Fake TV and Movie Products Require Real Packaging

Available in the ISS prop arsenal.

Have you ever turned on your favorite show and noticed the characters drinking a red can of "Cola" that could almost pass for a can of Coke, but not quite? How about a nice candy bar — a milk chocolate Henry's, perhaps? These are just a couple examples of fake brands that can be seen on screen. Though the brands are fake, they require real packaging, which is often produced by a prop manufacturer, such as Independent Studio Services (ISS).

ISS is one of the foremost television and movie prop specialists for sets that opt to not include real brands in filming. The Huffington Post explains that sometimes, using real brands can put sets at risk of defamation lawsuits or can alienate advertisers if one brand is chosen over another. On the flip side however, using glaringly obvious fake brands pose the risk of bringing viewers out of their "suspension of disbelief" as The Huffington Post points out. That's why companies, such as ISS came into existence; to create brands and packaging that could pass as real, but wouldn't cause conflict.

Developing these faux-brands is not as simple as just making a couple tweaks to the real thing. It involves testing, as well as printing and manufacturing of the labels or packaging to make sure that they will look authentic on screen.

Cerveza Clara is one of the many beer options from ISS.

Gregg Bilson, president and CEO of ISS, explained to packagePRINTING that ISS designs about 85% of its packaging in-house, through its subsidiary Studio Graphics, but sometimes, the production team for a show or movie will provide artwork for a product that is "integral to a storyline." 

All of the packaging is tested and created in-house, Bilson explains. And since most of the time it's for a small production run, much of the assembly is done by hand, which can be labor- and time-intensive.

"In [the package printing industry] you have six months to six years to launch a product," he says. "A lot of times we have six hours."

For example, the labels that ISS creates are adhered to cans by hand, one-by-one. And that doesn't take into account when something needs to be relabeled at the last moment.

"We're not going into production, we're making a six-pack," he says. "So we're kind of prototyping everything. We joke that it's like a giant arts and crafts day."

But it's not just cans and bottles that ISS has to prepare manually. The company creates a full array of packaging, including six-pack carriers, cereal boxes, milk cartons and blister pill packages. Placebos that match the look and feel of the pill that is supposed to be taken by a character are used to fill the packaging. Most of the time they're lactose pills, but sometimes an actor or actress is lactose-intolerant, so ISS will have to make sure special pills are included in the packaging, Bilson says, but that is sometimes communicated at the last moment, making for a very quick turnaround. Although ISS typically gets the pills from an outside vendor, Bilson says they have made them in small quantities in the past. And of course, there are always multiple takes on a TV or film set, so ISS has to provide multiples to production.

Primarily, Bilson explains ISS prints its packaging digitally, along with some silk screening and flatbed printing. Offset printing doesn't make sense for the company since most of the products that are created are produced in short runs. However, offset is used when there are longer runs of paper props, but those are typically nonpackaging items like large stacks of newspapers or money.

Bilson says that ISS uses some HP and Roland equipment, but has pretty much "everything under the sun. It's important — just like in any facet of the package printing industry — to stay up-to-date on the latest technology. New machines could mean a reduction in labor time, and for the TV and film industry, time is always of the essence.

ISS has seven prop locations in addition to its Sunland, Calif., facility — affectionately referred to as "The Mothership" Bilson says — that it ships props to and where production teams can visit to pick up anything that is needed. However, its Louisiana and Georgia locations do have some printing capabilities.

Corny Flakes is one of the fake packaging options available from Filmsourcing.

Sami Tuomisaio, co-founder and CEO of Filmsourcing, an Auckland, New Zealand-based source of fake brand packaging, explains why it's easier to create new brands rather than trying to secure all of the legal protection in using existing brands in an email to packagePRINTING.

"We are a group of filmmakers and when you work with the art department and have to dodge all the potential brand related issues with your props, sometimes it is easier to just create your own brands."

Currently, Filmsourcing has 11 fake brands and packaging available free for filmmakers to download and print at home. The labels include an "Expensive Wine Label" a "Hipster Beer Label," as well as "Budget Milk" and "Posh Milk" labels. Although, Tuomisaio says that new ones are in the works and will be published soon.

And what exactly fills the bottles and cans to make them look so real? Well, Bilson explains that while most of the time the packaging is filled on set by the production team and sealed with a simple cork or screw cap, sometimes ISS has to fill the bottles and cans with water or non-alcoholic beverages, so that the actor or actress can realistically drink the product without … well, eventually forgetting his or her lines.

via GIPHY

I don't know about you, but the next time I flip on the television, I'm going to pay a little more attention to the packaging to see if I can spot the real stuff from the movie magic.