20 Things You Somehow Missed In Back To The Future
8. The Film Tried (And Failed) To Promote Raisins
Did you notice the California Raisins' sign in the film? If you didn't, don't worry. Most people didn't. And that was a huge problem.
The manager of the Californian Raisin Board paid $100,000 for their product to appear in Back to the Future under the condition it would be a "story element". When a scene was shot of Marty eating Raisins, the director worried it looked like he was eating "a bowl full of dirt" and so, cut the scene.
Originally, Raisins were meant to appear in at least four scenes. In the end, an advertisement for the product only appears one time on a bench. The California Raisin Board was "livid" since the advertisement could barely be seen and it was right beside a homeless person. (It probably didn't help that the bum was played by a porn star.)
You know what's more insulting? There is a clear shot of Burger King at the beginning of the film that WASN'T a product placement. This means that Burger King was promoted better in the film than Raisins and they didn't even pay for it! The conflict was settled when the Board was given a refund of $25,000.