You know those little moments that take you out of a movie? The ones where somebody at a breakfast scene turns a box of cereal from a 1/4 view to directly facing the camera so you can see the brand?
Well I stumbled across one of the culprits that actively seeks to put together movie production and advertising. The company is called Feature This! and on their site that pitch the “advantages” of placing products in movies and TV shows.
From their site:
“Nowadays, placements are frequently part of a larger marketing campaign, often involving a joint-promotion between the studio and manufacturer. The studios are extremely interested in promotions that add marketing muscle in opening a picture. You have to take some risks with it. But you’re getting into the most powerful medium in the world. It’s fun.”
It’s fun? Sure for the marketing “suits” to get involved in movie production I’m sure it is.
Not for the movie viewer, however.
I don’t mind seeing storefronts or billboards in a scene where someone is driving down the road. What I object to is when there is a deliberate focus on a product to the point of distraction.
Really annoys the heck out of me…
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Yep, gotta love all those shameless marketing ploys. Every time I see a scene like that, I’m reminded of that scene in Wayne’s World where they parody all those commercials.
Brian
Worst movie for product placement?
My award would have to go to I, Robot with the shameless pitching of shoes. Should have renamed it I, Shoe (with a robot)
Heh. Actually I think one of the worst ever examples was one of the first do use product placement: Back to the Future II.
They whacked us over the head with Nike, Pizza Hut and AT&T pretty hard.
Vic
True, but at least that scene portrayed those products as “relics,” since it was set many years in the future. The funny thing is, when I watch that movie now, most of those products are relics.
It’s the movies that do product placement for the sake of product placement that really irk me. For those shameless people, it really is all about the benjamins.
Brian
Brian,
Which movie are you referring to? Back to the Future II did NOT show those items as relics.
They were all part of wonderful future tech:
- A micro pizza that was done in two seconds.
- Self-securing sneakers.
And I don’t remember the AT&T reference, but it was futuristic as well.
Vic
Oh, my bad… I was thinking of the scene where Marty is in the 80′s Cafe. I remember what you’re talking about now… pretty shameless, I agree.
Brian
The most dispicable product placement is cigarettes. In this day and age there should NEVER be a cigarette smoked in ANY movie, regardless of the genre. The audience will never miss it, no one will ever say “I thought the movie lacked a sense of reality because no one was smoking.” It will never be missed. I think the vision of cigarettes in the media is a major contributor to young people beginning to smoke and continuing to smoke.
I *so* agree. I find it hard to believe that most of the time a writer or director consciously makes an artistic decision that smoking adds something to a particular scene. There must be some behind-the-scenes stuff going on as far as that is concerned. :confused:
Vic
Yes I agree that to focus on a product that has nothing to do with the story is wrong. But most people would prefer to see a real drink company rather then just the word Beer or Soda.
Not all product placements make sense. Nor should it be so blatant.
To some productions without product placement the film may never have been made.
The Culprit
In “CastAway” Wilson the charactor would not have worked if Tom Hanks yelled “basketball”.
No one would have cared.
Also thanks for the link it has brought me new business
Ha! What a dope I am… why in the heck did I provide a link to you guys?
I think it’s possible to show products without being blatant about it, angle the product to where it’s not directly facing the camera and things along those lines.
And you’re welcome.
Vic
lets see you post this….
this statement is more true today than when you first put it on your site.
“Nowadays, placements are frequently part of a larger marketing campaign, often involving a joint-promotion between the studio and manufacturer. The studios are extremely interested in promotions that add marketing muscle in opening a picture.
Companies are digging even deeper than before for placements. Madison Ave re-named it product integration. Results product placement is now a billion dollar business… THIS CULPRIT as you put it is an X propmaster (22 years) WHO USED PRODUCT PLACEMENT to help me stay in my budget. I am a true film maker.
Its ok to not like or want product placement and I will fight for your right to say what you want.
You can have thousands sites like this but companies who want to reach billions of people will still embrace product placement. As a matter of fact,since you started this web page companies joining product placement agencies is up 75% and several other countries have cleared the way for product placement in their movies and tv shows.
90% of our exposures are free, only 10% are fees and unfortunately it seems the industry is moving more towards fee’s than barter.
I also can’t help but notice you are using Superman in your site. YOU ARE DOING PRODUCT PLACEMENT FOR WARNER BROS..
I hope you did this product placement correctly, you know getting permission to use Warner Bros. product!!
Of corse if I don’t see this response on your site, then I must assume you are one sided.
Jay May
The Culprit
Jay,
Sorry to disappoint you, but your post will be staying on my site.
BTW, I really don’t think your analogy of using Superman on my site is valid. People come to news sites to actively look for information on Superman and other films.
I understand what you’re saying, but perhaps if the placement of products/ads in movies was more subtle and less obvious then it wouldn’t be such a big issue.
For example, look at the success of the RAZR phone. I’ve noticed that phone used extensively on different televsion shows, but because it’s such a distinctive design, it was easy to identify without having an extreme closeup of it. Just seeing someone using it from a respectable distance was enough. It’s a cool phone, my wife has one and yes, part of the reason is probably because we’d seen it on “24″ and maybe some other shows. But I remember an extreme close up of a Nokia phone in one of the Charlie’s Angels movies that was just stupid. I mean it was a shot of the phone by itself (I don’t remember the context) and I remember reading that the scene was re-shot specifically to better highlight the phone.
Stuff like THAT makes me explicitly NOT want to purchase the product.
I know advertisers are getting nervous, especially with the advent of DVRs which allow people to skip commercials, but I say the answer is not to get in consumers’ faces, it’s to start thinking of clever ways to advertise. Again, I’ll bring up “24″: Does anyone in that show NOT drive a Ford?
But you know what? It’s not obvious, so it works.
BTW, a big part of the reason that I get annoyed with especially obvious product placement in films (and on a related note, commercials before movies begin in theaters) is that if you remember back to the old days when HBO was just getting it’s start, the entire concept of PAYING for what you were watching was so that you DIDN’T have to watch commercials.
Tell you what, drop movie ticket prices back down to $3 and maybe I’ll shut up about the whole thing.
Deal?
Best regards,
Vic
I agree with you 100%, Vic… couldn’t have said it better myself.
Brian
amen to everything. The worst offender (and horrible movie) is the Italian Job, napster, mini-cooper? I’m just glad I rented it so I could return it half watched and not feel totally ripped off. Product placment, prices, distractions killed the movie going for me. I pay my 8.50 to NOT watch commercials, putting them in kills any attatchment I have to a movie.