Product placement in modern films is, sadly, a necessary evil.
Skyfall famously ran out of its production budget during filming and turned to brands such as Heineken to get them over the finish line - which is why you never seen Bond asking for a vodka and Martini in the film, but you do see him drinking a perfectly visible bottle of Heineken in at least one scene in the film.
Transformers 4, however, was a pretty egregious example of product placement. You had Bud Light, Chevrolet and about ten different other brands mercilessly shoe-horned in because, well, Michael Bay's all about them dollars. However, Paramount Pictures, the studio behind Transformers 4, has been slapped with a $27.7 million lawsuit by a Chinese state-backed travel company over alleged omissions in the film.
The suit claims that the film didn't meet the obligations of a deal signed in 2013. The suit claims that Wulong Karst Tourism paid $750,000 before production kicked off in exchange for promotion in the film, specifically a shot of a logo for China Wulong. However, Paramount and China Movie Channel both conceded that the logo didn't make it into the finished film.
However, Michael Bay shot a short advertisement for the resort and the production crew left behind a number of props and sets at the resort, which they believed could be leveraged as an attraction.
The verdict has yet to be delivered.
Via THR.com
