Beer as a Hollywood Player

I spent an amusing few moments this morning going through this list of the 10 most shameless movie product placements for beer from LegendsofBeer.com. Using youtube clips from the movies themselves, the list recounts some of the most cringe-inducing and somehow simultaneously hilarious moments in recent movies when marketers shouted down the moviemakers and forced one flavorless lager or another in front of the audiences.

It’s a little off topic but I have to wonder at the accuracy of this list. It seems like I learned in a history of film class I took in college that E.T. was the first movie to actually participate in product placement as we know it, accepting money from a company to feature their brand. As I recall, Reeses was the first company to pay. Previously studios actually paid to feature the brands. So clips like the one from The Deer Hunter were not blatant ads. I could be wrong.

Nevertheless, the clips are fun to watch. I think my favorite is the second from last where shots of Miller Genuine Draft quickly reach the point of ad nausea in Bad Boys II.