Warning: There are minor spoilers ahead.
If you head out to see "The Amazing Spider-Man" sequel this weekend, be prepared to see a lot of Sony products alongside the webslinger.
Sony phones. Sony laptops. Sony televisions. If Sony makes it, it's bound to be in the movie.
Here's a promotional photo of Peter Parker's bedroom from the film. How many Sony items can you spot?
Niko Tavernise / Columbia Pictures
We count at least three and a nod to a Sony Classics' movie. (We're not sure what kind of printer that is in the left hand corner, along with the headphones, and monitor. We'd be surprised if they weren't Sony, too.) Niko Tavernise/Columbia Pictures
I can understand that any time a laptop is shown - from the opening scene to when Peter Parker's in his room - that it will be a VAIO. I'll even believe that Parker has a Sony cell phone.
However, there's another scene that's meant to be an emotional one between Peter and his Aunt May, and when the camera pulls back a bit, there's a Sony television on Parker's nightstand. Ugh.
There's another point when Parker steps into an old, abandoned subway car and an old Sony desktop is conveniently there.
All of a sudden, these moments became a lot less emotional and more about the Sony products staring audiences in the face. When marketing starts to takes viewers' focus away from the film for even the slightest moment it starts to become an eye roll.
That's what happened while watching "The Amazing Spider-Man 2."
I don't usually notice product placement in movies, or at least, I try not to. The last time I remember seeing such obvious marketing was while watching Nokia, Walmart, and Sears pop up alongside Superman in last summer's "Man of Steel." That movie reportedly had 100 companies pay $160 million for promotional tie-ins.
Again, I understand and know Sony's going to use its movie to show off its products, but does it need to be so painfully obvious? My problem here isn't that Sony's showing off its products. That's fine.
It just isn't believable. We don't live in a world with only Sony electronics and that's what makes the products stick out so much in the sequel.
One reason we head out to theaters is for the thrill of escapism - to live in someone else's world for awhile. When that world becomes riddled with marketing it starts to defeat the purpose of what the film is trying to do - entertain.
"The Amazing Spider-Man" is a Sony superhero living in a Sony world. We're just along for the ride.