Godzilla: The Terror Dr. Pepper!
Brace yourselves for some shocking news: The King Of Monsters is not above making a little cash for himself. Godzilla is no stranger to getting his beak wet from a variety of ads and sponsorships, a straight up side hustle that has involved vacuum cleaners, candy bars, and even athletic shoes. There has certainly been a bunch of product placement in Godzilla films over the years for Japanese and American companies, but one of the most blatant and egregious came in 1985. When THE RETURN OF GODZILLA was re-edited for American audiences (essentially adding in boring filler with the American army and Raymond Burr looking concerned), it became GODZILLA 1985. And when it did that, it entered into the frontlines of the cola wars as Dr. Pepper wanted in on that sweet Kaiju cash.
Their first move? Insert product placement into GODZILLA 1985 during the “tense” scenes with the panicked secret military discussions, like so:
Totally seamless and not at all jarring for a massive government war room. Phase two would get a little more interesting as the good doctor brought Godzilla into commercials. Kind of. Here, just see for yourself:
It’s absolutely tied in to GODZILLA 1985. The people call him Godzilla. But uh…that ain’t Godzilla. At least, that’s not his design in GODZILLA 1985 or anything else—it’s like someone is fairly confident they know what Godzilla looks like, but isn’t great with the details. So right off the bat that’s weird. But let’s put that aside to wrap up that cliffhanger (?) of an ending and for Pepper, PhD’s penultimate move: the follow-up commercial.
A) So they stuck with the same Godzilla suit design. At least that’s consistent.
2) Why is it in color now? I guess the color of Dr. Pepper spread throughout the land PLEASANTVILLE style.
III) Clearly what this all needed was a romantic subplot and luckily the audience gets that. To be clear, there is no other monster in GODZILLA 1985, but I guess Dr. Pepper could not conceive of any other way to possibly work in another version of their product unless a brand new Kaiju was invented to enjoy the delicious taste of Diet Dr. Pepper.
Meanwhile, Godzilla fandom has named the creatures (because of course they have): they are PepperGoji (ペッパーゴジ) and NewZilla (I guess she hasn’t earned a name in Hiragana). And despite creating a perfectly good Kaiju couple, the duo are not used as the centerpiece of the song Dr. Pepper created for GODZILLA 1985. Oh, you’re not familiar with “I Was Afraid To Love You”? AKA SodaZilla’s finishing move.
THE RETURN OF GODZILLA (i.e., the original Japanese cut of the film) has a song that plays over the end credits. “Godzilla: Love Theme” performed by The Star Sisters is entirely in English and here are the lyrics:
So this is goodbye now, you turn to leave me, I watch you go
I don't want to cry but the tears come freely, I miss you so
Somewhere in the world you might find the answers you're looking for
I'll be waiting here when your journey's over, come back once more
I'll be sad and lonely too until we're back together again, close my eyes and I think of you now and then, my friend
Goodbye now Godzilla, goodbye now Godzilla, until then
Take care now Godzilla, take care now Godzilla, my old friend
Sayonara till we meet again
Though you're far away, I will keep a picture locked in my heart
I'll remember moments we've shared together, while we're apart
I'll be sad and lonely too until we're back together again, close my eyes and I think of you now and then, my friend
(REPEATS)
Goodbye now Godzilla, goodbye now Godzilla, until then
Take care now Godzilla, take care now Godzilla, my old friend
So, that’s appropriately idiotic, but at least it’s in the film and mentions Godzilla. Which is two things the song has over “I Was Afraid To Love You” which was primarily used as jingle in various tie-in promo spots. It almost makes you long for the days when the Taco Bell dog hung out with the Kaiju.
Almost.