PULP FICTION and the psychology of product placement (full version)
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- čas přidán 15. 01. 2020
- By Rob Ager. More film analysis at
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When I think of film analysis I really do think Rob Ager.
His vids are very enlightening.
Absolutely, Rob Ager consistently produces vids that are the gold-standard for film analysis. You can tell there is a lot of hard thought and research behind Mr Ager's insights.
Rob's light years ahead of any other on CZcams. Most just try and sound clever by using terms they learned from their film course while saying NOTHING about the film.
1939: Шhoever You Are, Шhatever You Do, Шherever You May Бe, Шhen You Thimk of Refreshment, Thimk of Ice Кold Кosher Кola
I loved his Shining analyses.
Your promise not to advertise your website was in fact a product placement :)
I’m pretty clever for noticing
Damn, I should have knew SOMEONE would be onto it !!!
@@collativelearning
I have eaten five guys fries and burgers they are pretty good Wendy's is good too. I often wonder if Marcellus is so protective why not have like hidden cameras or something.
two of my favorite coffee joints is Star Bucks and Dunkin Donuts.
I don't eat MC Donalds anymore because there are other places I get burgers from. I will be honest MC Donalds does not have the best coffee there and pancakes at I Hop is way better the waffles are so perfect. I also drink tea with lots of honney in it.
Walt's Restaurant gross sandwiches tasted awful my sister and I once ate at New Pecking everything tasted like shit.
and an employer at a Quiznos went into a men's bathroom smoking a cigarette. drinking out of a coke can the disgusting lazy fuck didn't wash his hands.
I could have reported it to someone I just got the fuck out of that dirty ass place quickly.
another place that had shitty tasting food was Dots Pizza.
I couldn't even finish it one bite oh nasty ass pizza. miss Carvel those ice cream cakes dreamy.
Trump has that flock of seagulls hair style you can see it.
I commented before the brilliant story telling in Pulp Fiction and of course the Hostle trilogy.
@iClash Just thought it was me. Thanks for confirming lol
I thought Rob was already playing at that irony from his subtle inflections; what with promising us "with sugar on top" and all that.
You're practically a real life Columbo. Nothing escapes you, not even light.
I love the scene where Jules drinks Brett's Sprite entirely while staring at him. He's establishing his dominance and also subtly hinting that Brett won't be surviving this encounter.
When rewatching it’s almost impossible to not to think ‘Who cares? He doesn’t need the rest of the burger or the fries either in a minute.’.
Jules was having deep eye contact with Brett as he was sucking and swallowing down some sweet fluid.
The last sip of the sprite sound effect is the icing on the cake in that scene. Makes me laugh every time. I also love how Jules makes the guy on the couch put his feet back up and then Jules does the 👌 Ok sign to him. Shit is so funny.
it's an homage to the opening scene of the good the bad and the ugly. Tarantino goes all in on the idea with the opening of inglorious basterds (a WWII movie that's actually a western, while the Good the Bad and the Ugly was a western that was actually about WWII)
And he left his DNA on the straw.
Hard to believe this movie is now 25 years old. I like older Tarantino. Seemingly mundane and meaningless dialogue that is sharply written, making it entertaining and immersive. It makes the characters and the world seem like they exist.
>You know what dhey call a quarter-pounder-widh-cheese in Paris??
-[random arabesque title]
I love how engaging Quentin’s dialogue. (In all his movies) Like you said it makes them feel real and it immerses you even deeper into the movie.
Yeah his older 90's movies were the best ones. His newer movies seem more like Tarantino parodies.
It's 2024 and is now 30.
When the Wolf gives a head nod over the coffee... CLASSIC.
18:51 "Everyone knows that wiping your ass on a puppy is much more pleasant" perfect quote
Not for the puppy. ;-)
The best film informative analyst on CZcams
I love that tarantino makes appearences in his movies that arent the star role it just feels like hes having a lot of fun with them
especially the pulp fiction role
actually the whole Fast food mentions could be a reference to the pulp genre itself. How even McDonalds, even though cheap and inexpensive, can still produce a tasty result, and when viewed at the right angle can mean something more.
Dhe “Pʌlp Fiktion” lowgow iz яed ænd jellow lajke dhe makdonald'z aяies-dhe-яam ((nαt tu menšion dhe hammeя-ænd-sickle hoяoя)). Яonald makdonald бluббard, dhe foundeя ov ziontology, waz æ pʌlp fiktion hæck yn dhe 1930z.
I concur
I always thought the burger used was closer to the “In N Out” cheeseburger (southern California staple). The Quarter Pounder has sesame seed bun. The vanilla cola Vincent orders started my unhealthy obsession with that drink throughout the ‘90’s.
Vanilla cola is so good though!!!
You can mention collective learning as much as you want and I wouldn’t complain.they are your videos and I really appreciate what you do
Collative
Yeah what a dork mr Ager is, I would never advertise collative learning and how easy to use and very good price the products, you buy them and have them within 10sec, its a very fast and safe process, no need to talk about it here, before he sold things manually through ebay and I got some cd's so this new system is great and very easy, safe and fast to use, and you get the links forever, not only that you can also download the video and store them on your computer, but no need for a plug.
@@oceanpacific3841 lol ..and they say advertising works!
Dhe “Pʌlp Fiktion” lowgow iz яed ænd jellow lajke dhe makdonald'z aяies-dhe-яam ((nαt tu menšion dhe hammeя-ænd-sickle hoяoя)). Яonald makdonald бluббard, dhe foundeя ov ziontology, waz æ pʌlp fiktion hæck yn dhe 1930z.
Maybe you just don’t like to complain? If the video got going and then he mentioned collective learning for the rest of the video then I’d leave a comment suggesting he change the title to ‘Collective Learning’ by Collative Learning.
the problem i have is that mcdonald's is a coke loyalist. they must not have known pepsico had a deal as well....also, sprite (mentioned during the big kahuna scene) is a coca-cola brand.
Also, Coke >>>> Pepsi
In the 90's, Pepsi was trying to market itself as the direct rival to Coke. They flooded the advertising scene with Pepsi logo. In the southern United States, it's not uncommon to hear the phrase "What type of Coke do you want?" Not asking diet, zero etc... but what type of Soda as in Pepsi, Coke, Dr. Pepper etc..
There are movies now that have so many corporate sponsors, it's a minor struggle to keep them from interfering like that.
@@illuminahde not just the 90's.....unless you mean 1890's..
@Taylor Lemoine right place, right time...
@12:10 I flirted with smoking tobacco off and on years ago. Once I went into a tobacco market and tried to buy "those apple flavored cigarettes" and the guy said they didn't have any. I swore up and down that I had bought some from that particular store! I didn't quite argue with him but I knew I was right. It was several years later while watching PF for the umpteenth time and realized that I had that scene subliminally knocking around my brain. That's a testament to how powerful product placement is. Even a fake product.
John Travolta loves _’Five Guys’_
And he’s also fond of burgers…
Jewel Citizen hey yoooo
imre456 Howdy
@@jewelcitizen2567 Better than McDonald's. Their burgers make me want to puke
Tiamat thinks this thread is about burgers...
@@matthewronson5218 Well whatever. McDonald's still sucks
I think the reason we don't see labels is because they didn't have a lot of money to show those brands in the film.
After Quentin did reservoir dogs he went to Europe to write Pulp Fiction. I believe that's why the characters talk about different cultures like with the metric system
What country in Europe did he go to?
@@markant9534 Netherlands
He spent 3 months there
@@august6389 The Pepsi challenge, great stuff.
Mark Ant The “changed to Coke to Pepsi” is brilliant, so much more memorable than if he’d went with “water to wine”.
I absolutely love your film analysis. No matter the movie, no matter the subject... the depths at which you dig to unearth hidden meaning is truly impressive. Thank you for your dedication.
I’ve been following you for absolute years maybe even going on 10 years!!!! My mums from Liverpool too! You are sooo talented and your analysis of these cult classics leaves me in awe. Absolute legend! I find this subject matter completely intriguing and compelling, fascinating and very deep. Thank you 🙏 for taking the mystery out of the movie industry manipulation and subliminal mind matrix that Hollywood is. 💓
Harvey Schweinschtein iz dhe Master ov Ziontology. Kevin Smith iz hiz maydeck.
A Band Apart is a reference to one of Tarantino’s favourite films, Jean-Luc Godard’s Band of Outsiders, which in Its original French is called A Band Apart.
I wanted to be a filmaker, but then I realized I'd never be as dense as a guy as Tarantino.
@@lyonellaverde3135 in every sense of the word ;)
It’s actually called Bande À Part, Tarantino anglicized the title so it would sound better.
27:53 i never noticed that wart on christopher walken's finger before..and jules called that guy flock of seagulls because of his hairstyle....lol
When I went to West Germany for my grandfather's funeral in October 1984, I remember seeing beer on the McDonalds menu when we went there. Neat stuff.
Afteя dhe Easy War, betwêên 1945 ænd '47, 1.5 milljon Geяmanz weяe staяved tu dεath yn âjzenhaШer'z dεath kamps αn dhe Яhine (яiveя)...
@@holograMMarXIV what? Type your unnecessary insanity in English at least.🤔
@@evanabbott2737 Waťčh dhe vîdeo fiяst.
I think the main idea with all the products is to create a feeling of familiarity to connect with the audience like this is a real place and we have things in common with the characters. This is a frequent theme in Tarantino's movies
My favorite product placement of all time has to be _Applebees_ in _Talladega_ _Nights._
tigerburn81 Talledega Nights 100% has the best product placement of all time
The product placement in Taladega Nights fits within the context of the film as NASCAR drivers are sponsored by mega corporate chains.
Denny's: We're not advertising in your movie, it's to violent
Mcdonald's: LEEETTT MEE IIINNN
A Band Apart is also a reference to Godard's film Band of Outsiders. The dinner conversation between Mia and Vincent is based on a scene from Vivre sa Vie.
The fact that Jules drinks the entire Sprite is very telling. He is letting Brett know that he won't be needing it, because he is going to be dead in a few minutes. (Notice Brett's facial expression at 10:42. He knows what time it is.)
That whole scene is menacing to watch. Those poor bastards knew what's coming for them. And they are taunted by the gangsters before being executed.
@@pinSjon79 : “Say what one more time….”
That Red Chevrolet Car was Tarantino's. Someone stole it after watching the movie and Tarantino found it many years later.
Wow, Rob! This is really one of my favourite videos on youtube! Sure in the top 10! Your work is AWESOME! Interesting, entertaining, funny and enlightening! 👍👍👍👍
I'm a simple man. I see a Collative Learning Pulp Fiction video, I thumbs up.
"Red Apple cigarettes" was once again used as a product placement in the recent Tarantino movie "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood"
@Ian Duke yes.. I know it's a fake product. I just wanted to state that the same FAKE product was used in one of his other movies as a reoccurring theme.
@@maxmatson1578 yeah there is a whole lot of fake products/brands that connects all Tarantino films apparently.
It's in Kill Bill too.
They would most likely turn a decent profit if manufactured
Red Apple is the *only* "brand" of cigarette in Tarantino films.
I genuinely would be shocked to find any of this was conscious and willful Product Placement approved by the corporate. Just imagine the backlash if the moms of America found out that Pepsi paid or consented to having their product compared to Heroin?
I think what is more likely is that the brands are used in a "short hand" manner by Tarrantino. Similarly to how he uses inspiration from other films and lifts aesthetics, tropes and even music to bring back certain associations or put forth certain ideals, he is doing the same with these Brands.
While watching your video, I was reminded that both Mcdonalds and Coke are the top dog in their respective category. It shows the type of character that Vincent is. He is enthused and patronizes a Mcdonalds even in a foreign country, but in contrast is entirely dismissive of Burger King. He is the quintessential American being in QT's mind. His feelings towards the brands tells you so much with so little. Similarly with the drug dealer he's being courted to switch from Coke, the other mainstay brand in American culture for the edgier and scrappier Pepsi. He listens to the pitch against his better judgment, gives it a try and his lack of brand loyalty, his straying from his essential self comes back to bite him in the ass.
In contrast Marvin and crew are eating "Big Kahuna" burgers, a non existent brand carrying NO WEIGHT in our minds. Because that is who they are in the context of who Jules and Vincent are. They are a blank slate, replace "big kahuna" with what ever the name of your local mom and pop burger shop and the effect will be the same. Their nerves highlight their weak position and lack of experience and status. Jules in contrast gleefully retells the stories of Mcdonalds "Royale" status which extends to both him and Vincent because they patronize that establishment. Jules even pitches a few other branded options of burgers, as niche as Jack in the Box but they are not even up to that level. He takes control of the situation and in essence makes them give him permission to eat their meal, which alone has a lot of implications. They know they cannot refuse his request because he holds the power. When it comes to the drink, again Sprite isn't as close to being as iconic as Coke or Pepsi. There is less cultural and sentimental attachment to sprite than there ever would be to coke or Pepsi. What would it say to us the viewer if both Vincent and Brett drank coke, or both ate "Royale's" with cheese? It would be a unifier of status and power that in the context of the movie just wouldn't work.
Бig Кahuna, Бurger Кing...
This is a super interesting analysis. Thanks for writing this out man
Sprite is owned by Pepsi.
@@julesfalconewere they at the time
@@SFTaYZa I'm partially wrong. Spite was acquired by Coke in 1960. (Not Pepsi, Pepsi owns Slice.)
I honestly don’t care that you plug your website and products whenever you want to plug them it’s your channel and that’s how you gotta support the good videos you put out! Keep up the good work honestly if people have enough of a problem with you plugging your products then there’s a fast forward option
Hey man Happy New Year!!! Love these videos and appreciate all the content over the years.
Your LAVA promo was gold!
Lava, volcanoes (dianetiks), Hawaii, kahuna...
Apple=Forbidden fruit: worm=Serpent .. Bible memes
Even the red background and yellow font used for the Pulp Fiction poster suggests McDonalds.
Dhe “Pʌlp Fiktion” lowgow iz яed ænd jellow lajke dhe makdonald'z aяies-dhe-яam ((nαt tu menšion dhe hammeя-ænd-sickle hoяoя)). Яonald makdonald бluббard, dhe foundeя ov ziontology, waz æ pʌlp fiktion hæck yn dhe 1930z.
your videos are always well thought out and clever.
i love this analysis.
It's great to see this back on CZcams again after such a long time
You think maybe the Big Kahuna abbreviation being "BK" could be a dig at product placement considering the character calling a BK burger tasty?
Red Apple cigs and Big Laguna burgers are part of the Tarintino Universe . His movies are connected by people , places and things from his mind .
It's Big Kahuna not Laguna.
Thanks for your content Rob. Longtime listener, (7 years ?), recent buyer of your content. Worth every penny.
Thanks for posting this! I really enjoy looking into product placement, like Ghostbusters' use of the Stay Puff marshmallows throughout the film.
Thanks for the analysis, Rob. I did my undergrad thesis in Tarentino, so I really enjoyed this. My mother is a playwright/screenwriter from NY, a few years younger than Quentin. She really enjoyed this too, and offered up a few observations from the time. Back when the film came out, she had a diving buddy from London who was absolutely crushed to find out that there was no Jack Rabbit Slim's. All of the Disney-like theme restaurants were popping up all over, so it fit the mold so perfectly. Back then, five dollars would have been a very expressive shake; ironically, now Wawa's has a shake that is exactly five dollars, and it is truly amazing, especially vanilla - Martin and Lewis. It makes "Rumble" play in your head upon the first sip. My mother also did a lot of her early writing at Denny's(open all night, very large, comfortable booths, and thy didn't care if you stayed all night), about the same time, and after considering who served what here, she's not sure about Coke and Pepsi. All of the restaurants mentioned serve Coca Cola products exclusively. The phrase "Pepsi Challenge" was tossed around a lot; that was probably incidental to the dialogue. Sprite ( a Coca Cola product) has always been heavily marketed in a very racist manner to African Americans. LeBron James is their biggest spokesperson. It's the mixer used in lean,not even trying to be subtle in implying that African Americans are all obsessed with basketball and vile mixtures of opiods and Jolly Ranchers. How American. The snippet from the hallway, "Strawberry Letter 23", was the music behind Ordell's murder if Beaumont in "Jackie Brown", which I know is not your to thing but the song was a huge hit when my parents were little. Part of my attraction to Tarantino is the association with the music; it's always a big joyous sing a long for me. Another interesting factoid; the bar Ordell exits after the money exchange is the same strip club that Conrad Murray was right before he went to give Michael Jackson his last "milk". Just interesting.
Thanks for the video. I just discovered you; haven't had time to comment. You've been very helpful, and your site with definitely get business from me in my grad work. Thanks again!
Product Placement. At That Time, watching on a VCR, 2 people watching went out and bought heroin upon seeing the needle in vein scene. My reprobate friends..
Love your videos man. Keep it up
I never noticed in the Butch cab scene the cab is filmed in color, but the b roll of the world outside is B&W (15:12).
Seriously?
It/s æ nαd tu Žαn Kokto'z blæck-ænd-vvvite fylm “Orpheus” (1950) yn whičh dhe landskape thяough dhe kar windowz (az Orfeus iz tejken intu dhi UNDERWORLD) iz prezented yn nêgative.
@@holograMMarXIV Huh?
@@Muskateering "It's a nod to Jean Cocteau's black-and-white film "Orpheus" (1950), in which the landscape through the car windows (as Orpheus is taken into the underworld) is presented in negative."
Big Kahuna is also a very good film with Kevin Spacy who was also in Swimming with Sharks with the guy Jules is interrogating in Pulp Fiction.
Dhat kyd plajed dhe dяummeя yn “Dhe Doorz” (1991) ænd dhi assassyn yn “Hoffa” (1992)...
Uma Thurman is smoking hot in this .
Until she takes coke and gets....
@@shafserious2805 its no coke. Its heroin of Vincents. She thought it WAS coke so busted down a line size appropriate for cocaine. That ammt of heroin was too much so she overdosed.
Ripped Torn Oven Ready
@@ABLEARC aka. China White ; the myth of smack heads everywhere.
@@rippedtorn2310 i mean not really a myth. He was buying an ounce and at that point stuff isn't stepped on. Its not a myth its about where in the supply chain you are.
thankyou for your work rob
Nice work Rob I've always wondered about this issue in Tarantino...you nailed it
I REALLY want a hamburger now.
Spongebob Squarepants has the same effect on me
@@SonofTiamat Krabby Patties look absolutely delicious...
I was eating a hamburger while watching this, I don't know what that means if anything.
I want hamburger, milkshake, pancakes with maple syrup and sausages fuck i even want fries with mayo, and ofc. coffee, but then again i always want coffee, and not that cheap ass shit either, gourmet stuff
Dim Mak: Dhe touch ov death (or death-pojnt striking) referz tu ani martial arts technique reputed tu kill uzing seemingly less dhan lethal forse targeted at spesifik areaz ov dhe body∵
Consume
Stay Asleep
Obey
Are you all out of gum ?
Ripped Torn Dasrite but I like a burger with Swiss Cheese and caramelised onions...
Just by quoting that movie you’re:
Consuming
Staying asleep
Obeying
@@imre456 "no u lel"
Carpenter had us all pegged.
This is a tasty video.
This is some serious gourmet shit!
“Everyone knows that wiping your arse on a puppy is much more pleasant”.
Best one liner ever!
I saw this movie when I was stationed in Germany. We had a Burger King on post and a German McDonald's up the street outside of post. I went to Burger King more often. But this scene always makes me chuckle
My interpretation of the Red Apple cigarette packet is the worm is a representation of the snake from the garden of Eden coming out of the apple of the garden to entice Eve to smoke instead of eating the healthy apple therefore also enticing the buyer of the smokes to choose cigarettes instead of being healthy. He is smiling so he is clearly enjoying them. A side note I noticed which could be my imagination going wild is the shine on the left of the apple appears to be a reflection of possibly a window with a cross in the middle. Which could lend validation to my theory.
I was pretty sure that I can't be convinced going in, but you did it again.
thank for your content as ever
I just got a cup of coffee watching this. I don't know.. suddenly I was craving for it
Awesome analysis, you really touched on a lot of intersting stuff. But I think you might be missing a piece here when looking into Pulp Fiction's food aesthetic.
In Southern California there's a mish-mash of corporate chain crap (like fast food) and small retail shops, that are often specific to a city or county. When I first watched some guys in a crappy apartment eating a local burger chain for breakfast, my first thought was "Yes! This is what it's like here, I've done this!" I feel the Big Kahuna is a nod to the maybe hundreds of small food joints that serve burgers and fries all over SoCal.
The fact that these guys picked a local joint over one of the big national chains is important (in the same way he uses Hawthorn Grill) to establish a very SoCal vibe of knowing where the "real" or authentic restaurants are, maybe even so non-corporate that the name of the city is in the name of the diner.
I love that kind of specificity of restaurants - it's just a thing that people here in SoCal do. I mean, I can tell you the best place to get carne asada fries, the best "Greek" place to get a pastrami sandwich, Orange County has multiple places for awesome vietnamese Pho.
Basically, I'm saying that Tarantino was trying to capture the specific SoCal understanding about fast food joints, and how the local spots are "cooler" (and to us natives, tastier and more interesting) than the corporate places. He did a similar thing in True Romance - it's just an ode to SoCal taste, and maybe snobbery too.
9:15 save your money. that is definitely not a mcdonalds quarter pounder. that bun is wrong, the patty is too small and the fries are way too thick cut. that has a white castle look to it. and a big mac is a double burger with a bun between the patties. although, the poster art is in mcdonald's red and yellow.
It's an odd looking burger... The roll looks like a crusty roll like that used for a bacon roll in the uk
The point itself isn't lost though. The product placement is strange here and QT is known to hate it in general.
Whatever kind it is, it looks like a tasty burger.
I used to work in production (paid programming) and making food appear appetizing onscreen is definitely its own art form.
Dim Mak: Dhe touch ov death (or death-pojnt striking) referz tu ani martial arts technique reputed tu kill uzing seemingly less dhan lethal forse targeted at spesifik areaz ov dhe body∵
@@holograMMarXIV this comment belongs in another thread,,,
Ohhh pulp fiction! Thanks Rob
Not sure how I found your channel but glad I did.
The phrase 'tasty beverage' shows up in a few tarantino films....
Grindhouse comes to mind with chartreuse
Afteя dhe Easy War, betwêên 1945 ænd '47, 1.5 milljon Geяmanz weяe staяved tu dεath yn âjzenhaШer'z dεath kamps αn dhe Яhine (яiveя)...
Greetings from Liverpool 15 Rob fella. Nice article. I think quentin knew exactly what he was doin and used his craft to merge branding into fiction , then bk out the other side. Masterful
I never thought about this!
great vid rob
Hey Rob, don't know if you caught this and found it too much of a stretch, but the heroin dealer wearing the speed racer shirt perfectly mirrors Pepsi's red white and blue color scheme with Speed Racers white helmet, red ascot, and blue uniform. Seems to add a little more credence to that scene being a peps plug.
Love the content
For some reason I feel certain that QT will see this video. You totally nailed this.
The main thing I notice watching these clips is how much better film looks than digital.
Having said that, I love how David Fincher and Michael Mann have used digital photography. Collateral looks stunning at times for example.
Best product placement of all time was a snapple ad in 30 Rock. It was overtly phony and ended with a fourth wall break where Tina Fey asks, "can we have our money now?" It has been copied since then, but it is brilliant.
The way I always interpreted it as you mention that the dialog makes us get us get connected to the charaters the movie. Because people in the real world use reference to products and commercials all the time in day to day conversation, often unconciously, because commercial lines can get stuck in common consiousnes. So referring to some real brands in the real world just makes us accept the world more. And as non LA person who knows there could be a big kahuna burger joint just around the corner from there.
Thanks for a great video! Very illuminating and entertaining. A little extra bit of info regarding A Band Apart (Tarantino´s production company): the name is a wordplay on Godard´s 1964 film Bande á part. :)
You can clearly see Eric Stoltz eating Fruit Brute cereal. This was a cereal from the seventies that was discontinued in 1982, which makes no sense with cell phones & Flock of Seagull references but it does make it feel like the seventies. Or he's had that cereal for over a decade & is just now getting around to eating it. That's some stale ass cereal. But I bet the marshmellows still taste good. I was always a Boo Berry man, myself.
'Fruit Brute' must have been QT's favorite cereal, growing up in the 70s..
Very interesting video! Haven't seen product placement that way before.
How come you didn't mention Mr. Wolf's Acura? The (arguably) best car in the movie being a Japanese one.
The Acura Will Get You There Accurately
I was always fascinated by how QT played with time in this movie. There is the Wolf and his 'that's 10 minutes away, I'll be there in 8' line(or whatever the exact line is.) There is the fact he is attending a cocktail party at that hour of the morning and the fact the kids in the apartment are eating burgers for breakfast. That's deliberate, but why, I don't know!
Incidentally, the cigarette brand Chesterfield is name checked by Harvey Keitel's Mr White in Reservoir Dogs.
I think we're supposed to assume the Wolf was still up from an all night party, it might even be referenced in the script, I feel like I heard it somewhere. But the Flock of Seagulls gang, that one still makes me think, too. Why are they eating burgers at 7 am? Why are they up at all? The others mostly look like schlubs but Brett looks showered for the day and is dressed somewhat well and his hair kept, perhaps he was expecting a meeting with Mr Wallace. But they didn't seem to care about him, Marvin is the one they spare and bring along for whatever reason (perhaps he had an appointment with a pair of pliers and a blowtorch). I've always wondered what Marvin's fate would have been. It probably wasn't good if they were taking him directly to Marsellus. Marsellus does greet them rather casually considering an hour earlier they'd called him frantically needing help, he almost seems surprised. I guess he was just that cool that it wasn't a big deal, he was used to cleaning up messes.
27:57 the chevy logo is a chevron shape, and in the window directly above the chevrolet name is two blue chevrons in the window reflection. this is seconds before she makes her 'square' shape in the air so shapes in the imagery are meant to be noticed i believe.
Only Rob could make a 35 minute video on product placement interesting and engaging.
18:32 I think you’re really underestimating people’s obsession with serial killers, especially in America lol
Also speaking of McDonald’s, their product placement in Coming To America was interesting, since they were portrayed as a competitor and thus the enemy, of a fake fast food chain restaurant with a similar name, “McDowell’s”
PF is set in the '90's, are the characters are people who are stuck a bit in the past, where everything was more simple and "real".
1994 was the start of the end for McD and BK, after this movie, what people did was seek out other no-name brands instead of the big names.
EVERYONE remembers the fast food discussions in PF, 25 years later. QT made up all these fake brands because he didn't get a paid promotions for those brands and didn't want the hassle in the future of working out deals.
"Could you roll me one, cowboy"--can you guess the brand name this would have been? This might have been a soft promotion.
All appliances are GE, old-time, *real American brands* that last and last. Some of these are decades old in 1994, but still work. Most products that are real American is presented in a positive fashion.
There is supposedly subliminal messages/imagery in some of the QT fake brand names. No, this is not a conspiracy, it was a common thing illustrators did back in the day.
In Big Kahuna, there is supposedly a naked woman.
URAQT
Is your dad a dealer??
'Cause you/re dope to me
This is a compelling set of items you presented here, Rob. My feeling before watching this was that any brand references were meant to anchor the film as a post-modern work, kind of in a Warhol - Pop Art kind of way, but the way real and fake brands are presented is highly inconsistent. As you were, I would be curious to see if they have anything on the books for endorsement funding.
LOL: “Everyone knows that wiping your ass on a puppy is much more pleasant.” I think I want this on a t-shirt.
This really adds another level to Quinton's attention to detail
"Everyone know's wiping your ass on a puppy is much more pleasant" I died lol. Rob, that one joke erased my whole day, thank you. :)
Damn. RIP
You make me think. Good job, I don't do it very often. I'm a big fan of Alfred Hitchcock and any McGuffin.
hello rob, loved watching your video and would just like to mention that you missed a product placement mention. the movie poster at 29:40 has an image of a pistol in a prominent position.
A band a part is most importantly, the name of a Jean-luc Godard film from 1964 for which Tarantino has a lot of appreciation for
As I recall, in reference to the popularity of "Pulp Fiction's" soundtrack, the movie "The Sting" repopularized the music of Scott Joplin, who had fallen from popularity until that movie. Since then, y'can't get enough of Scott Joplin.
Idk, it might maybe be because I'm kinda a psychopath, but the mock sales pitch for Lava soap TOTALLY works for me, I'm sold!
However, it's not any praticular chemical in Lava that gets the blood off, but rather the abrasive, gritty texture that comes from the inclusion of pumice stone.
I don't know if it's been mentioned in the comments, but you forgot the blatant product placement of the Acura NSX. More so because it's related to the coolest character in the movie.
18:11 Man that LAVA soup add was awesome, got to get me some LAVA soup now )
and the wiping your ass on a puppy killed me.
Regarding your line of questioning @ 20:36, I started dipping my french fires in mayo specifically after seeing Pulp Fiction when it came out and still do until this very day. Something clicked, mayo goes great on burgers too!
9:35 kind of looks like the King Hawaiian buns with that dinner roll color and the tear apart edge holding the roll together.
I’ve paused this after the Big Kahuna section as you move on to Red Apples to give a theory I formed whilst watching one time:
I like the connections you made here, I also never noticed how Burger King is dismissed in the car chat and then not present in his list of potential good looking burgers.
The theory I thought about was that the whole movie was funded because of Big Kahuna burger. In this reality, the reality of the movie, a movie script is written by PF-Tarantino based on a popular pulp fiction novel(s). Paid promotion is then needed to get it produced. The script is rewritten hastily and under extreme economic duress by PF-QT who has to get this BK advert in here somewhere because he wants to make his film. He sets it up by adding the car chat about burgers and then, wouldn’t you know it the job they’re going to becomes the scene for childish, mocking, cut his nose off to spite his face, ‘you just want me to stop my movie and start doing an advert for burgers? Fine!’. Now the movie can continue, bang, bang, bang.
I’ve seen Pulp Fiction plenty of times and have come up with many theories, some linking in other QT films. I don’t believe this is how real QT indented me to view the burger parts of PF, but it is good to think about next time you watch. Don’t think Samuel L Jackson is playing Jules, imagine Jules is played by a PF-QT reality era actor played by Samuel L. All the other little fake product placements like the Sam toaster pastries etc could be seen as both nods to running gag of how you fund/make a movie from real Tarantino and the bane of PF-QT’s life whilst trying to get the script filmed.
And now back to the video after this ramble. What if real Burger King asked real Tarantino to put a blatant advert like this into one of his scripts and QT said ‘No, how about instead I amuse myself by putting this situation into a script.’ All the other other stuff about Pepsi Challenge/Coke’s dead is clever and similar to word play used by good rappers, signs that he wants you to think and look past things. The title is Pulp Fiction and I’ve watched the thing for, I’m guessing, over 100 hours and still like, think about and am interested in it. Only used the term PF-QT whilst writing this comment and don’t really like it as it excludes the rest of the QT universe, but you’ve got to find abbreviations when you ramble.
The interesting trivial point in Pulp Fiction is Jules' girlfriend. Jules mentions he has a girlfriend and she's a vegetarian, and that's all we know. However, as you learn more about him, you start to wonder about what sort of relationship he has with her, what sort of woman is she and how does this cold as ice hitman date a vegetarian even though obviously he like meat (but not pork).
Thats one of the reasons I love his movie all the background items are his brand names like apple cigarettes, wolf tooth dog food,even cereal that he place in his movie
Hi Rob ─ at 31:35 you talk about cell phones "which people didn't have until the late 80s" ...I always thought the movie was contemporary (1994). Which year do you assume it takes place? And if they mention in it the movie I have missed it, even though I've seen it maybe fifty times. Thanks in advance.
It was the one film I can remember where I really wanted a smoke while I was watching it. I remember seeing it in the cinema in '94 and myself and my buddy Jamsie almost ran out of the cinema at the end of it to light up!!
This Is What Ziontologists Actually Beliebe
Great analysis here Rob. I’m guilty of buying Sprite several times just because of the scene with Brett. I’m surprised you didn’t analyze Tarantino’s fictional chain restaurant Teriyaki Donut, I was really hoping you would. Its in the scene where Marcellus is crossing the street and Butch causes a traffic accident. Yet the restaurant logo is really only visible in production stills of the movie- in pictures of Tarantino shooting that scene you see the restaurant sign. I always wonder about Tarantino’s stylistic choice to have that fake brand in the movie more clearly represented in production photos rather than the actual movie. I’d love to hear what you think about the use of Teriyaki Donut in this movie and Jackie Brown. Thank you for all of your lovely analysis videos, Rob.
I always felt that Vincent’s dismissal of Burger King was him being annoyed and letting Jules know he was done playing the “what’s this called” game.
I’ve discovered through Rob that I have little to NO sense of nuance in filmmaking and film consumption. Great stuff, Mr. A. I will say, regarding this video alone, that your Englishness is maybe a disadvantage. Lava Soap, (Freeze-dried) Taster’s Choice, the Pepsi Challenge would have been well burned into the collective American conscience at the time of the film, 1994. Product placement or not, the inclusion of these brands in the dialogue solidified the time and place of the film, as both obviously and somewhat uniquely American.
I may be full of shit, I dunno.