Product placement in Indy 5?

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
I considered posting this in the budgeting thread, but thought it might generate opinions and suggestions. A similar Indy 4 thread can be found here.

Bond 24 starts filming soon and could make $1 billion like Skyfall, which was filled with product placement it didn't need to break even. $45 million from Heineken for a barely seen green bottle! There's plenty of boomer nostalgia for beers discovered in the 60's.

Spielberg has not shied from product placement, from Reese's Pieces to the cars/toys in Jurassic Park. So why not pay his salary with a few lingering shots of tried-and-true American brands? Even if they're bad for you. Indy reference at 0:58:

 

Dr. Gonzo

New member
Well, I guess it all depends on the situation...

51o-gThzibL.jpg
 

Stoo

Well-known member
Moedred said:
Spielberg has not shied from product placement, from Reese's Pieces to the cars/toys in Jurassic Park. So why not pay his salary with a few lingering shots of tried-and-true American brands?
Aaah, the history of logos & branding…a pet subject of mine.:D

I don't know it was paid for or not but a 76 gas station featured in Spielberg's "The Lost World". Speaking of gas & oil companies, I really like the Esso* logo so it would be cool to see it placed within Indy 5. However, this would be only be good for the international market because it changed to Exxon in the U.S. during the early '70s.

*Trivia: Esso means S.O. (Standard Oil)

So how about Shell instead? This is what it looked like in 1960:

Logo_Shell_1955_zpsc1c79359.jpg


McDonald's 1960 (which graphically represents the architecture of the restaurants at the time):

Logo_McDonalds_1960_zps22b5c28d.jpg


I've been wearing no other jeans except Levi's since I was 9. Mutt wore a pair in "Crystal Skull" so it would be nice to see more in Indy 5. Here's an example of the Levi's logo from 1940-66.

Logo_Levis_1940_zps0c21791e.jpg


While Marion pours some orange juice for Indy's breakfast, a box of 1960 Kellogg's Corn Flakes could be sitting on the kitchen table:

Logo_CornFlakes_1960_zps6e1b1c3d.jpg


Coca-Cola would seem an obvious choice but I'd prefer to see a 1960 bottle of Dr. Pepper. (The 10-2-4 on the label indicates hours of the day you're supposed to drink one):

Logo_DrPepper_1960_zps0bc875c1.jpg
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Stoo said:
I don't know it was paid for or not but a 76 gas station featured in Spielberg's "The Lost World".
Not sure either, but I'd rather fill up at the Unocal 76 for $1.09 than the Chevron across the street for (gasp) $1.15. This scene was right after David Koepp was eaten between the Pacific Bell payphone and the Starbucks.

Instead of casually rounding up 50-60 year old cars, why not let the highest bidder determine the "hero" cars? And whether Marshall College still uses vacuum tube computers or the plot takes Indy to NASA, there's always a good surface to slap a IBM logo. Ultimately the plot should determine the brands.

ibm_logo3.jpg


There are examples for productions going too far for too little:
The largest sponsor of Superman II was the cigarette brand Marlboro, who paid $43,000 (approx £20,000), for the brand to be shown 22 times in the film. Lois Lane was shown as a chain smoker in the film, although she never smoked in the comic book version. A prop included a truck sign written with the Marlboro logo, although actual vehicles for tobacco distribution are unmarked, for security reasons. This led to a congressional investigation.
 

Moedred

Administrator
Staff member
Maybe we'll see, during the travel montage, some kid kicking the back of Indy's airplane seat. Not a great sponsorship opportunity, but...

As Indy exits his last airport, perhaps a United gate attendant approaches him about their new frequent flier program.
Though United tracked customers as far back as the 1950s, the very first modern frequent-flyer program was created in 1972 by Western Direct Marketing, for United Airlines. It gave plaques and promotional materials to members.
An ad with a Ford stand-in only seen from behind?
 
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