Product placement can be subtle, like a suspect requesting a specific brand of soda in an interrogation, in your face, such as Josie and the Pussycats or straight up confusing.
The final example is our favourite as product placements in this category, often stand out like sore thumbs. Most recently we saw Zoom feature in the Handmaid’s Tale, but there’s a new star for odd placement – Kaspersky.
By now you’ve likely seen the trailer for the upcoming sci-fi/apocalypse film from Roland Emmerich, Moonfall. If not, you can watch it below.
Did you see it? At 0:19 a luminescent green billboard emblazoned with the Kaspersky brand can be rather clearly seen. This struck us as odd as product placements aren’t usually a part of trailers but it seems that Kaspersky’s presence in the film is more than just a billboard.
“In this thrilling film, Moonfall’s heroes travel on their mission to save Earth in a retired spacecraft with Kaspersky systems by their side to protect them on their journey. In the face of unknown threats, Kaspersky systems ensure the secure operation of their pivotal mission,” reads a press release sent to Hypertext.
Let’s dissect this a bit shall we. Moonfall is a movie we know little about but it’s safe to assume that in the world the movie is set in, the Moon is some sort of alien structure. In this world, the security of NASA spacecraft is handed to Kaspersky, a firm which – in our reality – government agencies in the US are not allowed to business with.
With all of that having been said, this is a movie but it is weird when everyday products appear in movies that are clearly meant to be set in an alternate reality.
“We are very excited and proud to be a part of Roland Emmerich’s visionary film, Moonfall. Like in the movie where we protect the vital space mission of the heroes, our mission as a forward-thinking company is to build a safer world for humanity, whose future cannot be imagined without technological progress,” said vice president of global marketing for Kaspersky, Andrew Winton.
Perhaps we’re being a bit lenient with the term star here but if Kaspersky is securing the spacecraft being used, that’s a rather important role.
Moonfall arrives in local cinemas on 4th February.
