Everyday Products That Skyrocketed in Sales After a Movie Featured Them

The magic of product placements is crazy. It's so discreet (sometimes) that it has you craving food without realizing it. How many times have you watched a film or TV where one of the characters is eating a chocolate bar and wanted one for yourself? Or was drinking a nice cold beer?

Well, this is done on purpose, although it's more successful in some movies than others. Here we have some everyday products that skyrocketed in sales after movies featured them.

To find these items, we used news sources and marketing sources.

This isn't exactly an everyday or cheap product, but it's worth a mention. "Transformers" really did a lot for car companies with their many car scenes. Now, anytime some of us see a yellow car, specifically a Chevrolet Camaro, we think of the character Bumblebee.

After the first film, demand for this car soared. According to CNBC, the car wasn't real, but the concept from the film pushed the company to release the vehicle in 2009, resulting in 60,000 sales.

While Tom Cruise popularized Ray-Bans in general, he did it again two years later, but with a different line, the Aviator sunglasses. These iconic glasses are worn in "Top Gun" and again in "Top Gun: Maverick," boosting sales and popularity.

Thanks to the product placement in the box office hit, "E.T.," Reese's Pieces became one of the most popular and sold candies in the world. It is still popular! Sales for this sweet treat jumped as high as 300% because of the film. Talk about marketing power.

Instead of creating a slide for each product hilariously featured on "Wayne’s World," we made it into one. This movie was packed with them, which would get annoying if the product placements weren't so purposefully obvious. The movie had product placements for everyday brands like Pizza Hut, Doritos, and Pepsi.

While we aren't all rocking Ray-Ban sunglasses, they are one of the most well-known products today. And who can the company thank? Apparently, Tom Cruise in "Risky Business." Before this film and his use of the sunglasses, the company was on the verge of bankruptcy.

This one is a bit more obvious than other product placements. The whole movie centers around the pair trying to make it to White Castle, "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle." Even now, decades later, fans travel out of their way to eat at White Castle while referencing the film.

To sell products, all you need are celebrities to look cool while using them. Or at least it can seem like that. One of the most successful product placements in a film was Suntory Whisky in "Lost In Translation." The brand became internationally known after its use in the comedy.

Although this product hasn't remained popular over the years, it's worth a mention as it was all the rage in the late 90s and early 2000s: the Nokia 7110. After the product was used in the film "The Matrix," sales climbed as fans ran to buy their own.

How can a volleyball be iconic? Well, in this case, it's because of the hit movie, "Cast Away." When you're stranded on an island for four years without anyone to talk to, you'll get creative. Or that's what Tom Hanks' character did at least, making a Wilson volleyball his friend.

Frozen waffles, anyone? Although "Stranger Things" isn't a movie, it does feature a product placement that worked super well. Eggos (specifically the waffles) in the first season were a big deal. It's all eleven would eat for a time. Because of this, the audience was constantly exposed to the brand, influencing minds worldwide.

Really, we could have just written the Toy Story franchise in the heading and it'd make complete sense. Still, one of the oldest and most popular toys featured in the film is Mr. Potato Head, a Hasbro toy produced since 1952. Because of the successful franchise, this 60+ year-old toy isn't going anywhere.

So many luxurious sports cars have been used in the James Bond series. Although we could name them all, the most iconic vehicle has to be the Aston Martin DB5, which was featured in "Goldfinger." Other vehicles Bond has driven include the Lotus Esprit S1, the Aston Martin V8 Vantage Volante, and the BMW Z3.

Coca-Cola is one of the most successful brands in the world. Just in 2024, it grossed $11.54 billion. This might be because it's a household name, has a long history, or it's great advertising. Really think about it. What movies do you remember featuring Coca-Cola? A few of these are "The Gods Must Be Crazy," "Superman," "Dr. Strangelove," and "Elf."