Does Burger King subsidize their commercials by running Samsung Ads within them?

Cross-Promotion definitely exists. In the US, a lot of iPhone ads are paid for by the carriers so they can put a blurb at the end.

Burger King is actually a weird example for you to use. They use cross-promotion more than almost any other company.

BK was also a leader in cross-promotion. In 1977, they ran commercials using Star Wars advertising while selling glasses with the characters from the film.

Movie studios have been using paid promotions for products since the 90s. Iirc the very first paid movie tie-in was in ET. The studio had planned on using M&Ms in the film but were rejected by Mars. Hershey's heard about this and paid them to instead use Reese's Pieces in the movie.

It's fair to hate it, I usually do, but it happens all the time. The only one I can think of that I liked was 30 Rock, especially with their Snapple product placement.

BK made a Spiderman hamburger. Does that count?

Actually , yes

It was Strange's fault anyway

And the Mojo Dojo Casa House 'selling like hotcakes.' And the CEO pooh-poohing a 'regular barbie' before immediately reversing course when he's told it'll be super profitable.

Honestly it's got shades of the Charlie Brown Christmas Special, that weird dichotomy of Charlie Brown depressed by the rampant consumerism of the holiday season bookended by Hallmark ads with the new peanuts ornaments. But the lesson the special teaches is to find your own meaning in the holiday, and that it is inviolable by the consumerism so long as it still means something else to you.

Close, but not quite right, since this is more of an explicit rejection of postmodernism and nihilism idea of "nothing matters" in general, that it's important to find the things do matter even in a world as depressing as ours is, and to believe that things can change.

It's the importance of being sincere.

I just rewatched it. I didn't see a "5 minute car commercial". I saw a five minute car chase with humor and dialog that advanced the characters.

But all of the cars are Chevrolet brand. Is that the issue? I'm so confused! This is like the most minor "ad" I've seen in a movie.

I wonder what OP thinks of Olive Garden in Sonic the Hedgehog... 😅

I think you’re focusing too much on the ROI and and not the distinction between projected ROI and a guaranteed one. They can expect to make a return, but the cannot do so with any degree of certainty. Whereas with a sponsored segment, that is guaranteed money before the movie even opens.

And you’re correct, good movies have been made under capitalism. Good movies are also made with sponsored segments. I’m arguing that they’re good despite the pressures of capitalism, not because of it.

I mean look at Elemental, huge, expensive production, one of the biggest animation houses in America with a history of incredible and influential work, huge media and ad campaigns and yet… it was a flop (at least domestically). I’m sure they expected to make a lot more money than they did.

The true evil is often banal.

"It's capitalism" is an unsatisfying explanation because one the one hand it's sort of trivially true, but on the other, good movies have been made under capitalism.

But you went to watch a blockbuster. These are made to make money above all else. You just aren't the target demographic.