In the movie Near Dark (1987) the lead character eats a Orbit candy bar.
August 28, 2020 7:54 AM Subscribe
Was that a real candy bar?
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/6Gcg5qp.jpg
Ghostbusters has a Nestle Crunch bar, Goonies has Baby Ruth, Beetlejuice has Zagnut, Sleepaway Camp has PowerHouse…I can’t find anything online about Orbit other than the gum. It looks like the movie was mostly shot in Arizona, maybe it was regional?
Screenshot: https://i.imgur.com/6Gcg5qp.jpg
Ghostbusters has a Nestle Crunch bar, Goonies has Baby Ruth, Beetlejuice has Zagnut, Sleepaway Camp has PowerHouse…I can’t find anything online about Orbit other than the gum. It looks like the movie was mostly shot in Arizona, maybe it was regional?
"Orbit Bar" looks to have possibly been an ice cream treat in the 50s. 2nd'ing its a prop brand in the movie. pinterest: orbit bar
posted by TheAdamist at 8:15 AM on August 28, 2020
posted by TheAdamist at 8:15 AM on August 28, 2020
It's common for films to come up with fake brand names for things. Using real brand names opens up all kinds of legal/marketing complications for the brands; if there really were an "Orbit" candy bar, the filmmakers would have had to make a deal with the Orbit company for permission to use it, and that deal would probably have come with the ruling that the name would have had to be WAY more prominent than what's in that screenshot. They might also have had additional rules about how the brand was used (i.e., "you have the the bad guy chowing down on Orbit every time he kills a kitten, change that" or whatever).
Because the rules around using real brands can be strict, movies will come up with fake brands for things so they don't have to deal with it, especially if that brand or entity has a big impact on the plot. For instance, "Stay-Puft Marshmallows" isn't real; nor is Oceanic Airlines, or Morley Cigarettes. Or they'll sometimes come up with a fake brand just because they didn't have the money to deal with the real brand - a friend was a child actor on a lower-budget PBS show, and says that there was a scene where his character visited a vending machine and excitedly bought a "Stars Bar". He says that the "Stars Bar" was actually a "Mars Bar" which had been doctored by the props team using some contact paper on the wrappers.
Long story short - "Orbit Bars" probably aren't real.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:39 AM on August 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
Because the rules around using real brands can be strict, movies will come up with fake brands for things so they don't have to deal with it, especially if that brand or entity has a big impact on the plot. For instance, "Stay-Puft Marshmallows" isn't real; nor is Oceanic Airlines, or Morley Cigarettes. Or they'll sometimes come up with a fake brand just because they didn't have the money to deal with the real brand - a friend was a child actor on a lower-budget PBS show, and says that there was a scene where his character visited a vending machine and excitedly bought a "Stars Bar". He says that the "Stars Bar" was actually a "Mars Bar" which had been doctored by the props team using some contact paper on the wrappers.
Long story short - "Orbit Bars" probably aren't real.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 9:39 AM on August 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
Interestingly, all of the other candy in that machine is real. I can identify Krackel, Oh Henry, 3 Musketeers, Snickers, Mounds, and Almond Joy bars.
posted by hanov3r at 9:45 AM on August 28, 2020
posted by hanov3r at 9:45 AM on August 28, 2020
The website The Candy Database finds only multiple varieties of Orbit gum, a lot of sugar-free candies because of the sugar-free sweetener sorbitol, for some reason an orbital sander (?), and something called Professor Zim Zam’s Extraordinary Sweets Dark Chocolate and Tangerine Orbites.
posted by blueberry at 10:02 AM on August 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by blueberry at 10:02 AM on August 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
Could the name be something else that ends in "RBIT" or are there other shots where the start of the word is shown?
posted by wanderingmind at 10:11 AM on August 28, 2020
posted by wanderingmind at 10:11 AM on August 28, 2020
Response by poster: It's definitely Orbit, since you can see another bar in the machine itself showing the side of the packaging.
I guess it's possible it's fake. It's just that the entire rest of the movie feels like it's shot in actual bars and bustops, and it's not really the point of the scene. But the candy does make him sick, so maybe they had to make something up becuase of that.
posted by andrewzipp at 10:25 AM on August 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
I guess it's possible it's fake. It's just that the entire rest of the movie feels like it's shot in actual bars and bustops, and it's not really the point of the scene. But the candy does make him sick, so maybe they had to make something up becuase of that.
posted by andrewzipp at 10:25 AM on August 28, 2020 [1 favorite]
the candy does make him sick
Speaks to it being fake, then. No brand's going to allow usage of their product to make someone sick in a movie.
posted by hanov3r at 10:31 AM on August 28, 2020 [5 favorites]
Speaks to it being fake, then. No brand's going to allow usage of their product to make someone sick in a movie.
posted by hanov3r at 10:31 AM on August 28, 2020 [5 favorites]
Bit of a side note but this thread made me curious about what rights a brand might have to dis-allow usage in a film, and the short version is it's pretty limited--they definitely don't get to pre-approve or anything--but lawsuits are possible and a lot of filmmakers will take the 'why risk it' approach.
This is the most comprehensive single post I found.
posted by mark k at 12:20 PM on August 28, 2020
This is the most comprehensive single post I found.
posted by mark k at 12:20 PM on August 28, 2020
mark k—Companies do get to approve. Apple does not allow villains to use iPhones.
The firm you linked to doesn’t really practice in this area.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:04 PM on August 28, 2020
The firm you linked to doesn’t really practice in this area.
posted by Ideefixe at 4:04 PM on August 28, 2020
@Ideefixe: I don't want to derail but remain curious about details and started a separate ask here. Please jump in if you have more to add.
posted by mark k at 4:39 PM on August 28, 2020
posted by mark k at 4:39 PM on August 28, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cosmicbandito at 8:07 AM on August 28, 2020