Iron (your ad here) Man

[shakermaker]

I was just thinking as I got out from seeing a great summer movie Iron Man, it dawned on me how much product placement was in the movie, Nokia, Burger King, Audi, having the car in the movie I don't think botherred me as much as BK but it only slightly, I don't want my movies to tell me what car products I should buy, or should it be accepted, I don't know if it ads realism to the movie but I don't think it would of been worse if there were no products being advertised.

[damnedeyez]

Personally, it depends on how blatant it is. I don't mind if he drives an Audi, so long as it's not the only car company in the movie. I don't remember Burger King being that blatant though...just that we wanted a cheeseburger. (Maybe I missed something or wasn't paying attention to the bag.)

[shegs]

well he drove an audi, he had a BK bag with some burgers, and the only phone I saw was an LG (the one with the turning screen... everyone in korea has one of those to watch their TV) so nothing really stood out for me in a way it hasnt in the past.
I actually don't mind just placing products, it's better than "Take me to burger king so I can buy a double whopper with cheese, my way."

it seems that no matter what revenue sources a movie gets, it gets heat for going too far... as long as I don't have to sit and watch a 30 second comercial and don't have to listen to any tag lines (I'm loving it) I am willing to allow a lot.

[jasonpoon]

I don't mind if they place these "ads" well.
What really annoy me is any obvious product placement.
No one can beat Transformers when talking about obvious product placement, I still remember how they show the Panasonic SD card in front of the camera...

[skin87]

I don't have any problem with it either. All he said was he needed a cheeseburger and you could see the wrapper said Burger King. The name burger King was never spoken so I have no issue with it.

[tsmith15]

I didn't have a problem with the movie. If anything, I like it when they use real brands as opposed to make up cheesy stuff.

They didn't show 10 second close-ups of the dell logo or the sony logo on every computer, so I didn't mind.

The cars you can't really get away from. You're going to need some sort of car, and it's unrealistic to make your own.

[gi_josh]

I don't have any problem with it either. All he said was he needed a cheeseburger and you could see the wrapper said Burger King. The name burger King was never spoken so I have no issue with it.

Actually, if I remember correctly, Obadiah says something to the effect of "oh, you had to stop at Burger King first, huh" when Tony gets outta the car....


But it doesn't bother me. I hate when they dance around established products even more so they don't have to use the copyright.

Make mine subtle product placement until Tony stops in the middle of a fight, pops off the helmet, looks at the camera, grabs a soda and tips it all the way up to get a drink, then winks at the camera with a twinkle in his eye.

[blacksymbiote]

I didn't notice the phones or the cars, but I do remember the Burger King sticking out big time. Maybe it's because I love Burger King. Mmmm, Whopper.

[kilroyperrywinkle]

Eeesh at least once a week I hear someone in my work saying "I got a mac attack" or some such thing... BK is a huge chain know for their burgers, it make sense that he'd stop there on the way.

The joke isn't that he wanted a cheeseburger after getting back to the US, that wasn't the clever bit... the real joke is that he's a big enough ass to actually make everyone wait while he actually got a cheeseburger. I thought it was great writing.

[esophagus]

If it was "Oh man, I drive nothing but Audis, use nothing but LGs, and eat nothing but BK" then it would bother me. It wasn't though, they were just shown like they would be if a friend saw me using an LG. No one made a point of them. Dont think any of the brands were actually mentioned out loud.

[mrhaines]

Gotta love how the weapons manufacturing companys computer monitors were Dell.

[mrhaines]

It was also funny when the guy with the beard asks him if he has a burger for him too...

[fashiondr]

Yeah it seems every pop-movie is trying to cram in as much advertising as they can, maybe it's the effect of these dwindling box-office sales we're hearing about. Still this was in no way as bad as Transformers, that scene where they're driving back to the city for the big climactic battle at the end, and they showed all those close-ups of the cars, terrible. Shame on you Michael Bay.

Incidentally, I watched Wayne's World the other day (hadn't seen it in years, still laugh out loud hysterical), and this discussion just reminded me of the scene where they're saying how they'll never sell out their show, all the while blatantly advertising random products. Totally ahead of its time...

[inertianinja]

I think its reasonable to be annoyed about product placement because-

1 it takes me out of the movie... Suddenly the magic is gone and I realize I'm being marketed to.

2 it's not fair. With tv, radio, and websites, advertising reduces prices or makes the service free. Movie prices increase even though we watch 8 trailers, 6 actual commercials, and now an additional 2 hour commercial.

[shegs]

I would rather they goto burger king instead of burger place, and I would rather they drive a real car instead of some future hybrid look alike...
it just adds to the realism when it is done right... and iron man did it right

[blooper]

It could have been like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7thSdlRhuM

[ghostbeezy]

Agreed.

The product placement in this movie was so subtle. You didn't notice the audi family car that was caught by iron man unless you were looking, and i'm glad they used legit brands. If we're to semi-believe it, there has to be some sensability to it. No one cared he raced a Rolls Royce in his audi? They even had Stark Enterprizes product placement which was worth it?

This movie did quality product placement. No "real operating system" so it looked like they had some allegiance.

[autodas]

I didn't notice any of it.

[jasonpoon]

I got a question, I'm an Apple fan and always wonder does Apple pay for all those Mac/iPod placement in movies? Or just the crew's decision? You know, we can always see the characters using iMac, MacBook, Apple Cinema Display...

[shegs]

I am sure they are paid for. if no one pays, they just use generic stuff and linuxOS, either that or some custom ugly OS.

[yssman]

I think the plan was to use the R8 pretty early, so it was Audi who stepped up and added some of their other vehicles to the mix. Even then, the only other appearances were Pepper's A5 and the family in the Q7. No big deal, and for most people, I don't find it likely to notice... The LG stuff was minimal at best, as was the Burger King thing. I wasn't until after the movie that I realized Burger King was tied-in.

Someone mentioned Transformers...

While it is a bit odd that GM bought all of the Autobots outright (well, except OP), I didn't feel like I was being hit over the head by it in the movie. But hey, it drove sales up for the Solstice and increased interest in the Camaro... So something worked.

===

In all, I only get mad when its rather over the top. They (the film makers) seem to be getting better at hiding it.

[esophagus]

Mac is just "hip". I'm sure they have certainly paid for some of it, but I think a lot of times it is purely the filmmakers choice.

[dolson]

I noticed the advertising in Iron Man too, and it bugged the hell out of me. I recognized the BK logo on the bag to begin with, and at first I was like "OK, that wasn't bad" and then they actually said the name, and it pissed me off.

People claiming Iron Man had subtle advertising don't know the meaning of the word subtle..

Maybe my sensitivity to brainwashing is heightened on account of using adblock for internet and not having television service, but I really notice it in movies and in games, and it's distracting and annoying in both. There were a few other ad placements that I noticed in Iron Man, but I can't remember what they were right now. The whole movie is forgettable, so it's not my fault.

[kilroyperrywinkle]

I know!

I was like "I went to see a movie called Iron Man and here's Black Sabbath cramming their song down my throat..."

The director is on screen for like 5 mins of the movie, pushing his fat mug in our faces like "ooh go see my movies because I'm actually in it"...

And at the end there were like all these "ads" for "people" like they should get credit for stuff in the movie...

Bastards....

It was like the whole movie was set up to make money... damn them... damn them all to hell...

/sarcasm

[shinigami052]

There is a time and a place for all product placement in movies. It ads realism and a sense of connection to the world in the movie.

So long as it isn't as blatant as this (http://revision3.com/forum/showpost.php?p=364870&postcount=16) then I think it's fine (although I know they did it totally tounge in cheek).

Finally, if you're so dim witted and sheepish that a few product placements in a movie will cause you to get up and buy something or influence your decisions in anyway, you've got bigger problems.