12 Ways 2016 Movies Definitely Made You Dumber
2. We’re Still Being Coaxed To Buy Stuff Via Product Placement
As mentioned in last year’s article on how films released in 2015 made you stupid, product placement in movies is as prevalent as ever and that didn’t change in 2016. Whether we like it or not, it’s a major part of movie-making today alongside ridiculous and seemingly unrelated merchandise tie-ins that we have to live with.
There is something kind of sleazy about how obvious it’s become though and there’s something undeniably jarring about seeing a fictional character suddenly appear with a very non-fictional, bright red can of Coca Cola™ or driving a shiny, brand spanking new Jeep™.
Tom Hanks’ new movie Sully might’ve been a retelling of the heroic Miracle on the Hudson plane landing, but given the multitude of shots featuring Marriott™ hotels you’d be forgiven for confusing it with an elongated advertisement for the multi-billion-dollar brand. Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice had Lex Luthor hand-feeding a senator Jolly Ranchers™, while according to Ghostbusters the best fuel for busting ghosts is Papa John’s™. Lots and lots of Papa John’s™.
Deadpool did it too with Ikea, but at least it was mocking how stupidly difficult their self-assembly products are to actually self-assemble, so we’ll let it off the hook.