History of Confederated Products
Congratulations on Big Fish. I have a silly question concerning the “Confederated Products” throwaway about halfway through that movie. Since that’s a reference to your previous work, rather than Tim Burton’s, how did it get there? That is, did you include it in the script, or did someone else suggest it?
–Patrick Bowman
For those who don’t know the reference, “Confederated Products” is the Amway-like company that serves as a major punchline in the third part of Go. Originally, the company was supposed to be American Products, but the legal department couldn’t get clearance on the name. I had to submit a list of alternatives, and Confederated Products was the best one that checked out okay.
Since then, I’ve tried to use Confederated Products in every project. (Likewise, I also try to use Melissa McCarthy, who is similarly terrific and versatile.) I just write “Confederated Products” into the script and hope no one tries to change it. Generally, they don’t. After Go, Big Fish is the biggest use of the brand name, but it was also used in the first Charlie’s Angels — though I’m not sure you can see it.
I’ve always been a big fan of giant, insidius imaginary corporations such as Acme or Weyland-Yutani. I registered ConfederatedProducts.com just so I could be sure to have the name for future projects.
Articles
July 20th, 2004 at 7:28 am
It’s always great to hear when WRITER inside-jokes survive.
July 22nd, 2004 at 6:33 pm
Melissa McCarthy is a brilliant goddess of comedy - THANK YOU for mentioning her.
Did you happen to see her “boned chicken” sketch at the Groundlings? I think it was a year or two ago - but it’s still the funniest performance I’ve seen on that stage. I almost hurt myself laughing so hard.
January 28th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
oh wow, look at that, i am watching “go” right now, decided to google confederated products to get more infos on it, and here i am :o)
great movie ! cheers