Front Burner

Why movies about products are everywhere

What Barbie, Air and The Super Mario Bros. Movie might mean for the future of the blockbuster.
A woman's feet are shown as she stands on her toes next to a pair of pink shoes.
(Warner Bros. Pictures/YouTube)

Last weekend The Super Mario Bros. Movie had the biggest global opening weekend for an animated movie ever. The story of how Nike brought the world Air Jordans is also raking it in at the box office. And the internet was abuzz last week after the teaser trailer for Barbie dropped. It all begs the question: when did Hollywood movies start looking like a ten year old's Christmas list circa 1993?

Host of CBC Radio's Commotion, Elamin Abdelmahmoud, joins us to dig into this growing trend of movies about products.