You would think having your company mentioned in a hit Hollywood movie would be an easy sell for most business owners looking to keep their name out there. However, people tend to draw the line at name-drops that could potentially present their product in a negative light. The makers of Jerry Maguire, for example, found that out the hard way when Reebok filed a breach-of-contract suit against TriStar Pictures in 1996. Evidently, a full-length commercial for the popular footwear brand was supposed to be featured in the film, but all that remained in the final cut was a scene where Cuba Gooding Jr.’s character shouts, “F—k Reebok!”
Understandably, many companies would be leery of having their brand associated with a stoner flick like Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. Obviously, White Castle wasn’t one of them, as the famous burger chain became the focal point of the 2004 comedy. Prior to the film’s release, White Castle’s former director of marketing, Jamie Richardson, said that the movie “was like a love letter to White Castle.”
He went on to say, “There was something authentic in the way the script described how people feel about our distinctive taste and the lengths they’ll go to.”
‘Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle’ Almost Had a Completely Different Food Quest
One company that didn’t feel the same way was Krispy Kreme. In Jon Hurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg’s original script for Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, the titular stoner duo’s buddies, Rosenberg and Goldstein (as played by Eddie Kaye Thomas and David Krumholtz), were supposed to embark on a journey of their own to one of the beloved doughnut chain’s New Jersey locations. Just before shooting began, the folks at Krispy Kreme got cold feet and backed out. As a result, the filmmakers were forced to use the fictional Hot Dog Heaven as a replacement.
But even though White Castle was cool with their name being used in the movie, they did take issue with one scene as it was written because Harold and Kumar reportedly arrived at a White Castle that had been closed for a while. From Richardson’s perspective, that gave off the impression that their brand was in decline. “That’s not reflective of what we’re doing. We’re opening new restaurants,” he explained at the time. The producers ultimately altered the offending sequence.
You can check out the scene that they were planning to shoot at Krispy Kreme below.
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