FURIOUS 8 Product Placement
Posted on 13th April 2017
Concave Brand Tracking ranks the top 10 product placement Brands in FURIOUS 8: THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017).
13th April 2017
Vin Diesel and the team return to theaters this month with FURIOUS 8 or THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS, the 8th installment of the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise. Sticking with its winning formula, the movie is filled with beloved characters, amazing stunts and lots of product placement.
Concave Brand Tracking screened FURIOUS 8 (2017) and recorded every single Brand that appeared along with their screen time, product discernibility and logo/name visibility. Using this data, we ranked the top 10 product placement Brands in THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017).
Check out our video summary of this article.
#10 Bose
This ranking is filled with a combination of regular product placement partners of the franchise as well as newcomers. At #10 we start off with a newcomer: Bose.
Bose headsets are worn throughout the movie by Charlize Theron’s hacker minions. The Brand gets nearly a minute of screen time with good logo/name visibility. It is associated with technology, hacking and crime.
Bose is no stranger to big screen product placements, having appeared in recent years in such blockbusters as THE ACCOUNTANT (2016, product placement valued at 280 thousand $), JURASSIC WORLD (2015, 4 million $) and FIFTY SHADES OF GREY (2015, 730 thousand $).
Bose has even appeared in the trailer for the upcoming Tom Cruise movie THE MUMMY (2017).
#9 Bentley
It will come as no surprise to anybody that the majority of the Brands on this list are car manufacturers. However, this is the first time in the franchise that a Bentley vehicle appears in any significant way. It does so in the form of Continental GT BR9 during the New York sequence and is driven by Roman Pierce (played by Tyrese Gibson). Bentley gets almost a minute of screen time, appears prominently and has its logo quite visible.
This appearance is one of Bentley’s most visible product placements in recent years and with the expected explosion of FURIOUS 8 (2017) at the box office will be one of its most valuable of all time. Recent product placements by Bentley have included THE ACCOUNTANT (2016, product placement valued at 113 thousand $) and RIDE ALONG 2 (2016, valued at 58 thousand $).
#8 Ford
Ford has appeared consistently in every installment of the franchise though never in a starring role. It has varied in form from police cruisers to street racing cars and this trend continues in THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017). It appears early on as an old but fast 1956 Customline in the opening scene in Cuba. Later on, in the New York sequence, it also features in the form of the iconic yellow Crown Victoria taxis.
FAST AND FURIOUS has never been a major franchise for Ford, but with its large audience it still provides the Brand with good visibility. Recent movies that have featured Ford more prominently include NEED FOR SPEED (2014, product placement valued at 2.8 million $), THE ACCOUNTANT (2016, 645 thousand $), DADDY’S HOME (2015, 1 million $) and most recently LOGAN (2017).
#7 Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz has appeared in the last few FAST AND FURIOUS movie but – like Ford – more in a supporting role. In FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017) the Brand gets almost 1 ½ of screen time in the form of vans, limousines, G-Class SUVs and a 2016 Mercedes-AMG GT S driven by Tej Parker (played by Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges).
Mercedes’ visibility in FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017) is on par with FAST & FURIOUS 6 (2013) but falls well short of its product placement in FURIOUS 7 (2015, product placement valued at 10.8 million $) or its other product placement juggernauts such as JURASSIC WORLD (2015, valued at 11.6 million $).
#6 Dell
Dell is another returning product placement partner of the franchise. After very discreet appearances in FAST FIVE (2011) and FAST AND FURIOUS 6 (2013) Dell became far more prominent in FURIOUS 7 (2015) with over 3 minutes of screen time. It repeats this feat with almost the exact same amount of screen time and overall visibility in THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017). Dell appears in the form of monitors and servers, mostly in the control room of the main villain, Cipher (played by Charlize Theron).
Dell is one the most visible Brands in movies – actually topping our top 100 list for 2016 – appearing in dozens of blockbusters every year. However, if FURIOUS 8 (2017) does better than FURIOUS 7 (2015) at the box office, it could become one of Dell’s most successful product placements of all time.
#5 Apple
Apple has appeared sporadically in the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise. It made a brief appearance in FAST FIVE (2011), was absent in FAST & FURIOUS 6 (2013) and had around a minute of screen time in FURIOUS 7 (2015). In THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017) though, Apple appears throughout in the form of iPhones and iPads used by various characters. They are associated with technology, government use as well as crime.
While Apple is still one of biggest product placement Brands in movies – #3 in 2016 – it has struggled in recent years to score substantial appearances in some of the highest grossing live-action movies. This can, at least in part, be attributed to other Brands like Samsung or Microsoft replacing Apple in franchises such THE AVENGERS or MISSION IMPOSSIBLE. With Samsung’s role being reduced to only a few seconds in THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017) and Apple products being visible throughout, this is a victory for the Cupertino-based company.
#4 Hisense
Another newcomer to the franchise is Chinese electronics manufacturer Hisense. Replacing Toshiba from FURIOUS 7 (2015), Hisense appeared for almost 2 minutes in THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS in the form of TVs. A lot of this was in close-up shots in which the Brand’s logo was often visible.
Hisense is by far the least known Brand in this top 10 but this is not quite its first recorded product placement in a major Hollywood movie. It also appeared in Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s 2015 movie, SAN ANDREAS. That placement generated over 400 thousand $ of advertising value which should easily be eclipsed by THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017).
#3 Dodge
By far the Brand most associated with the franchise, we find Dodge at #3. The Brand is almost exclusively associated with Dominic Toretto (played by Vin Diesel) who drives a 2016 Dodge Challenger early in the movie and 1970 Dodge Charger in the final sequence.
The Fiat Chrysler subsidiary was the most visible Brand in FAST FIVE (2011) and FURIOUS 7 (2015) with over 7 and 10 minutes of screen time in each movie, respectively. However, in THE FATE OF FURIOUS (2017) Dodge had under 4 minutes. This reduction can be attributed to a couple of factors. Firstly, Dominic Toretto only drives four main cars in THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017), the two aforementioned Dodges as well as a Chevrolet and a Plymouth. However, in FURIOUS 7 (2015) he drives five, of which three are Dodges.
The biggest factor though is Letty (played by Michelle Rodriguez) shifting away from Dodge vehicles. While she did also drive a Plymouth in FURIOUS 7 (2015), Letty could be seen behind the wheel of a 2011 Dodge Challenger and a Dodge Viper STR. In THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS (2017) however, she is only seen driving a Dodge for a few seconds early on in the movie. Rather, in the rest of the movie, she opts for a Chevrolet Corvette C2, a Chevrolet Chevelle SS and Local Motors Rally Fighter.
#2 Chevrolet
As we just saw, Dodge’s loss in screen time was to the benefit of Chevrolet, with Letty driving two of their vintage classics. If we add to this the 1949 Fleetline driven by Dom and the Suburban SUVs used by various government entities, Chevrolet clocks just shy of 5 minutes of screen time. This makes Chevrolet the most visible car Brand in THE FATE OF FURIOUS (2017). While Chevrolet has always featured in the franchise it has never been as much a part of its identity as the likes of Dodge or Nissan. But with major characters using more and more classic Chevrolet models, this could mark a shift in style.
Chevrolet is also one of the most visible Brands in movies, coming in at #5 in 2016. Some of its recent high-profile product placements include DEADPOOL (2016, product placement valued at 4.3 million $), JASON BOURNE (2016, valued at 1.1 million $) and CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE (2016, 840 thousand $).
#1 Under Armour
Due to Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson having a smaller role in FURIOUS 7 (2015), Under Armour took a backseat to the car Brands. However, in THE FATE OF FURIOUS (2017) Johnson is back front and center. He also officially signed an endorsement deal with Under Armour in the meantime. As a result, he wears their shoes, gloves and his iconic compression tops throughout much of the movie. The Brand gets almost 4 minutes of screen time and has its logo visible 80% of the time, making it the most visible Brand in THE FATE OF FURIOUS (2017).
Under Armour product placement success varies from year to year. In 2016, it was only the 42nd most visible Brand in movies but in previous years it has had very successful appearances in blockbusters beyond the FAST AND FURIOUS franchise. Examples include AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON (2015, product placement value at 8 million dollars), 22 JUMP STREET (2014, valued at 7 million dollars) and THE BLIND SIDE (2009, valued at 10 million dollars).
With THE FATE OF THE FURIOUS expected to be one of 2017’s highest grossing movies, Under Armour will once again get millions of dollars’ worth of advertising value from this product placement.
Other Brands
Newcomer to the series, Scott Eastwood drives a Subaru BRZ and a 2015 WRX STi
Budweiser, Bud Light, Coca-Cola and Dasani all appear, but no sign of Corona.
Charlize Theron wears a pair of Ray-Ban sunglasses when we are first introduced to her. Later on, she is seen wearing a Metallica t shirt.
The hackers use a combination of Dell and Asus monitors.
Tyrese drives an orange Lamborghini Murciélago LP640 in the final action scene.
Ludacris is repeatedly seen working on a Razer laptop.
Jason Statham’s character drives a Jaguar F-type in the New York scene.
While it did not make this top 10, our favorite product placement has to be by Beats by Dre late in the movie. We won’t spoil the fun for you, but suffice to say it is memorable!
If you would like to find out more about this ranking or are simply interested in more information on our methodology, data or services-
Please contact us at info@concavebt.com
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