The Gear That Made E.T. the Pinnacle of Product Placement

1 / 16

Kuwahara E.T. Edition BMX bike: E.T. turned a relatively unknown bike brand from Osaka, Japan into a household name overnight. After the movie was released, thousands of retailers were suddenly ordering the Model 3003 that Elliott rides in the movie. The company still makes an anniversary edition you can buy. Universal Pictures

2 / 16

1981 Audi 5000 S: Yes, the car that spawned everyone's favorite slang term for "I'm leaving" is in E.T. The likely origin of "I'm Audi 5000" comes from a 1986 60 Minutes segment that claimed the car suffered from "unintended acceleration." This was actually never proven to be true, but it still ruined Audi sales in the U.S. for the next 15 years. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Universal Pictures

3 / 16

Toys, toys, toys: From left to right, a Star Wars Hoth Turret and Imperial Probe Droid playset (peeking out above the turntable), a Coors Beer cap (also the beer that gets E.T. drunk), Han Solo’s Blaster, Greedo action figure, and Captain America Pez dispenser. Universal Pictures

4 / 16

Space ships: Whether it's the Star Wars toys, the planetarium, or the myriad books about the universe, Elliot's room appropriately underscores his love of space travel. Here we see an X-Wing Fighter, Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter, and a space shuttle hanging from his ceiling. Universal Pictures

5 / 16

Hammerhead vs Greedo: This scene where Elliot explains Coke, peanuts, money, and toys to E.T. was supposedly improvised and it shows. Momaw Nadon (aka Hammerhead), a peace-loving Ithorian, fighting Greedo? Come on, Elliot. Grow up. Universal Pictures

6 / 16

Luxo L-1 Lamp: It's hard to miss this classic yellow Luxo L-1 in Elliot's room. Look closely and you'll also see a shark grabber wand resting on the table and a blow-up shark underneath it—a couple of subtle Jaws nods, perhaps. Universal Pictures

Advertisement

7 / 16

Aurex SR-F100 Turntable: You never get a completely unobstructed shot of them, but this is almost certainly an Aurex SR-F100 turntable and below it, a SA-3500 stereo receiver. Aurex used to be Toshiba's audiophile line of gear. There's a Toshiba Blackstripe television in the movie too, which bolsters the case. Universal Pictures

8 / 16

Steven Star Worlds Planetarium: These planetariums debuted in the '60s and could project up to 60 constellations. They also came with star charts and a tiny laser pointer. Universal Pictures

9 / 16

Atari 2600: By 1982, there were a lot of 2600s on top of living room TVs, thanks in large part to a game called Space Invaders (see Michael's t-shirt in the previous slide). The exclusive title quadrupled Atari 2600 sales in 1980 and was the first game to sell over a million cartridges. Universal Pictures

10 / 16

Toshiba Blackstripe TV: We're less confident about the actual model number of this color Toshiba CRT (C-2600?), but the UFO in this shot is definitely from the movie This Island Earth. It happens to be the same movie that was featured in Mystery Science Theater 3000, The Movie. Universal Pictures

11 / 16

TI Speak and Spell: One of the most iconic toys of the '80s, the Speak & Spell was part of trio of educational toys (including the Speak & Read and Speak & Math) released by Texas Instruments. E.T. dismantles this one, and reprograms it to phone home. Universal Pictures

12 / 16

Polaroid Autofocus 660 Land Camera: Released in 1981, the 660 used Polaroid's patented Sonar Autofocus feature, which measured the distance between the camera and subject using ultrasound to set the correct focus. You can't really see it in this shot, but the sonar emitter/receiver is the big gold disk next to the lens. Universal Pictures

Advertisement

13 / 16

1982 Ford Fairmont Futura: Not to be confused with the Ford Futura, this government issued Ford Fairmont Futura does its best to keep up with Elliot and friends as they weave through the suburban landscape on their bikes. Universal Pictures

14 / 16

Dynatech MR580 Microplate Reader: At this point in the film, you're probably too busy crying to notice all the medical equipment, but here we have a microplate reader that's presumably performing an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) test to help determine what's making E.T. and Elliot sick. Universal Pictures

15 / 16

Perkin-Elmer 559A UV/VIS spectrophotometer: You can grab this spectrophotometer now for a cool $841. Spielberg used real doctors for the quarantine scene and I'm sure they advised him about which pieces of equipment would be relevant. This spectrophotometer could've been used for diagnostic purposes or to figure out what precisely E.T. was made of. Universal Pictures

16 / 16

Beckman RMS 3060 and Gould IM 1000 Monitor: I'm guessing that unlike many of the other products featured in E.T., sales of Gould's heart rate monitor and Beckman's multimeter didn't see much of an uptick. Universal Pictures