from Jonathan Klotz
| Published
After the success of ET the alienHollywood struggled to repeat its success and filled the 1980s with family-friendly alien adventures, some more successful than others, but none as outrageous as the disastrous Mac and me. Not only was the plot a direct rip-off of the Steven Spielberg classic, but the product placement was so obnoxious and in-your-face that an entire scene at McDonald’s featured Ronald McDonald.
The McDonalds scene isn’t the worst product placement in the movie. Considered one of the worst movies of all time, it’s impossible to sit back and enjoy it Mac and me without making it ironic.
Science fiction
The plot of Mac and me sounds like someone took the novella of ET and changed a few words, thinking no one would notice. Mac, which means a mysterious alien being and just happens to remind you of McDonald’s Big Mac arrives in Los Angeles, befriends a small child, is hunted by the FBI, and ends up using his alien abilities to perform a healing miracle. What makes it different is that the Mac family is on Earth with it and of course the unheard of product placement.
ET the alien made Reese’s Pieces famous, and every other company in the country wanted the same kind of push for their brands, which is why McDonald’s is featured so prominently, including a five-minute dance sequence that got Ronald McDonald nominated for a Razzie. Not the worst product placement though fast foodbut Coca-Cola. When Mack’s family is finally found, they are suffering from dehydration and are revived by the cool, crisp and refreshing taste of Coke.
While promoting his documentary Pom Great Gifts: The greatest movie ever soldMorgan Spurlock mentioned Mac and me as “the worst thing you will ever have in your life, and it was paid for with good by me friends at McDonald’s” in an interview with Yahoo! Movies. At the time, critics including Gene Siskel called out the film for its product placement and also for being a blatant hoax, which helps explain the impressive Rotten Tomatoes score of zero percent fresh.
Paul Rudd’s favorite movie
For a generation, however, Mac and me are best known for the clip of a child in a wheelchair descending and falling into the water, thanks to Paul Rudd. Every time Rudd is interviewed by Conan O’Brien, including on a podcast, he shows the same clip every time.
What most people don’t know, or have forgotten because their brains try to keep them from remembering the movie, is that the kid, Eric, was killed by a stray bullet. Even in the 80s, a decade of excess and pushing the envelope, showing a child shot in a family film was too much, so the moment was cut and he just died off-screen instead.
Don’t worry though; he gets better.
Mac and me now stands the test of time as an argument that not every director is a visionary, not every film is a work of art. Some, although it could be argued that this is true of most films, are completely heartless cash grabs to make money.
The product placement continues today, but one of the worst I’ve ever seen includes McDonald’s rival Burger King, which in Men in Black II there’s a working restaurant at the organization’s top-secret headquarters. At least when Vin Diesel talks about family while holding a Corona or Allspark in it Transformers turns an Xbox in a killing machine, they have plot significance…sort of.
If you’ve never seen Mac and Me and want to laugh or punish your friends, you can stream it for free at Pipes, Pluto TVand Amazon Freevee.
