The Nelly/Reebok announcement mentioned in my previous post also alerted me to the fact that Nelly was wearing Reebok gear in the film The Longest Yard.
I hadn’t really checked out product placements in The Longest Yard (cause I haven’t seen it or read much about the movie) but apparently they were omnipresent. Reviewer Robert Hoo questioned why this remake occurred until he realized:
“This version is essentially a two-hour commercial for McDonald’s, Reebok, Gatorade, Bentley, ESPN as well as giving Rob Schneider a few days of work. It’s just a crass cash-grab, yet another well-packaged product marketed at the music video generation.”
The ever Ruthless Matt Cale was even less polite about The Longest Yard and asked himself, “With Sandler involved, how whorish did things get with product placements?”
His answer:
“Diet Coke, Reebok, Lays, Gatorade, ESPN, and KFC were all shoehorned into the story to line some corporate suit’s pockets. The greatest offender (big surprise) was McDonald’s, as I witnessed no fewer than six Quarter Pounder wrappers being shoved into the camera during the course of this bloodbath. For f*ck’s sake, there was even a character nicknamed Cheeseburger! I heard “McFlurry” dropped a few times, and someone’s balls were even referred to as “McNuggets.” I would not have been surprised had the warden dressed up like Mayor McCheese for an impromptu musical number involving break dancing Big Macs.”
Reviewer Ross Anthony was more reasonably appalled, describing the flick as “plagued with product placement” and sharing his “hyper sensitive” response:
“I winced at this talented crew of scriptwriters and actors lowering themselves to not only including one particular company’s products in many many shots, but having them in the hands, in the mouths, in the pants of the stars. And writing jokes that included mention of the product. This bothers me. Does it bother you? . . . You’re paying premium prices to see that film in the theater — does it bother you that the film itself panders to its commercial sponsor?”
It looks like Nelly sidestepped criticism on this one and it’s old news now as it’s no longer in the top 10.
