Z is for Zombie, P is for Pepsi; the Product Placement of World War Z

It’s been way too long since I wrote about my favorite subject, so I do apologize. However, I have

seen so many films in the past several weeks that I should have a ton of material to talk about. Tonight I am going to discuss the product placement in World War Z.

First of all, I, like every other nerd in America, love the zombie genre. This Brad Pitt film was one summer blockbuster I had on my list all year long. I can honestly say that the film, as a whole, was good. However, that is not what this blog is about. So what about the product placement? (There will be no spoilers in this post.)

Overall, the film does not blow you away with its brand partners. This is a sharp contrast to the last film I viewed in theaters, Man of Steel, which, for the second time in one, made me overdose on product placement. Man of Steel will be the next film I discuss and the blog after that will discuss Last Stand. Both were just plain ridiculous. Stay tuned for those in the weeks to come. Getting back on track, the product placement started early in World War Z. If you have seen any trailer for the film, you know that the excitement starts in the family station wagon…a Volvo. Surprisingly enough, I don’t believe this was product placement. The reasons are a plenty. First of all, it is not a new Volvo. Volvo North America has not made a new station wagon in this country for several years. This is of course with the exception of the XC70, and the vehicle featured was not an XC70. Also, the car is involved in an accident, and only two airbags deploy. The car was hit from multiple angles. Volvo was among the first to offer side impact and side curtain

airbags because they pride themselves on safety. If Volvo had paid to be in this film, they would not have allowed this happen. The final way we can rule Volvo out as a brand partner is that there were several other vehicles displayed throughout the film.

A company that actually was involved as a partner was Capital One. They have a history of advertising with the dead. (I am sure you have all seen Alec Baldwin do their commercials before.) This time it was done well. They simply appeared on the top of a cab during a scene on the streets of Philadelphia. I would never walk down the streets of Philly, but I am sure if I did, I could see a cab with this on it.

When product placement is done well, it can help enhance a film by replicating real life. We all have products we like, and we all see advertisements in our everyday lives. If you were to go into a bar, there is a good chance you would buy a Budweiser. Though I do not frequent clubs often, I am pretty sure I have never seen a can with the word “beer” on it. There is usually a brand name on it…even if it is Natural Light. A situation like this occurs in World War Z. A soldier hands Brad Pitt a beer, and it is a Budweiser. Seems like it could happen in real life. Though I doubt Angelina Jolie allows him to drink regular beer. Because of, you know, all of those empty calories.

Now, I stated earlier that this film did product placement well, for the most part. There was one thing I took issue with, and it was committed by one of my favorite companies, Pepsi. I recall that Pepsi, and it’s other brands, occur three times in the film, with two of the instances occurring in crucial parts of the film. The first situation takes place onboard an aircraft carrier. The leader of the UN is talking to Brad Pitt via satellite phone. The UN guy is on the carrier and behind him you can see huge cases of Aquafina. For those of you who may not know, Aquafina is the water brand for Pepsi. On the outside of the cases are big full color signs that feature the Aquafina logo…in full color. This would never happen in real life. As a former grocery store employee, I know that companies do not ship their products with full color labels. These would never be seen by customers in real life, and they would cost way too much to make. Further, I believe these logos were added digitally after the film had shot principal photography. (This kind of thing happens a lot now.) The reason I believe this is that the logos were really out of place, they would be easy to add, and at one point in the film, the characters on board the ship are drinking water from the onboard water supply. One character even comments that it tastes like jet fuel. If there were cases of Aquafina on board, wouldn’t they be drinking that instead of the jet fuel water?

I have to be brief about the other two instances because of the role they play in the film. At one point, when they characters are supposed to be quiet, a gentleman kicks a can of Mountain Dew, and it slowly rolls across the floor. The camera focuses on this for a short period, and then when the can hits the salad bar, it stops label out…perfectly showing the Mountain Dew logo.

With less than 5 minutes to go in the film, Brad Pitt goes through the same cafeteria as before and stops by a Pepsi machine, which was opened for some reason, grabs a refreshing can, and releases the others from captivity so as to generate noise. Once again the camera focuses on this for more than enough time. It was a bit much to take.

Once again, the film as a whole is good, and the product placement wasn’t too bad. If you like zombies it will hold you over until the new season of The Walking Dead starts this fall.

*It was not until I started looking for photos for the blog that I remembered Royal Purple being placed in this film. There is a scene that takes place in supermarket in New Jersey. Brad Pitt is involved in a shootout the store and he just happens to be standing in front of a makeshift rack of Royal Purple motor oil. This is not a huge oil company when compared to Pennzoil or Valvoline. There is a slim chance this product would be carried in a grocery store, and I find it very hard to believe it would take up as much space as the Nabisco section in a store. Royal Purple has been doing this a lot lately. Here is a link to a case study that shows the return on investment after they appeared in a music video. I'll stick with Peak. Because when you Peak, you win.

On a side note, I was drinking a nice refreshing Pepsi cola during this film. The cup was red white and blue, featuring gigantic Pepsi globes and the Pepsi name was prominent on it. If my life were a movie it would look pretty blatant. However, it was real life. It’s not all bad.