At the beginning of the original Ghostbusters movie, right after they get kicked out of the University, Venkman walks up to Egon and says "You.... you've earned this." and hands him a Nestle Crunch bar. Ray shoots them both a knowing glance with a smile.
Anyone know the reasoning behind this?
This was almost certainly a deliberate and paid-for 'product placement' by the filmmakers. Along with the Nestlé bar, there were also prominent and unsubtle placements of Coca Cola, Perrier, Cheez-its, Budweiser beer, real-world magazines, newspapers and pharmaceuticals ("Do you have any Excedrin or extra strength Tylenol?", "That's a very big twinkie", etc).
Interestingly, in the two official novelisations the bar was changed to a Baby Ruth in one, and unnamed in the other.
Venkman reached into his pocket. “Egon, I take back every bad thing I ever said about you. Here.” He held up a candy bar. Egon smiled delightedly and reached for it, but Venkman pulled it back. They looked at each other for a moment, then Venkman pressed it into his hands. “You earned it . . .”
“Baby Ruth,” Spengler said reverently, ripping off the paper and cramming it into his face. “Gooomph!”
In the comic series, Egon's favourite bar is replaced with a "chomp" bar, identical in size, shape, colouration and font to the Nestlé product but with a slightly different (and generic) name.
Spengler constantly snacking was a character trait origninally conceived by the writers.
In the DVD commentary, Director Ivan Reitman, writer/actor Harold Ramis, and associate producer Joe Medjuck are talking during the during the "Twinkie" scene, after Venkman is visited by Walter Peck.
Upon seeing the Twinkie, Harold Ramis comments:
Ramis: ... we also had this notion that Spengler snacks constantly.
Medjuck: I noticed that! He gets offered a chocolate bar at the beginning.
Harold Ramis and Bill Murray did several movies together Meatballs, Ghostbusters I & II, Caddyshack, Stripes, and Groundhog Day.
The candy bar scene in Ghostbusters was a reference to a scene in Caddyshack. The prank with the candy bar in Caddyshack was based on a event that Bill Murray experienced as a kid. Dan Aykroyd's laugh at the scene is genuine because the action is totally improvised by Bill Murray.
