Both brands do not condone the use of their products in the movie about an alcoholic pilot, because they want to promote responsible drinking.
- Nov 7, 2012
AceShowbiz - "Flight" is not approved to use Budweiser in its content. On Monday, November 5, brewing company Anheuser-Busch has asked Paramount Pictures Corps. to remove the beer's logo from the scene where Denzel Washington's character drinks behind the wheel.
"We would never condone the misuse of our products, and have a long history of promoting responsible drinking and preventing drunk driving," Budweiser vice president Robert McCarthy told Reuters. "It is disappointing that Image Movers, the production company, and Paramount chose to use one of our brands in this manner."
"Flight" centers on Washington's pilot character who is alcoholic but deemed a hero after saving every passenger during a plane crash. Budweiser is not the only brand featured in the film for the character is seen more often with vodka in his hands.
Russian vodka Stolichnaya in particular agrees with Budweiser that it prefers not to be associated to the movie. William Grant & Sons, which distributes the vodka in the United States, said the movie did not get a permission to use their product and will never have. "Considering the subject matter of this film, it is not something in which we would have participated," spokesman James Curich wrote in an email
"Flight" has claimed $25 million in box office. Although they don't condone the use of their brands, both Budweiser and Stolichnaya may not be able pursue a legal act against the movie because trademark laws "don't exist to give companies the right to control and censor movies and TV shows that might happen to include real-world items".
