Baywatch pauses the lifeguard to stage a Sprint store set piece that plays like a straight-up phone carrier ad. Dwayne Johnson clocks in behind the counter, trading quips and product talk under bright retail lighting. The tone, framing, and pacing scream commercial more than comedy. | © Paramount Pictures
Batman & Robin keeps slipping into toy-aisle mode, staging whole scenes like ads for action figures. George Clooney’s stiff turn doesn’t help; he moves like a figure fresh out of the blister pack. By the end, it’s hard to tell what’s being sold more – the story or the merch. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
Blade: Trinity isn’t an ad-movie by design, but the clunky placements make it feel like one. Abigail fires up an iPod playlist before fights, and McDonald’s shout-outs land the same way – logo first, story second. The sequel keeps selling you things while the vampire hunt plays catch-up. | © New Line Cinema
Skyfall set a then-record for product-placement cash, and the Heineken swap had Bond fans clutching their martinis. The branding is everywhere – Coke cans, iPhones, BMWs, but it fits the world instead of shouting over the plot. Proof you can take the money and still deliver a sleek, confident Bond thriller. | © MGM
Mac and Me barely pretends to be anything but an ad. McDonald’s and Coca-Cola are everywhere, including a full dance party inside a McDonald’s – yes, with Ronald McDonald leading. By the time the music stops, the sell is the point, not the story. | © Orion Pictures
Starship Troopers cranks the satire until it plays like a recruitment ad for the United Citizen Federation. Newsreels, “Would you like to know more?” interludes, and gung-ho commercials sell war as a lifestyle while the bugs keep piling up. The action absolutely bangs, and that’s the trick – by the end, citizenship starts to look suspiciously attractive. | © Sony Pictures Entertainment
Ghostbusters often plays like a brand roll call as much as a reboot. Sony logos glare from the gadgetry while Papa John’s boxes, Coke cans, and Pringles tubs keep finding their way into frame. The jokes land here and there, yet the product parade keeps elbowing its way to center stage. | © Columbia Pictures
The LEGO Movie delivers big laughs while doubling as a giant commercial for the toy and game franchise. Every set-piece nudges you toward another kit – the Batcave, mix-and-match brick boxes, the whole shelf. Still, it’s a fantastic ad: wildly inventive and capped by a live-action twist where a dad glues models, somehow making you want even more LEGO. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
The Internship plays like a two-hour recruiting video for Google. Two out-of-their-depth salesmen hustle through hackathons while the film keeps showing off campus bikes, nap pods, gourmet cafeterias, and every candy-colored workspace. By the credits, the story takes a back seat to the pitch. Google looks like the dream job. | © 20th Century Studios
Evolution might be the oddest shampoo ad disguised as an alien-invasion comedy. Scientists discover selenium sulfide wipes out the creatures, and, handy coincidence, it’s the active ingredient in Head & Shoulders. By the finale, the heroes are literally fronting a Head & Shoulders commercial, turning the gag into full-on product placement. | © DreamWorks Distribution
Sex Tape turns Apple placement into the punchline: a couple films themselves on an iPad, and Jason Segel even tosses one out a window before admiring, “the construction on these things is unbelievable.” Subtlety isn’t the aim; the iPad might as well be a co-star, and it’s plastered on the poster. Then the plot becomes an ad’s worst nightmare: an iCloud sync snafu spreads their video to friends and an adult video platform, making the hardware look wildly insecure. | © Columbia Pictures
Sonic the Hedgehog bounced from the infamous redesign to a 2020 hit, but despite Jim Carrey’s lively Robotnik and faithful nods, it keeps steering into Olive Garden gags. Commander Walters treats the chain like a running joke and even quotes the motto, jarring enough to pull you out. The same bit returns in Sonic the Hedgehog 2, where he again thinks an Olive Garden gift card can fix the crisis. | © Paramount Pictures
Space Jam: A New Legacy feels like a sprawling Warner Bros. commercial timed perfectly to the HBO Max blitz. The court turns into a parade of IP – Alex and his buddies cheering on the sidelines, Batman rogues grinning, Matrix callbacks stacked everywhere. You can see the motive a mile away, yet spotting the cameos and Easter eggs still scratches a very specific, very nostalgic itch. | © Warner Bros. Pictures
The Emoji Movie leans hard on a brand tour through phone screens instead of telling a real story with actual characters or stakes. Scenes pause to spotlight actual mobile games, explain how they work, and pitch them as “fun.” Parents left not just paying for tickets but bracing for download demands and in-app purchases their kids suddenly “needed.” | © Sony Pictures Releasing
I, Robot delivers slick 2000s sci-fi yet keeps sliding into a sneaker ad. Del Spooner unboxes “vintage” Converse All-Stars, shows them off to his mom, and even brags, “Converse All-Stars, vintage 2004.” The shoes then arrive via a FedEx robot, announcing “another on-time delivery,” making the product placement louder than some action beats. | © 20th Century Studios
Some movies tell stories. Others tell you what to buy. This gallery dives into the films that blurred that line completely, turning plotlines into marketing pitches and turning audiences into customers without even realizing it.
