Budweiser to Paramount: Take Our Beer Out of Flight

It's not often that you hear of brands clamoring to be taken out of films, but that's exactly what's happening with Budweiser in Paramount's Flight, which stars Denzel Washington as a high-functioning alcoholic pilot. There's a lot of booze in the movie, including a scene in which Washington drinks a Bud while flying a plane, and Budweiser maker Anheuser-Busch doesn't want any part of it. It has asked to have its labels obscured in current digital copies and future iterations of the film, including DVD and streaming editions, reports the AP.

"We would never condone the misuse of our products, and have a long history promoting responsible drinking and preventing drunk driving," wrote Budweiser's VP in a statement. The company, along with Stolichnaya's US distributor, are complaining that Paramount didn't seek permission to feature their products—but law experts say it didn't have to. Explains one: 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." (More flight stories.)