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Five Products Inspired By ‘Back To The Future 2’
Tim Goodings heads back to ‘Back To The Future 2’ to peruse the products the film invented
It’s always strange when real life catches up with the imagined future of a movie. The year 2001 saw a distinct absence of creepy monoliths and space babies, and Blade Runner’s vision of a 2019 teeming with flying cars and replicants is now looking slightly ambitious.
But not all films got it so wrong. In the second film of the ‘Back to the Future’ trilogy, Marty McFly travels forward in time to the 21st October 2015. Or as we like to call it, Wednesday, and while the predictions were mostly deliberately satirical and humorous, many companies are celebrating the date by replicating products from the film, in the real world.
Here’s a run down of how you can become Marty McFly, short of nearly seducing your own mother:
Drink Pepsi Perfect
So far, the only advancement Pepsi has made in the last 30 years is releasing Pepsi Max (aka Diet Pepsi for men too insecure to drink something with ‘diet’ in the name). But back to the future predicted Pepsi Perfect, which has no discernible difference to normal Pepsi, aside from the ‘futuristic’ bottle. They even released an advert to celebrate the date, capturing the retro-futuristic feel of the film, complete with stupid haircuts, flying car and a chatty fridge robot that doesn’t malfunction after drinking some of the Pepsi itself.
The drink is available on limited release, so act now if you want a cool bottle to throw away.
Wear Nike MAGS
So, remember when Marty McFly’s shoes tightened themselves, using some form of future technology or magic? Nike have been teasing their self-tying shoes for literally years, ever since 2011 when they manufactured a run of the pair which, although superficially the same, didn’t actually self-lace. These were sold exclusively online, and all the proceeds went to Michael J. Fox’s charity, which is nice and all, but doesn’t tie my shoelaces for me does it?
However recently, the internet went into a frenzy over a picture tweeted by Max Erdenberger, former art director for an ad agency Nike have used before, holding a pair of the shoes, captioned with ‘21st October 2015’, the date of the movie’s future.
October 21, 2015 pic.twitter.com/uOCp5L8BXz
— Max Erdenberger (@thebetamax) September 9, 2015
Unfortunately they turned out to be one of the 2011 pairs, a bigger let down than ‘Back to the Future 3’. Yet rumours still abound that on the day itself, Nike will have a big announcement. Something about shoes hopefully.
Watch Jaws 19 (trailer only)
Okay, this is one of those satirical ones I mentioned. In a self-mocking indictment of sequel culture in the film industry, Robert Zemeckis put an advert for Jaws 19 in the background of one of the future scenes. Universal ran with this for the present day, and released a teaser for the fictional film, kindly explaining all the missing sequels in between. For anyone wanting to do a similar joke for a movie set in the future, I just have three words for you. Fast and Furious.
Here’s the Jaws 19 teaser:
Ride a Hoverboard
Remember last year, when everyone thought they’d seen a video of Tony Hawk riding a real hoverboard, just like the one from the movie, and everyone went mental? Well while that turned out to be a load of old nothing, Hendo did release a video later last year, of the exact person who’d duped us all the first time, riding a real hoverboard. Using superconductors and special metals (science and that), this one only works on certain surfaces. But at least it looks nowhere near as cool, and is vastly chunkier and more useless than the fake one we all believed in for a while. Neither will it help you lead your school bully and his lackies into a pile of manure, which seems to reappear in Hill Valley every 30 years.
Here’s last year’s hoverboard, featuring the Hawk who cried wolf:
Unfortunately, the closest commercial product we have called a hoverboard doesn’t hover and is illegal to use on pavements or roads. Yay future!
Wear a Lenticular Baseball cap
This, at least we have this. And it’s exactly as we were promised.
What a world we live in.
Now, predictions for 2045 anyone?
I’m thinking talking dogs, steroid olympics and electronic chopsticks. Oh and The Fast and The Furious 26: Before The Speed.
Tweet your predictions to @rifemag and I’ll do a follow up article in 30 years to see how we did.
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About the author
Tim Goodings
Tim Goodings refers to himself as a stand-up comedian and writer only semi-ironically. He moved to Bristol for the comedy scene and spectrum of creativity, and stayed in Bristol for the excellent parking facilities. His Creative Writing degree proved useful in teaching him the correct way to pronounce ‘hyberbole’, as well as how to write and stuff. Subsequently, he has been crowned the worst poet in Bristol, and the third worst in the country (seriously). He likes comic books, novels, and films, and dislikes it when people try to hold in a sneeze. He shares his birthplace with MRSA, and one day hopes to outshine this bitter rival.
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