![]() Apparently Wilson and FedEx, the other prominent brand that had a significant part in the movie, didn’t pay for product placement. That ball eventually became “Wilson”, Chuck’s only company on the island. When he opened boxes from the plane, he found Wilson volleyball. Somehow he got company … from the unlikeliest source. ![]() FedEx packages in the movie Cast Away (2000, 20th Century Fox, screen capture) ![]() The film shows his attempts to survive on the island using leftovers of his plane’s cargo, as well as his eventual escape and return to society. Just to remind you: in Cast Away Tom Hanks is Chuck, a FedEx employee who is stranded on an uninhabited island after FedEx’s plane crashes on a flight over the South Pacific. He even gained fifty pounds during pre-production to make him look like a chubby, middle-aged man. For a large period he was on screen alone. He was capable of being the lone character and the movie would still succeed. At the time of movie production Hanks was one of the hottest names in Hollywood. The movie Cast Away was acclaimed by critics and at the same time a box-office success. In 2000 Tom Hanks collaborated for the second time with director Robert Zemeckis in what was one of the most interesting stories about crashing to a deserted island. But in the year 2000 we had an excellent example of a fourth type: a brand became the character. A product or brand can be visible, used or someone can mention it. In my first post on Brands&Films I’ve written that there are three classic types of product placement.
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