Product placement at the Oscars was prominent this year than in recent memory, and it wasn’t just the Junior Mints raining from the sky. The commercials airing during the ABC broadcast notably saw the Academy teaming with Rolex for a spot that “celebrated cinema” by crudely dropping the watch in a bunch of classic films. But perhaps even more questionable was the alignment with Walmart.
READ MORE: The Best & The Worst Of The 2017 Oscars
“Behind Every Receipt, There’s A Great Story” went the campaign that saw Antoine Fuqua, Marc Forster, and Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg team up for a trio of short films, all inspired by a receipt from the store containing bananas, batteries, paper towels, a scooter, wrapping paper, and video baby monitor. Fuqua and Forster took things in a sci-fi direction, while Rogen and Goldberg turned toward a musical.
It’s a neat idea, even if the Academy aligning itself with a corporate behemoth like Walmart feels a bit… uncomfortable. But couldn’t they find a female director for at least one of these?