Obvious Product Placements in Netflix's 'Nobody Wants This' Are a Little out of Control

When Nobody Wants This dropped on Netflix in September 2024, it was an instant hit. Starring Adam Brody and Kristen Bell, the romantic comedy explores what happens when a non-believer and a non-traditional rabbi try to make a relationship work.

It came loaded with moments that were heavy, sweet, romantic, and funny, and charmed audiences immediately.

But as Season 2 of Nobody Wants This hit Netflix in October 2025, it became apparent that one aspect of the show was on everyone's mind: product placements. The series seems to be dripping heavily with brand deals and products, prominently featured in many scenes. Here's what we know about the unusual decision that has received so much criticism on social media.

It seems like you can't go long between moments in the show without a product placement popping up. Notable brands that have appeared in the series include Apple, Skinny Pop, Dunkin' Donuts, Jennifer Meyer, a Sichuan chili oil company called Fly by Jing, and more. In one scene, Kristen even goes snooping for skin product during a baby shower, and the camera focuses on it for a few seconds: Estée Lauder.

So, what's the deal?

Nobody seems to know why they went so hard with the ads. In Season 1, the Nobody Wants This team was working with advertising specialists BENLabs, trying to integrate product placements seamlessly. They moved away from that for Season 2, and BENlabs's general manager of product placement, Erin Schmidt, doesn't love the change, calling it "jarring" in an interview with The New York Times.

Erin explained, "When it’s really overt, you, as the viewer, feel disrupted. The reason that we’ve opted into streaming, the reason we spend money to have no ads, is that we got tired of the disruptive experience."

She added, "So when you turn a placement into an advertisement, you’re disrupting the viewer experience again.”

But while the product placements haven't gone over well with fans, they've given them something to talk about, at least.

In one TikTok video, a fan says she was hesitant to watch Season 2 because the placements were so jarring and non-stop. Another added that it was like watching a commercial rolled into the series, and it never seemed to end.

Some fans poked fun at it. In one TikTok video, a fan pretended to be a Nobody Wants This character and loudly declared the names of the products he was showcasing, while trying to pull off an "organic" scene.

In another video, fans laughed in the comments as a TikToker called the Estée Lauder product placement "SO BAD" in the baby shower scene. One commenter pointed out the incongruity of the scene, quipping, "Ah yes I always put on my advanced night repair over a full face of makeup."

Another lamented the loss of the old days, when movies and television series would avoid accidental brand endorsements, writing, "They used to just drink Coca Cola or Bud with the label out and now they get a whole new cinematographer for every product shot."

But one user didn't seem overly amused, warning that this may be the start of something bigger. They wrote, "This is going to happen more and more now that people are opting out of ads."

Which seems like a real possibility, given the state of streaming platforms.