The Medium Is The Message:
And It's One Big Ad
As if the ads before the movie aren't annoying enough, the product placement IN the movie turns the whole experience into paying to watch a 2 hour commercial. That's the way Annheuser-Busch sees the new movie, The Wedding Crashers. Here's from an article from STLToday.com, the website of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch:

A-B hails new movie as one big Budweiser commercial
By GREGORY CANCELADA Of the Post-Dispatch
06/26/2005

Who doesn't love a wedding? For that reason, Anheuser-Busch Cos. is inviting Budweiser drinkers to the New Line Cinema comedy "Wedding Crashers," which opens nationwide July 15.

Besides placing Budweiser in the movie, the St. Louis brewer will roll out two television spots that use clips from the movie, something A-B hasn't done for a promotion since "Backdraft" in 1991.

"Wedding Crashers" fitted perfectly with Budweiser's image, said Michael Gianino, director of film and television branded entertainment at A-B's domestic brewing unit.

"When we saw the finished product, we realized it was just like one big Budweiser commercial: funny, very humorous," he said.

It is a perfect vehicle to strengthen the image of the Budweiser brand, Gianino said.

The movie features Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as two lifelong friends who have taken up the habit of inviting themselves to weddings. Obeying a secret set of wedding-crasher "rules," the pair finagle their way into weddings and the hearts of duped bridesmaids.

But the story takes a twist when one of the friends falls in love with a wedding guest and decides to break the rules to pursue her, leading to some unusual situations.

"These characters are right out of our Budweiser commercials," Gianino said. "The situations are very believable."

Of course, this is the company that produces commercials that make a joke out of lying about being at work when actually at the bar getting drunk. They pick a movie that has some of the same characteristics and use it as a vehicle for their drink.

The bigger issue is, of course, the increase in product placement. I don't mind it too much. In fact, it becomes a kind of movie game- find the product placements. I hope it doesn't get out of hand. I sure would hate to see a Coke can in Middle Earth.