Warning: This post contains spoilers for the end of “Euphoria” Season 3.
Say what you will about the “Euphoria” finale, but at least the madcap HBO drama left us with plenty to talk about. For instance: Some folks have highlighted the episode’s apparent Coca-Cola product placement, which they find gratuitous.
“Jules had less screen time [than] the Coca-Cola product placement,” one Redditor commented on a post in r/Euphoria, to which another user added, “Yeah! What was that crap! How many different times did we see those damn Coke bottles?”
Jules (Hunter Schafer) — a major character since “Euphoria” Season 1 — only appears in a single, dialogue-free scene in the series’ final episode.
A third user noted, “So weird they waited until the last episode to do blatant product placement,” while another commented what it seemed like they were all thinking: “[Oh my god] I get it. Coca-Cola paid for this entire episode apparently. I felt like I watched an hour long ad.”
There were even more comments, posts, and videos calling out the alleged product placement on Reddit, X, Instagram, and TikTok.
Coca-Cola shows up in pivotal moments
One standout Coca-Cola moment came when strip club owner Alamo (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje) pours two sodas for himself and Rue (Zendaya) to drink with prescription painkillers he offers her after she brutally escapes Laurie’s (Martha Kelly) house. He holds both bottles at once, making a show of pouring them with the labels prominently displayed.
But despite the apparent product placement, there is a moment where a Coke bottle has a purpose within the storyline: when Laurie’s associate Mitch (Daeg Faerch) is smuggling drugs in an ambulance with Alamo’s henchman Big Eddy (Kadeem Hardison). Mitch drinks a Coke before placing it in a cup holder and briefly leaving the vehicle to pick up some of Alamo’s employees from a plastic surgery clinic.
There’s a close-up shot of the bottle after that — but it’s done so the audience remembers where it is. Alamo’s team then switches the ambulances under Mitch’s nose, and when he returns to the vehicle, the bottle naturally isn’t there anymore — a clear indication of the switch to the audience.
The show could’ve accomplished the same with just about any other object — but even if it’s not a great reason to direct our attention toward a bottle of Coke, at least it’s a reason.
