Budweiser unhappy with role in new Denzel film

Anheuser-Busch InBev is trying to get its beer brand Budweiser removed from Denzel Washington’s new film Flight.

In the film Washington plays a highly-functioning alcoholic pilot but his portrayal is not going down well with brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev or the distributor of Stolichnaya vodka.

At one point during the film Washington’s character is seen drinking Budweiser while behind the wheel and Anheuser-Busch InBev said it has asked Paramount Pictures to obscure or remove the Budweiser logo from the film

Rob McCarthy, vice president of Budweiser, said the company was not contacted by Paramount or the production company of director Robert Zemeckis for permission to use the beer in Flight.

McCarthy said: “We would never condone the misuse of our products, and have a long history of promoting responsible drinking and preventing drunk driving.

“We have asked the studio to obscure the Budweiser trademark in current digital copies of the movie and on all subsequent adaptations of the film, including DVD, On Demand, streaming and additional prints not yet distributed to theatres.”

The film opened across North America last week, earning £15.7million in its debut weekend.

Washington’s character also drinks several vodka brands throughout the film and William Grant & Sons, which distributes Stolichnaya in the United States, is also unhappy about its role in the film.

James Curich, a spokesman for William Grant & Sons, said the company did not license its brand for inclusion in the film and would not have given permission if asked.

Curich said: “Considering the subject matter of this film, it is not something in which we would have participated.”

Despite these concerns a legal expert told the Press Association that there very little that the companies will be able to do.

Daniel Nazer, a resident fellow at Stanford Law School’s Fair Use Project, said: “Trademark laws don’t exist to give companies the right to control and censor movies and TV shows that might happen to include real-world items.

“It is the case that often film-makers get paid by companies to include their products. I think that’s sort of led to a culture where they expect they’ll have control. That’s not a right the trademark law gives them.”