Dwight leaves the office to work at Staples , the crew at Dunder Mifflin celebrates Christmas at the Asian Hooters (Benihana) Vince is given a Maserati then goes to Koi and pays for both with his Black Card, Hank Moody loves his old Porsche, and Michael can’t rest on the bench without his Gatorade.
These are just a few examples of product placement that I am regularly exposed to while watching some of my favorite shows (The Office, Entourage, Californiacation, Chicago Bulls NBA basketball) on TV, and barely even notice it.
And that is exactly what marketers are going for. Companies and brands combine to spend over $1.5 billion on product placement (the US alone makes up 68% of the global market) trying to reach consumers in their comfort zone to create a subtle association between characters on their favorite shows and the brand/product.
Movies have long been used as a channel to reach consumers, and 2007 release Disturbia is no different. In a clip lasting barely over a minute, Shia LeBeouf’s character plays Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter on his Xbox 360, and then listens to music on both his iTunes and iPod.
Ubisoft, Microsoft, and Apple are the companies behind these products and were able to masterfully position their products in the film. They have essentially created a minute-long commercial using a member of the target audience without the “buy me” and aggressive feel of traditional advertising.
While movies were the past of product placement, video games are likely to be the new battleground for brands. Games like Call of Duty and Halo have millions of loyal followers worldwide that play those same games thousands of times. The background in games such as these are likely to be sold as advertising space before too long. Racing games have already done so, whether it be street racing or NASCAR.
While some methods of marketing are often questioned and scrutinized, I believe product placement is not only fair, but awesome. Every time I watch Entourage, I want to eat dinner at a fancy restaurant, and seeing Shia LeBeouf playing Ghost Recon on the big screen makes me feel a little better about playing it, and that’s fine by me.
Have you ever seen a product/store/restaurant in a TV show or movie and wanted to purchase it? Do any of your favorite shows consistently have brand/products placed in them?
