10 Seriously Ridiculous Instances Of Movie Product Placement

3. The Offender - Contact (1998)

Contact
'Footage of a press conference by President Bill Clinton was re-edited and altered and caused some controversy. A few years later, CNN would ban the use of its logo in fictional movies, as well as bar its reporters from doing cameo appearances (although Larry King does appear from time to time).' - IMDB Trivia
Through using footage of the president at the time, Zemeckis warped and edited his image to manipulate what was being said. No permission was asked to do this and when the White House got wind of it, they were not happy. Unfortunately for CNN, their strapline had been used on the mocked footage (presumably with permission granted), yet the chain of events meant they were drawn into a bitter legal battle they had no control over. It is a tiny bit different from what has come before, but still equally as dangerous to Zemeckis. Being effectively responsible for stopping CNN from using their logo or strapline on any film going forward after this one is quite a huge feat. Zemeckis inadvertently showed how whilst most product placement is good for a company, if used incorrectly, it can without permission also be hugely detrimental.
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Shaun does not enjoy writing about himself in the third person. The rest? I will tell you in another life, when we are both cats...