Product Placement Freebies?
from the will-it-stay-that-way? dept
Almost exactly four years ago, we had a post about the rapid rise in product placement on various TV shows. While that post focused on paid product placement, it did note that TiVo had been getting a lot of “free” product placement on various TV shows, just because it had become something of a cultural phenomenon. Lately, it appears that Apple is often the beneficiary of such unpaid product placement — which is somewhat amusing, since Apple was one of the more aggressive companies doing product placement deals in movies during the 1990s. Of course, with paid product placement becoming more common (thanks, in part, to TiVo), some may wonder if such “freebies” will remain — or if just about any product placement will be for sale. The fact that we’re hearing these types of stories, though, suggests that there will likely always be room for TV shows to mention cultural phenomenons without needing to get paid for it.
Comments on “Product Placement Freebies?”
The Loop
On Fox’s The Loop, one of the characters was looking into a mirror, and commented how great she looked in her new skirt. She then turned toward the camera and mentioned that it was from Old Navy, and (Product Placement) appeared on the screen. This was probably the producer’s tongue-in-cheek way of doing product placement on the show. Of course, no one did product placement as well as the film “The Return Of The Killer Tomatoes”.
Getting more noticable now
I noticed this weekend on the show Numb3rs that it looks like they are inserting new products into re-runs.
There is a scene where the FBI brother speaks to his father, who is sitting in a chair reading a book. I saw this episode when it originally aired and this time very prominently placed on the arm of the chair was a cup of Dannon Activa yogurt. That struck me as odd. First off, it was so prominent that I know I would have seen this before but I didn’t remember it (the show isn’t that old). Second, the light from the lamp behind him and the shadows cast by the father didn’t interact and shade well with the cup of yogurt and its shadows. Thirdly, I had never heard of Donnon Activa until a few days ago, and I thought that the episode I was watching would’ve been finished before the product was release.
Sure enough, Dannon Activa was the first commercial at the very next break.
Sucks to be an actor (relatively speaking, of course). You are a spokesperson for products that haven’t even been released yet, and you don’t get paid for it. Do they?
What About Brian
I was watching What About Brian last night and noticed when he ran back to his apartment to nab this “computer” he kept talking about, it was in fact a PowerMac G4 desktop. I assume it was free product placement although, he didn’t get a mouse or keyboard or even unhook anything.
future of advertisement?
More product placement = less comercials = more people watching = more tv that can be shown
“More product placement = less comercials”
Hahahaha. That’s a good one!
Seriously, I really doubt there’s anything that will happen to cable that will result in a reduction of commericals. As long as people keep watching (and almost everyone does), they’ll keep trying your patience.
YouTube product placement
Even YouTube publishers are getting paid for product placement now. And there is an online product placement agency for online-videos shared on websites like YouTube, Metacafe, Dailymotion, … it’s called Brandfame – http://www.brandfame.com – check it out, it’s free.