Budweiser Product Placement in 'Flight' Upsets Anheuser-Busch

Having your product displayed in a big film is something that many companies seek, but a Budweiser product placement in the new film "Flight," has the beer brewer, Anheuser-Busch pretty upset.

The brewing company asked Paramount Pictures Corp. to remove or hide the Budweiser logo from the film. The movie, feautring Denzel Washington, tells the story of a pilot who drinks heavily, but remains highly functional.

In one scene, Washington's character is seen drinking a Budweiser beer while driving. The company does not endorse this behavior and doesn't want others to be encouraged to engage in it.
Budweiser is just one of many alcoholic beverage companies that were used in the film. Washington's character also drinks several brands of vodka like Smirnoff, Absolut and Stoli.

William Grant & Sons, the company behind Stolichnaya vodka, didn't grant permission to the producers to use their product in the film and they would not have agreed to it, according to the Associated Press.
"We would never condone the misuse of our products, and have a long history of promoting responsible drinking and preventing drunk driving," Rob McCarthy, vice president of Budweiser told the Associated Press. "We have asked the studio to obscure the Budweiser trademark in current digital copies of the movie and on all subsequent adaptations of the film, including DVD, On Demand, streaming and additional prints not yet distributed to theaters."

James Curich, a spokesman for Stoli distributor William Grant & Sons also has a code on how their product is used in films. "Considering the subject matter of this film, it is not something in which we would have participated," Church told AP.

Companies often pay film producers to have their brand featured in films, especially when the film is a big one. "Flight" made $25 million in its first weekend alone. However, according to the Associated Press, studios don't need permission to feature a product in their film.Since permission is not needed, companies can't take legal action against the filmmakers.

According to Daniel Nazer of the at Stanford Law School's Fair Use Project, trademark laws "don't exist to give companies the right to control and censor movies and TV shows that might happen to include real-world items. It is the case that often filmmakers get paid by companies to include their products. I think that's sort of led to a culture where they expect they'll have control. That's not a right the trademark law gives them."

If alcohol did not have such a big part in the film, filmmakers may have used generic brands.