The Ridiculous Product Placements You Never Noticed In Yellowstone
By hook or by crook, brands will always find a way to get their products into the eyes of unsuspecting viewers. Product placement can sometimes be hard to spot because we live our lives surrounded by commercial goods, so seeing them in the background of a scene on TV might not seem too unusual. There are times, however, when it's overdone and leaves the audience asking questions like, "Why is everyone in this movie constantly eating at McDonalds?"
The Kevin Costner-starring Yellowstone may have some of the highest ratings of any cable show in recent memory, but it's certainly not afraid to offset its budget a bit with some product placements. In fact, it's chock full of them. The brands that get featured on the show often make sense in the world of ranch hands and rodeo workers, but the show isn't known for its subtlety, and that extends to its product placements. Once you know what to look for, you'll notice that a few brands seem to have a stranglehold over Montana.
Here are some of the product placements in Yellowstone that you might not have noticed, but now will never be able to stop seeing.
The characters on Yellowstone are often decked out in Carhartt gear
If you've ever lived somewhere in rural America, then you're probably very familiar with the ultra-functional clothing brand Carhartt. Fittingly, the Dutton family and their associates often appear completely drenched in Carhartt gear on Yellowstone. It calls to mind the way the camera often lingered on Carrie Bradshaw (Sarah Jessica Parker) carrying a Dior purse or adjusting the straps on her Manolo Blahniks on Sex and the City.
You won't just find the gear on the characters, either. As Product Placement Blog points out, in the season 3 premiere, there's a big rack of Carhartt hats strategically placed in frame next to Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly) while she gives some useful life advice to an abused store clerk.
All the Carhartt gear falls somewhere in the middle of "accurate to the world of the show," and "over-the-top product placement." Even if it does fit into the Dutton's ethos, however, that doesn't mean it's all incredibly stylish. In a roundup of the best jackets worn by John Dutton (Costner) by The Ringer, writer Andrew Gruttadaro gave a dishonorable mention to one of his Carhartt numbers: "No offense to Carhartt, but this is my least favorite jacket on Yellowstone."
As in a frat house, Coors can be found everywhere on Yellowstone
Another brand that's plastered all over Yellowstone is Coors. The classic American brewskies can be spotted in the hands of characters and advertised on signs all throughout the show's version of Montana. It's a trend that hasn't gone unnoticed by fans of the show. On a Reddit thread about product placement throughout the series, user Halvz called out a specific bar scene, noting, "MolsonCoors products were all over. CoorsLight, Banquet were plastered and hell there was even a sign for their Mexican cerveza, Sol."
While there's probably no shortage of Coors aficionados in Montana, according to the data, it's likely not the most popular beer in the state. In 2018, Food & Wine did an analysis of Google trends to determine what the most searched-for beer was in each of the 50 states. The brew of choice for Montanans? Rainier. While Google searches might not provide a definitive answer to what beer the Treasure State prefers to drink, Reddit user 107Scott provided some supporting first-hand evidence.
In a Reddit thread about the ubiquitous nature of Coors products on Yellowstone, they commented, "My cousins and uncle in Montana all drank Ranier [sic]." For the sake of authenticity, perhaps Yellowstone should replace a few Coors with bottles of Rainier.
Why everyone in Yellowstone's version of Montana drives a Ram Truck
Clothing and beer are types of products that it might be easy to miss being pushed by a show. Seeing a bunch of Coors products in the background of a bar scene isn't really that usual. But what about when it feels like everyone in Montana is driving the same truck?
If you watch the show, you've likely noticed that a lot of the characters drive Ram Trucks ... like, a lot a lot. This is so much the case that one viewer started a Reddit thread called "Never seen more product placement than a Dodge RAM in Yellowstone. Not sure if that pops out to anyone else."
It did indeed pop out to others. User khahlbohn replied, saying, "Coming from a dodge family I def noticed lol." In another Reddit thread about product placements, user alliewallie12 said, "I mean, the whole show is a giant Dodge Ram commercial ... "
For user MichaelJordansToupee, the issue isn't so much that there are lots of Ram Trucks on display — it's that they look like they are there to be advertised. They pointed out, "No dents or bumps, no sagging or missing bumpers, hell even the tires look all shiny, no dirt on them." It's quite a feat to keep a truck that clean in the wilds of Montana!
After taking a peek behind the curtain, we're sure you'll be spotting product placement left and right next time you hang up your Carhartt hat, crack open a nice cold Coors, and turn on an episode of Yellowstone.