<p>According to an <a href="https://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2020/01/13/interview-with-makoto-shinkai-writer-director-of-weathering-with-you/" rel="noreferrer">interview</a> (credits to <a href="https://amp.reddit.com/r/Tenkinoko/comments/epe68c/well_that_was_a_weird_mcdonalds_commercial/" rel="noreferrer">reddit</a> for the source) with the author, Makoto Shinkai asked for permission to use McDonalds within his works. After some time, his request was granted.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>You feature McDonald’s at one point. Did you want to convey the city in an almost photo-real way?</strong></p>
<p>MAKOTO SHINKAI: I wasn’t aiming for photo-realism, but I did want the audience to recognise the places and recognise that this Tokyo is the place where they live. For global corporations like McDonald’s, there are actually a lot of restrictions about featuring them in animation. You need permission, for example, if you want to draw their logo. I approached McDonald’s Japan and asked them if I could feature McDonald’s in my film, because I thought it was essential as part of the real Tokyo that I wanted to show. They initially refused because there is a gun in the film, but I went back several times and I eventually managed to convince them.</p>
</blockquote>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-08T12:58:03.820Z
Surprising that Japan requires companies ask permission for the use of their logos. IIRC, in the US, you are just required to use the trademark in a fashion consistent with real life (e.g. so if there's a McDonalds hamburger restaurant, and you depict it as operating like a McDonalds hamburger restaurant, you can have the store use the McDonalds logo).
nick012000
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-08T13:45:17.360Z
@nick012000 The US used to operate similar to Japan in this respect.  But basically since the Reeses Pieces in *E.T.*, it's gone the other way - companies will pay to have their products appear in the movies and TV.  Now, sometimes you'll see (e.g. on a cooking show) they'll specifically blur out or otherwise block the logos of products that appear on screen because those companies haven't paid for the product placement.
Darrel Hoffman
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-08T02:38:35.780Z
2021-01-08T02:38:35.780Z
Wondercricket
<p>In anime, usually the name shows up &quot;WcDonalds&quot; or &quot;EcDonalds&quot; or the like, presumably to avoid trademark issues.</p>
<p>But in Weathering with You, I noticed that McDonalds and the &quot;M&quot; logo show up unmodified. Did they somehow manage to secure the rights to show the logo in the film? How?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-01-08T13:21:27.273Z
Related: [Have there been any anime with actual product placement?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/4257/2516)
Aki Tanaka
<anime-production><weathering-with-you>
How is there a McDonalds in Weathering with You?
# How is there a McDonalds in Weathering with You?
Posted by: username_0 on 2021-01-08
In anime, usually the name shows up "WcDonalds" or "EcDonalds" or the like, presumably to avoid trademark issues.

But in Weathering with You, I noticed that McDonalds and the "M" logo show up unmodified. Did they somehow manage to secure the rights to show the logo in the film? How?
**Tags:** anime-production weathering-with-you
> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: Related: [Have there been any anime with actual product placement?](https://anime.stackexchange.com/q/4257/2516)  
---
## 1 answers
### Answer by username_2 on 2021-01-08. Score: 12
According to an [interview](https://www.thehollywoodnews.com/2020/01/13/interview-with-makoto-shinkai-writer-director-of-weathering-with-you/) (credits to [reddit](https://amp.reddit.com/r/Tenkinoko/comments/epe68c/well_that_was_a_weird_mcdonalds_commercial/) for the source) with the author, Makoto Shinkai asked for permission to use McDonalds within his works. After some time, his request was granted.

> **You feature McDonald’s at one point. Did you want to convey the city in an almost photo-real way?**
>
> MAKOTO SHINKAI: I wasn’t aiming for photo-realism, but I did want the audience to recognise the places and recognise that this Tokyo is the place where they live. For global corporations like McDonald’s, there are actually a lot of restrictions about featuring them in animation. You need permission, for example, if you want to draw their logo. I approached McDonald’s Japan and asked them if I could feature McDonald’s in my film, because I thought it was essential as part of the real Tokyo that I wanted to show. They initially refused because there is a gun in the film, but I went back several times and I eventually managed to convince them.
> **Comments:**
> **username_3** (2021-01-08): Surprising that Japan requires companies ask permission for the use of their logos. IIRC, in the US, you are just required to use the trademark in a fashion consistent with real life (e.g. so if there's a McDonalds hamburger restaurant, and you depict it as operating like a McDonalds hamburger restaurant, you can have the store use the McDonalds logo).  
> **username_4** (2021-01-08): @nick012000 The US used to operate similar to Japan in this respect.  But basically since the Reeses Pieces in *E.T.*, it's gone the other way - companies will pay to have their products appear in the movies and TV.  Now, sometimes you'll see (e.g. on a cooking show) they'll specifically blur out or otherwise block the logos of products that appear on screen because those companies haven't paid for the product placement.  
---
