What's with Venkman, Egon, and the Nestle Crunch bar?

Question

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.

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Anyone know the reasoning behind this?

@MeatTrademark - More like straight product placement; http://www.brandspotters.com/movie.aspx?id=292. No winking required. — Valorum, Sep 16 '14 at 23:41
There's some wild speculation here about whether Egon simply had a thing for junk food. However, though it's been a while since I've seen the movie, I think I agree with Richard and meat that it's merely product placement in the guise of a silly moment to end the scene. — Paul Richter, Sep 16 '14 at 23:48
In universe, I always assumed it was basic conditioning. 'Do something good, get a treat' -- despite being something we associate with training pets, it's often used (at least in fiction) on the very intelligent -- Sheldon Cooper has it done to him, for example on The Big Bang Theory -- and Egon DOES seem to have enough oddness to him that they may be trying to use reward stimulation to train him into certain behaviors. — K-H-W, Sep 16 '14 at 23:49
My take was that it was Venkman busting his chops by IMPLYING that he was driven by the childish conditioning that the candy bar implies... — Chris B. Behrens, Sep 16 '14 at 23:56
Incidentally, it was before they got kicked out of the University; it was after they had interacted with the Library ghost. I assumed the good behavior being reinforced was Egon's coming up with a commercially viable idea. — K-H-W, Sep 17 '14 at 00:01
@KHW Ah, damn. I just watched it last night too. :P I guess I should have just gone back and watched the director commentary. — krillgar, Sep 17 '14 at 00:16
Apart from the product placement angle, there's the dynamic of opportunistic Venkman looking for his next angle and Egon tossing off an optimistic claim about catching a ghost. Basically, Venkman is stuck on the problem of "now what?" until Egon's remark solves it for him, hence the reward for what becomes their business idea. — Anthony X, Jul 17 '16 at 20:09

score 13 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 16 '14 at 23:59

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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).

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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.

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answered Sep 16 '14 at 23:59

Valorum

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It's like people do things just because they get paid. That's just sad... – krillgar Sep 17 '14 at 00:18
I'm willing to buy this as an answer. I just always thought there was far too much in the scene for it to be a simple product placement. – krillgar Sep 17 '14 at 00:21
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This answer is as refreshing as a cool Pepsi™ on a hot summer's day! – Meat Trademark Sep 17 '14 at 01:09
@krillgar -- I think you are right, actually. Despite the answer being correct, Dan Ackroyd and Harold Ramis wrote Ghostbusters-- even if they included it for Product Placement, given how they seem to think, I think it was meant to be a small plot / character 'flavor' point anyway. – K-H-W Sep 17 '14 at 02:04
The "chomp" bar is a chocolate bar made by cadburys ;) – Dreamwalker Sep 18 '14 at 12:34
@Dreamwalker - I'm guessing that the American comic writers were unaware of that. The colours, font style and bar soze on a UK 'chomp' bar are completely different. – Valorum Sep 18 '14 at 13:34

score 4 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 19 '16 at 23:43

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.

An interesting find. He doesn't really show this trait for the remainder of the film series. — Valorum, Jul 20 '16 at 00:13

score 0 · Answer 3 · answered May 03 '18 at 01:37

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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.

answered May 03 '18 at 01:37

Steve

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Welcome to SFF:SE. This is an interesting answer. Can you back it up with any sources? – Politank-Z May 03 '18 at 01:49
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Welcome! I would love to hear more about that story. – krillgar May 03 '18 at 11:48

What's with Venkman, Egon, and the Nestle Crunch bar?

3 Answers3