Brand Skewering in Movies: A History

In the run-up to the release of the story-behind-Facebook film The Social Network, (the movie brought to you by non-Facebookers), we argued that Facebook has nothing to fear, but one brand does (Harvard). Now, a look at some films, both fictional and not, that skewered big brands and companies, and what effect they had.

Film: Thank you for Smoking

Brand(s) Involved: Big tobacco is lampooned in general but Marlboro takes a particularly big hit as the film features a dying Marlboro Man spokesman.

Impact: Funny? Absolutely. Telling us anything we didn't already know about tobacco? Nope.

Read on for more.

Film: Flash of Genius

Brand(s) Involved: The true tale of how the inventor of the intermittent windshield wiper technology got screwed by Detroit's Big Three.

Impact: In reaction to the film, the Ford brand released the statement,"Resolved more than 20 years ago, the real-life events are less dramatic" and it was right.

Film: The Devil Wears Prada

Brand(s) Involved: This fictional tale was a thinly veiled look at Conde Nast's Vogue magazine and its iconic editor, Anna Wintour.

Impact: If anything, the film backfired and created a "Gordon Gekko" -- a corporate villain we love to hate to love.

Film: Antitrust

Brand(s) Involved: No mistaking which brand this Portland-based computer firm led by a Bill Gates-like megalomanic is meant to take on.

Impact: Remember when Microsoft was considered a huge threat to society? It was about the same time Ryan Phillippe was considered leading man material.

Film: Super Size Me

Brand(s) Involved: McDonald's

Impact: This manipulative documentary caused a stir at the time of its release. But its sensationalist influence has waned severely through time.

Film: Fast Food Nation

Brand(s) Involved: A rather intelligent fictional adaptation of the nonfiction book, there is no mistaking what fast food brand "Mickey's" is meant to evoke.

Impact: McDonald's business suffered greatly. Just kidding. Nobody saw this movie.

Film: The Informant!

Brand(s) Involved: The true-life tale of one Archers Daniel Midland employee.

Impact: Since the exposure of the food conglomerate's price fixing activities, its stock has risen 15%.

Film: Network

Brand(s) Involved: Union Broadcasting System (UBS) was an amalgam of the big three US broadcast TV networks.

Impact: ABC, NBC and CBS have suffered of late, but it's been at the hands of cable and the Web, not conglomeration.

Film: Citizen Kane

Brand(s) Involved: Did anyone not know Kane was a barely-fictional version of William Randolph Hearst?

Impact: The Hearst empire publishes to this day. Orson Welles, meanwhile, was reduced to drunkenly hustling Paul Masson wine.