The Worst Product Placement of All Time is in an 80s Sci-Fi Family Movie

Posted by Jonathan Klotz | Published 1 hour ago

After the success of ET the ExtraterrestrialHollywood scrambled to replicate its success and filled the 80s with family-friendly outdoor adventures, some more successful than others, but none as notorious as disaster. Mac and me. Not only was the plot a direct rip-off of a Steven Spielberg classic, but the product placement was so brutal and in-your-face that the entire McDonald's scene featured Ronald McDonald.

The McDonalds scene isn't the worst product placement in a movie. Considered one of the worst movies ever, it's impossible to sit back and enjoy Mac and me without doing so ironically.

A Sci-Fi Knockoff

The layout of Mac and me sounds like someone took a novelization of ET and changed a few words, thinking no one would notice. Mac, which stands for Mysterious Alien Creature and luckily reminds you of McDonald's Big Mac, arrives in Los Angeles, befriends a young child, is hunted by the FBI, and ends up using his alien abilities to perform a healing miracle. What makes it different is that Mac's family is on Earth too and, of course, the awesome product placement.

ET the Extraterrestrial made Reese's Pieces famous, and every other company in the country wanted the same kind of product development, which is why McDonald's is so prominent, including a five-minute dance sequence, that earned Ronald McDonald a Razzie nomination. The worst product placement, however, is not fast food, but Coca-Cola. When he is finally found by the Mac family, he suffers from dehydration and is revived by the cool, hot, refreshing taste of Coke.

While promoting his documentary Pom Wonderful Presents: The Biggest Movie of All TimeMorgan Spurlock referred to Mac and me “like the worst thing you'll ever do in your life, and it was paid for by my best friends at McDonald's” in an interview with Yahoo! Movies. At the time, critics, including Gene Siskel, called the film product placement and a rip-off, which helps explain Rotten Tomatoes' impressive new zero percent score.

Paul Rudd's Favorite Movie

However, in a generation Mac and me most famous for the clip of a child in a wheelchair going down a hill and falling into water, thanks to Paul Rudd. Every time Rudd is interviewed by Conan O'Brien, including on the podcast, he always shows the same clip.

What most people don't know, or forget as their brains try to protect them from remembering the movie, is that the kid, Eric, is killed by a stray bullet. Even in the 80s, a decade of extremes and pushing the envelope, showing a child being shot in a family film was too much, so the moment was cut, and instead, it just died off the screen.

Don't worry, though; you get better.

Mac and me now it stands the test of time as the argument that not every director is a visionary, not every film is a work of art. Others, although an argument can be made that this works for many movies, is a completely soulless cash grab to make money.

Product placement continues today, but some of the worst I've seen involves McDonald's rival, Burger King, which Men in Black II it has a working restaurant inside the top secret organization's headquarters. At least when Vin Diesel talks about family while holding Corona, or Allspark in Transformers turns the Xbox into a killing machine, they have structural compatibility… sort of.

If you've never seen Mac and Me and want to laugh or punish your friends, you can stream it for free on Tubi, Pluto TV, and Amazon Freevee.