Budweiser and Stolichnaya fuming over starring role with drunk pilot
Hero pilot drunk on Stolichnaya and Bud is bad for our responsible image, say firms, as they ask Paramount to take them out of the picture
Denzel Washington's character in Flight drinks a lot, but his portrayal of a highly functioning alcoholic pilot isn't going down well with brewing company Anheuser-Busch or the distributor of Stolichnaya vodka. Anheuser-Busch has asked Paramount Pictures to obscure or remove the Budweiser logo from the film, released last week, which at one point shows Washington's character drinking the beer while behind the wheel.
Budweiser is hardly the only alcoholic beverage shown in Flight, which earned US$25 million in its debut weekend and is likely to remain popular with audiences. Washington plays an airline pilot who, despite being hung over, drunk and coked up, manages to bring down a rapidly deteriorating plane in a daring emergency landing on what should have been a routine flight between Orlando, Florida, and Atlanta.
William Grant & Sons, which distributes Stolichnaya in the United States, also said it didn't licence its brand for inclusion in the film and wouldn't have given permission if asked.
Budweiser vice-president Rob McCarthy said the company wasn't contacted by Paramount or the production company of director Robert Zemeckis for permission to use the beer in Flight.
"We would never condone the misuse of our products, and have a long history of promoting responsible drinking," McCarthy said. "We have asked the studio to obscure the Budweiser trademark in current digital copies of the movie and on all subsequent adaptations of the film."
A spokesman for Zemeckis referred questions to Paramount, which did not return an e-mail message seeking comment.