Yesterday Time.com launched a debate about an online-only Budweiser commercial -- a two-minute sketch in which a guy tries to subtly order a porn magazine called "Tongue & Cheeks" in a convenience store along with his Bud Light and watch batteries. The debate is about whether the ad objectifies women, and specifically, whether it signifies something called "porn creep," the further mainstreaming of porn by a big American brand. Blah blah blah, but as a few YouTube commenters have noticed, isn't this commercial, which is moderately amusing, an exact ripoff of the funny/sad scene in Little Miss Sunshine where Steve Carrel runs into his ex while buying porn in a convenience store?
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The LMS clip seems (tragically) not online, but it was basically exactly the same but much better (and sadder.) There was also a similar scene in Woody Allen's Bananas. I know the argument Time's making is about porn in commercials, not porn in movies, but since Steve Carrel's character was gay (and who says the Bud Light guy wasn't also?), the whole objectifying women part is probably bullshit. And you can't just rip off scenes from movies for your commercials, Budweiser. The internet is watching.
