the whisky was called ‘old rose’ and alludes to them growing older, young and “stemmin’ the rose” on the mountain, and then later, older, but still stemmin’… haha. if you notice, there were roses throughout the film, in paintings, on wallpaper, etc.

the girl with the picking idly at the coke bottle was alma jr., ennis’ daughter. if that’s ad placement, it’s very subtle. that’s like saying cassie’s silly shoes were an ad for famolares or something. everybody makes something, and a movie about life can’t help but have products that help paint the landscape of a film. of course, the obvious ads, like the macdonald’s “ad” in fifth element, is overkill, but what are they supposed to do? remove all chrome from trucks to make them generic? people would still recognize the vehicle by the body design.

i didn’t see spielberg’s munch, but i think BBM did a fairly even handed job with the product placement. and even so, it’s a wonder those companies allowed themselves to be connected to a movie about gay cowboys, how un-american is that?

this reminds me of something my dad john told me about – the practice of sending out press kits on research. it goes on in psychology, sometimes before much conclusive data has actually been accumulated. that’s why i liked matt’s interview in the mirror- where he could have trumpeted suspicions or even relatively well-founded hypothesis to make the “most” of his limelight time, he instead emphasized the importance of critical conversation.

*Canadian website lets people track brands in films*

http://www.cbc.ca/story/arts/national/2006/03/12/productplacement-website.html