like.

Talking cooperations in general, I believe they are Evil, that is with a capital for a reason. From what I've seen and read, and I pay attention to such things as I was a business major in college, lol, and I know business people. I Changed over to psychology in my masters. In my opinion, being a sociopath as a businessman/woman is a plus as no matter what management says, they are in in for only one things, the short term profits. Its the law and if they don't do that they can be sued by the stockholders. Screw the workers, the people downstream who drink their toxic affluent, screw the children who are born malformed, sterile, and on and on. There for to see little in the cooperation forming opinion in brand name advertising is to me an abomination. If anyone cannot get excited about this, I wonder if they fully are aware of the evil that has been let lose on this earth.; ▶ Reply to This