Sony Pictures
Sony Pictures ended up with a hit on its hands when Superbad hit theaters in 2007. It was also able to orchestrate some good, old-fashioned product placement to shamelessly promote the PS2, although Seth Rogen has revealed the studio refused to let Jonah Hill’s character interact with the console in the film.
It’s hard to believe it’s been close to 20 years since we were treated to a new entry to the Raunchy Teen Movie canon thanks to Superbad, the wildly relatable and infinitely enjoyable R-rated comedy that ended up raking in more than $170 million at the box office.
Superbad effectively launched the careers of Emma Stone, Michael Cera, and Jonah Hill, the last of whom was the character Seth Rogen (who penned the movie with longtime writing partner Evan Goldberg) used as a vehicle to capture the essence of his high school experience.
Hill’s character (creatively named Seth) is a wildly foul-mouthed high school senior who spends the bulk of the film doing everything in his power to get laid. It was a realistic portrayal of plenty of guys that age, but it would be a stretch to describe him as an aspirational figure.
Based on an interview Rogen recently conducted with Rotten Tomatoes, the folks at Sony Pictures were turned off by the “vile” character to the point where they made it clear Hill was not allowed to interact with the PlayStation console that made a brief appearance in the movie.
@rottentomatoes “Jonah can’t touch a Playstation. We can’t have him interact with our products.” TheStudio’s Seth Rogen shares his favorite note from working with Sony on Superbad. #SXSW #sethrogen #playstation #comedy #movie #movietok #filmtok #redcarpet #interview
He explained the rationale behind the directive, saying:
“Jonah Hill’s character, Seth, was so reprehensible to the studio. There’s a scene where they’re playing video games, and they’re like, ‘Jonah can’t touch a PlayStation. We can’t have him interact with our products as a character, because it’s too vile a character.’
I was like, ‘It’s based on me. That’s very insulting.'”
If you’re curious, the scene in question featured Cera’s Evan playing The Getaway: Black Monday on a PS2 while Seth is browsing through his closet before dropping a fantastic line involving cargo shorts.
Sony isn’t the only company that throws its weight around when it comes to product placement, as Apple has a reputation for heavily dissuading the use of iPhones by anyone painted as a villain in a movie or television show.