“Yes Man” Should Have Said No

“Yes Man” is a movie that came out in 2008 in which Jim Carrey’s character must say ”yes” to everything in order to spice up his life. This movie did not receive good reviews. Rotten Tomatoes only gave the movie a 45% saying, “Jim Carrey's comic convulsions are the only bright spots in this otherwise dim and predictable comedy.” Another aspect many people seem to be critiquing is the excessive product placement. All kinds of companies are advertised in this movie, whether it is simply the logo in the background of a scene or a discussion that brings the product name into the conversation.

The most obvious scene advertising a product is the Red Bull scene. Jim Carrey’s character steps out of a car and the camera zooms in on Red Bull cans as they fall out of the car. Carrey is very amped up and walks over to a woman he has a crush on in the movie. He mentions the name Red Bull multiple times, saying that he had a couple and that he liked them. In this scene, Red Bull is shown in a good light because he is saying that he likes it and you can see that it really did give him energy. However, one of the main controversies about Red Bull is that it gives you energy, but then causes you to have a major crash. In the movie, he is asked if the Red Bull is going to make him crash and he says no. Later on in the movie he does crash though, which could make Red Bull look bad.

Other product logos were seen in the background of scenes, such as Blockbuster, Dell, Nokia, Pizza Hut, Renaissance Hotel, UPS, and many more. Many viewers believe that the movie over did it with the company logos. Having too many product advertisements can decrease the ethos and logos of a movie. Viewers may believe that they need to have all of the ads to fund the movie, which could make the company that produced the movie look bad.

An article from the Orange County Register called ADVERTISING; Name-brand props in the movies; Consumer group wants labels to signify product placement says, “brand-name products and logos realistically reflect the landscape of everyday American life.” The glimpses of different logos in the background might make the movie seem realistic, but having as many as they do is not necessary.

Sean O’Connell says in a blog, “Have you seen more shameless product placement on screen this year that the advertisements-in-a-movie crammed throughout Yes Man?” There were various other movie reviews online that commented on the overdone product placement and how it took away from the movie. 

Overall, I do not think that either the companies or the movie gained anything. 

I would rate this movie one out of 3.