Movie Moments XV: Oh, the product placements you'll see.

In honor of Halloween, I present to you "The Monster Squad."  For many years I had to depend on a version of the movie recorded off of television by a friend who had cable.  Time had darkened this version to such a degree that it never completely looked like daylight and night was always so much deeper than it should have been (much like the darkened appearance of our copy of "Return of Jedi," also taped off of cable television, which meant that until the re-releases came out, I didn't realize that Jabba's palace and barge weren't just dark structures and that they actually had things on the walls.  Yet even with newer versions I cannot make myself get rid of that tape because it had a behind the scenes thing that I've never seen since where they show how they operated the Jabba puppet.  Go figure.  Oh well, back to the actual post.).  In fact, this version of "The Monster Squad" had gotten so bad that the beginning explanation, printed in little red words that scrolled up the screen, was completely illegible, yet I still knew what it said, especially the last words, "They blew it."  Now thanks to another recording, and the recently released DVD, I've been able to see the movie as it was intended and was reacquainted with something that I'd always found pretty funny even before I knew what it was: product placement.  I won't touch upon each placement, just the two that were the most obvious and that always manage to make me smile: Burger King and Adidas.

Burger King was the first clear placement that I can remember seeing in a movie, and it all had to do with the final battle in the town square, which I'll get to a little later.  (Yes, I know about the whole Reese's Pieces placement in E.T., but shoot me if you will, I never really cared much for that movie, even when I was a kid and I was supposed to.  I much preferred to get attached to the aliens of "Flight Of The Navigator."  Sorry.)  Now, you would expect the characters to eat Burger King, and they do.  In fact, Sean's dad brings some home and the two sit on the roof watching the nearby drive-in movie for free while they eat it.  (Though now that I think about it, I don't recall there being any indication that their house was near such a place.  Maybe the town has the largest drive-in screen in the world, so that no matter where you are, it's a good view.)  Now, that was the kind of thing that you'd expect from a fast food placement, but I think the best part was when, during the climactic battle in the town square, what should be there all lit up but a Burger King?  And what should even be mentioned in the dialog but Burger King?  In fact, it's probably just one of a number of requirements for every town square.  (You know, the giant expanse of pavement that looks sort of like an unlined parking lot, the mini-mart, the church, the Burger King.  Gabbing about God is bound to give you an appetite, you know.)

Then there was Adidas.  Oh my dear, sweet Adidas.  I think that most of the kids were probably wearing the shoes, and our fearless leader Sean wore an Adidas jacket during the climactic fight in the town square (which made it really seem like the town consisted of just a few families and that most of the kids at school were bussed in from who knows where).  But, wait, the greatest part of the whole Adidas partnership was the random collection of Adidas shoe boxes on the second floor of what looks like a drug store or mini-mart (but which has the distinction of looking like the inside of an old warehouse full of unwanted merchandise.  Well, we all know that the mini-mart is the best place to buy shoes and bicycles, don't we?  If not, we do now.).  This is where Sean and his dad fight the Wolf Man (who also happens to be Napoleon Dynamite's uncle).  The genius of this placement is that you don't notice the boxes are even there until the Wolf Man throws Sean's dad through the giant wall of shoe boxes constructed for no apparent reason.  In fact, that was always a scene that I looked forward to whenever I watched it just because it was so random.

So there you have it.  I think this is only one of a select few movies that I actually tolerate the blatant product placement in because without it, the memorable scenes would be far less memorable, and that would be a shame.  (Besides, how else can you sarcastically answer the question of where to hold the battle with the monsters when the church is locked if there isn't a nearby Burger King?)