At the Movies This Weekend: Goldman Sachs Product Placement Is Comedy Gold

After last week's nearly brandless #1 film, Gnomeo and Juliet, Brandcameo is expecting another animated weekend thanks to Rango. From the looks of it, Rango will continue the months-long trend of animated children's films with virtually no product placement. But the Johnny Depp kids' vehicle isn't the only new film this weekend. One comedy is taking aim at Goldman Sachs.

But first: we remain in awe at how Ducati is just chewing up the scenery when it comes to product placement these days. In as many months, Ducati has scored three major roles in Tron: Legacy, I am Number Four and, now, Beastly.

Ducati scores a big role in this weekend's teen romance retelling of Beauty and the Beast. Oddly enough, Beastly is the second parroting this year of an "it" actor Alex Pettyfer film and the Italian bike brand (I am Number Four). Catch the Ducati in the trailer:

Meanwhile, while the highly stylized sci-fi film The Adjustment Bureau credits a crew member with product placement clearances, it's unknown just how much product the film will place. Of course, there's always the presence of Lincoln's current pitch man, actor John Slattery and the use of GQ for establish legitimacy.

We've previously looked at how marketing efforts of the comedy Take Me Home Tonight appeared to be uncomfortable in ads tying the Mercedes Benz logo to cocaine use, blurring out the familiar circle logo in TV ads. But the 1980s-set romper offers the most interesting product placement of the weekend, from Pepsi to a running gag about (current easy target) Goldman Sachs (below, at top).

This isn't the first time Goldman Sachs has taken some licks from a recent film. Of course, last year's Wall Street 2 featured a storyline about a powerful financial firm that was a stand in for Goldman, though the name was never mentioned. But also last summer's hit film The Other Guys, a credit sequence ran statistics unfavorable to the investment bank bank holding company.

In 1988, the year in which the movie takes place, Goldman was making agressive moves to turn it into the financial juggernaut it is today. It was the year that saw the opening of Goldman Sachs Asset Management. And as New York Times articles from the period show, Goldman was making a name for itself as a financial innovator, ahead of the curve and on its way to becoming the "top-ranked takeover adviser."

In the film, our hero pretends to work at Goldman Sachs because his real job is at the less glamorous Suncoast Video. In honor of the dissapearing profession of video store clerk, a Blockbuster training video from the era of Take Me Home Tonight:

If you catch any of these movies over the weekend, post a comment about what you think about the product placement. As always, we will have a full report on the product placement in the top film of the weekend (and more) on Monday.

In the meantime, read the recently announced 2010 Product Placement Awards. Enjoy the movies!