It bothers me more when they use fake products. Characters eating breakfast & break out the Fruit Rings cereal or some knock off 'cola' Takes me right out of the movie since I instantly think of the real brand. Just put Fruit Loops & Coke in.

Although one time in Alias, Sydney says "Quick, to the F-150!" had me busting a gut with laughter since they went over the top plugging a product. Friends and I would goof on the product call out line for a few weeks afterwards.

 

Just saw the movie for a third time and still didn't see that much product placement. Guess I was too enthralled into the film itself or non-observant.

 

Given that people do buy and use 'knock-off'/generic products IRL, I don't get why that would be unrealistic enough to take you out of the movie. For instance, I could go to the grocery store right now and find a generic, store-brand cereal with a name like "Fruit Rings", "Fruit Circles", "Fruity Os" or something like that. Hell, I just had a bowl of "Honey Nut Toasted Oats" for breakfast this morning.

But I guess that actually shows how well advertising works, since you automatically think of the 'real' brand name and people using a non-brand name product seems odd.

 

Not only is the entire movie "product placement" for Hasbro's foundational toyline, but EVERY SINGLE PRODUCT PLACEMENT HELPS DEFRAY THE EXHORBITANT COST OF MAKING THE TRANSFORMERS AS UNBELIEVABLY AWESOME AS THEY ARE.

NON-ISSUE.

The more the better, honestly.

 

 

Bud Light, Beats Pill and Victoria's Secret bothered me a little. They were too on the nose.

 

I'll take alcohol, music, and lingerie "on the nose" ANY day.

 

 

Eh, some of it wasn't terrible, but there were some that made me role my eyes. The bud light and Beats ones have already been mentioned, but the Microsoft one was just irritating. Are you telling me this family is so poor they are struggling to make ends meat, not paying their bills in 6 months, but they can afford a high end tablet? As well as Cade's top of the range flagship Samsung phone, which would cost like $1000 on contract? The tablet completely took me out of the "We're poor" angle.

Maybe it's because I wasn't enjoying the movie that much, but I noticed a lot. If you see it again, keep an eye out for:

• 
  Microsoft/Nokia/Skype
  Samsung
  Beats
  IMAX
  Bugatti
  Lamborghini
  Pagani
  Chevrolet
  Oreo
  Dodge
  Gucci (I think someone is wearing Gucci glasses, not too sure)
  Victoria's Secret
  Bud Light
  Chinese milk (No idea of the name)
  Mercedes-Benz (I think? Not too sure on this one)
  
  Also was that gun Tucci's character creates after the pill a specific brand? Don't have that much knowledge on gun brands

That's all I can think of off the top of my head. You can make a drinking game out of it if you want.

 

A long long ad for toys people expect. Hasbro has been making Transformers toys since the 80's so there just isn't any conceivable way that you could ever make a Transformers movie without it being a commercial for toys.

Since the Autobots mostly turn into cars you even expect that the movie is going to be a really long car commercial. The film has to have cars for the Autobots to transform into and it's not like a film would pay the insane cost of cars that match no cars that are for sale at a dealership somewhere near you.

But all the ads in the movies for things that have nothing at all to do with Transformers is what gets annoying. Not any reason in the first film for Sam to be a Burger King other than to make an ad for Burger King within the film. A Mountain Dew machine to become Dispensor, they needed something that wasn't a car, truck, or plane to become one of the wild Transformers so why not a drink machine. But to put a Mountain Dew machine in a dorm room is just ad overkill.

 

Don't forget to include:
Red Bull
Tonka
and Rolls Royce in the product placement lineup.

 

Product placement about Transformers in a Transformers movie is more acceptable in most people's minds as they don't try to hide that its an advert for the Transformers and their vehicles.

The more annoying product placement is stuff that doesn't fit or detracts from the movie - such as Tucci stopping in the middle of a run to open a fridge and grab some exotic milk - or a re-edited spaceship crash scene that includes tons of Bud Light placement. Not to mention a billboard of Samsung that is more obvious than the giant robots in the city.