Photos of a Japanese snack food, Deluxe Umaibo Nicolastick, bearing Nicolas Cage’s image, made their way around the internet earlier this month. The photo is from the actor’s role in Army of One, which is about one man’s hunt for Osama bin Laden, reports The Hollywood Reporter.
On Oct. 11, the international distributor of the Larry Charles-directed movie, FilmNation, issued a statement denying any claim that Cage endorsed the snack, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The film is set to be released in Japan on Dec. 12, and the corn-flavored snack was going to be given out to advanced ticket buyers.
“We were really surprised to hear this was being reported around the world. It wasn’t that our company or Riska, the manufacturer, just decided to make them. We were asked to do it by the film distribution company,” said a spokesperson for Tokyo-based Yaokin, the Umaibo’s sales company, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The spokesperson also said that they have done this with “loads of films in the past” including Rambo, and never had any problems.
The distributor only ordered about 600 Nicolasticks, writes The Hollywood Reporter. The snack has been withdrawn in favor of a postcard giveaway.
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