Keith Nallawalla
I guess with Christmas a few sleeps away, now would be a good time for a Christmas-themed marketing article. I’ve decided to look into product placement in my favourite Christmas movies. Now that I’m a dad, I guess I’ll be watching a lot more Christmas-themed content in the future.
Whilst researching this, I found a great website for finding examples of product placement, and this blog has done a lot of the heavy-lifting for research here. It’s called ProductPlacementBlog.com and it’s definitely worth checking out.
Living in Australia, there are a lot of products and brands that we don’t get here, so I’m only going to talk about the products that I recognise or have an interest in. So if you’re interested in a wider list of product placements, please check out the Product Placement Blog for the full list of intentional or possibly unintentional product placements included in these films, as well as your other favourite films.
Gremlins (1984) Product Placement
Gremlins, and particularly Gremlins 2 were among my favourite kid-friendly horror films as a kid. Whilst more of a family-friendly horror movie, Christmas is a core element of this film.
New York Yankees Cap in Gremlins
The character credited as “Chinese Boy”, played by John Louie in Gremlins wears a New York Yankees cap. As a kid, this was probably one of the first times I saw this baseball team’s logo.
Mobil Petrol Station in Gremlins
From memory, I think the dad might have been trying to sell his travel toothbrush gadget here.
Jack Daniel’s Whiskey in Gremlins
In the bar scene, a Jack Daniel’s bottle can be clearly seen at this table.
Coors Beer Sign In Gremlins
Throughout the scenes at the bar, this Coors sign can be seen.
Coca-Cola (Coke) Product Placement
Coke makes multiple appearances in the film, including the scene where Gizmo wears the 3D glasses.
And at the convention, where the dad has a takeaway cup.
Casio Digital Piano in Gremlins
Gizmo plays on a Casio keyboard.
Canon Camera in Gremlins
The camera used by Frances Lee McCain as Lyn Peltzer is by Canon.
Burger King Product Placement in Gremlins
This Burger King sign is very prominent and whilst we have Hungry Jacks, rather than Burger King in Australia, we all know what it is.
Barbie Playsets in Gremlins
Barbie playsets at the toy shop.
Atari Games in Gremlins
You can see Atari games at the bottom of the frame here.
Home Alone (1990) Product Placement
I loved Home Alone 1 and 2 as a kid, these films were a lot of fun and there were definitely product placements in these films that stood out to me.
Pepsi in Home Alone
The dinner scene in Home Alone shows Fuller McCallister drinking Pepsi in a can whilst other people also drink Pepsi from a 2-Litre Bottle. This is important to the plot of the film as Kevin doesn’t want to share a bed with his cousin as Fuller is a notorious bed-wetter.
Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
There’s also Wonder Bread there, which I’m only really aware of due to the rumoured Wonder Bread He-Man toy from the 80s.
Panasonic Clock Radio
The unplugged clock radio is by Panasoic.
Nikon Camera in Home Alone
The kid that the family assumes is Kevin blocks his face with a Nikon camera.
JVC Television in Home Alone
The TV that shows the fictional movie that Kevin uses the audio from was on a JVC TV.
Budget Rent A Truck
Budget Rent A Trucks are shown multiple times in the film.
Adidas Shoes In Home Alone
Wearing your shoes on the bed is OK if they’re Adidas.
Tide Washing Liquid
Tide’s colours and packaging still seem similar today.
Tic Tacs in Home Alone
In Australia, Tic Tacs are usually white, whilst in the USA, they are always colour-coded. We used to love getting coloured Tic Tacs from the US on holidays when I was a kid.
Woman’s Day Magazine in Home Alone
I always assumed Woman’s Day was just an Australian magazine, but apparently it’s in the USA as well.
Playboy Magazine in Home Alone
Here Kevin finds Buzz’s Playboy magazine, which also has a Toyota ad on the back.
Michael Jordan Chicago Bulls Cutout
The cardboard cutout used to make it look like there’s a party going on is of a young Michael Jordan. Stickers for the Chicago Bulls are also seen in the film.
Jingle All The Way (1996)
The plot of Jingle All The Way is probably relatable to a lot of parents who are trying to track down the hottest toy for Christmas when it’s sold out everywhere. The fictional TurboMan doll from Jingle All The Way has since been released a few times in real life, making this a film that toy collectors like myself are particularly interested in.
LEGO & DUPLO Product Placement
A giant LEGO and DUPLO display gets a run through.
Mall of America in Jingle All The Way
The Mall Of America gets a good showing.
Reebok Sneakers
Jake Lloyd is wearing Reeboks on his bed.
US West Pay Phone
Ok, I’m not familiar with this telco, but there’s no way this was not product placement.
WDT Fox 29 Commentators
I always assumed these were the usual commentators for the Thanks Giving or Christmas Parade.
Sony Video Camera
The camcorder in the background is a Sony.
Apply Laptop
The laptop here shows an Apple Logo.
Crayola Crayon Product Placement
The family portrait is drawn with Crayola crayon.
Barbie in Jingle All The Way Parade
As well as Barbie, you can see Gumby and some Crayola Crayon mascots in the background.
More of the Parade
Ernie, Raggedy Anne, Rock Em Sock Robots, Cabbage Patch Dolls, Crayola Box, The Cat in the Hat, Madeline.
Bert & Ernie at the Parade
This shows Paddington, Bert, Ernie, Leonardo from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, a few Crayola mascots, the Rockem Sockem Robots and the Cat in the Hat.
Rockem Sockem Robots
Other than those already mentioned, I see Leonardo from TMNT, Sonic the Hedgehog and Raggedy Andy.
Galoob Box of Toys
Galoob was ag great toy company in the 80s and 90s.
GMCSuburban
I don’t think we have GMC cars in Australia, but it’s clearly a car brand!
Elf 2003
Whilst some people find Elf to be a bit over-rated, the childlike enthusiasm of Will Ferrell in Elf is hard not to love.
The Empire State Building in Elf
Getting to New York to find his real dad is a major part of the plot here.
Of course, Buddy’s dad works in the Empire State Buillding.
LEGO Product Placement in Elf
LEGO pieces all over the floor.
LEGO skyscrapers in Elf.
Kodak Sign
Half hour photos at Kodak are nostalgic.
Pop-Tarts
You can see Kelloggs Pop-Tarts and some Hershey’s Syrup. here.
FedEx Truck
Mail trucks are important for Christmas.
Estee Lauder Display
Big Estee Lauder display in the department store.
Chanel Perfumes
Chanel is prominently seen in this scene.
Babybjorn Baby Carrier
I think this footage has been flipped.
Sony TV in Elf
Little Sony TV.
Nike Beanie, NFL Jersey and Rocawear Jacket
This kid is a walking billboard
Coca-Cola in Elf
You can’t ignore Will Ferrell drinking this whole bottle of Coke.
Scrooged
There’s a lot of alcohol and other drink product placement in this A Christmas Carol retelling.
Nike and Black & Decker Product Placement
I think this was early in the film, and if so, it is good foreshadowing as both these brands appear again in the film.
Coca-Cola & Sprite Product Placement
Coke sign in Scrooged
Budweiser Beer Product Placement
Black & Decker Hat
Who even wears a Black & Decker hat?
Bacardi Rum in Scrooged
Pretty sure the Bacardi even got mentioned by name,
Stolichnaya Vodka,Tab and Sprite
Tab, Sprite and Stolichnaya are being mixed by the old boss.
Here’s another character with the Bacardi, Tab and Vodka.
S.Pellegrino Mineral Water
Check the far left of the frame for a sneaky S.Pellegrino Mineral Water.
Pioneer TV
A nice Pioneer TV.
Pioneer VCR
Bill Murray’s character’s assistant got his brother this Pioneer VCR for Christmas.
Nike Shoe Box
You can see a Nike shoe box in the middle of the frame.
The Santa Clause
I never realised this movie title was a pun until now, Santa Claus is the character and “clause” is a bit of a pun in which explains why Tim Allen has to become Santa due to the wording in the card that he finds after he accidentally kills the current Santa…
Volvo 940 in The Santa Clause
This is the car used by Judge Reinhold.I expected him to have something better.
Sony TV & VCR
A nice matching Sony VCR and TV.
Milton Bradley Mystery Date Board Game
This is a present that the mum wanted when she was a kid
Ford Taurus SHO
Tim Allen drives a Ford Taurus in The Santa Clause
FedEx Trucks
Federal Express = FedEx, we know of that here in Australia.
Denny’s Product Placement in The Santa Clause
Whilst we don’t have Denny’s here in Australia, a lot of us are reasonably familiar with it, probably due to films such as this.
