Vintage advert for Reese's Pieces which of course featured in the movie. M&M's turned down the opportunity of being the candy of choice. M&M's were in the original script but the Mars company didn't want their product being associated with aliens. They probably thought the main alien in the movie was going to be bad, evil or look at taking over the human race.
Sales of Reese's Pieces outsold M&M's for the first time after the movie hit cinemas and saw a huge increase in sales by a whopping 65%.
Reese's Pieces continued their association with an alien theme and in 1984 released this rather dubious commercial. E.T. it is not.
The Bearded Trio - The Site For Steven Spielberg, George Lucas, John Williams and a whole lot more.
You've missed the earlier 1983 Reese's Pieces ET inspired commercial "General Store" featuring the same alien costume. 'Reese's Pieces Alien 1983' on YouTube. He walks into a General Store and holds out his hand, the kindly store keeper says "You want Reese's Pieces do ya?" His wife comes in as the alien leaves, asking "Who in the world was that?" Her husband replies "Kinda looks like your cousin Willie." Hence "Cousin Willie" in the followup ad. I was the actor in the alien costume. Apparently E.T. wasn't available. The ad ran for two years...Forty years later it's a privilege to have played a small part in modern product placement history.
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