Member-only story
Movies
How Apple’s Product Placement Spoils the Movie
The one kind of character that isn’t allowed to use an iPhone
Apple’s iPhone is one of the most popular smartphones in the world — their flagship product now accounts for around half of phones in the US. Now I’m not going to start talking about whether the Android operating system is better or not, but rather a peculiarity in Apple’s marketing.
In big-budget movies, brands want to protect their trademarks and their reputation. But while you might see anyone using an Android phone on-screen, Apple has specific guidelines for movie studios. It gets flagged and then Apple needs to clear the usage.
Due to Apple’s involvement, you’ll only see certain characters using iPhones — but what do they all have in common?
As Director Rian Johnson told Vanity Fair in 2019:
“Apple, they let you use iPhones in movies, but — and this is very pivotal if you’re ever watching a mystery movie — bad guys cannot have iPhones on camera.”
Yeah, that’s right — go and rewatch your favorite detective or modern neo-noir movie and pay careful attention to the phones. Knowing this would spoil Johnson’s recent mystery movie Knives Out (2019).
