Madison Avenue has a big problem. People don’t watch commercials. They’ve had fifty years to solve this problem (and judging by the Progressive Insurance commercials they’ve learned nothing) but now with Tivo, DVR's, and DVD's audiences can eliminate them completely. Advertisers must find new ways to convey the vital message that Lamisil targets toenail fungus where it lives.Subliminal messages have been tried and outlawed. They can’t slip in the Pepsi logo for one frame in a movie, Mel Gibson can’t throw up a one second title card that says
the Holocaust never existed into APOCOLYPTO. But if a character in a movie drinks a Pepsi, that’s okay. And if she should happen to say, “Mmmmmmm, that’s not only good, it’s the voice of a new generation!”, all the better. Product placement has become the new answer. Production companies are thrilled because it’s found money for them. If Mitch and Cam are going to go to the hardware store anyway, why not make it a Home Depot? And that’s fine until…what happens when the writers decide they don’t need that scene? Or they come up with a better one that’s set somewhere else? Will storytelling have to be compromised to accommodate the sponsor? We all know the answer to that question.An interactive variation of this is SeenOn.com. Now you can watch GREY’S ANATOMY, like the outfit that Ellen Pompeo is wearing and order it on line. You can also buy Ugly Betty’s stool (I hope they’re referring to furniture). In theory this too is a good idea but I want to be there the day they tell Teri Hatcher what dress she has to wear.
One way around all these pesky “creative” issues is to digitally add products to scenes after the fact. Now Columbo can have a can of Glade in his car, Lucy can clean her clothes with Tide, and the Miller Lite delivery guy can be inserted into the Zapruder film.
Sponsors are happy these days if they can just get the name of their damn product in front of your face or in your ear. This has led to corporate sponsorship and it’s not going away. It’s bad enough that the Houston Astros must play in Minute Maid Park, and there was such a thing as the Weed Whacker Bowl. I foresee the day when we’ll all be paying our respects at the Wendy’s Arlington National Cemetery. Thomas A. Steitz and Ada E. Yonath will be awarded the prestigious Depends Nobel Prize in Chemistry. And we’ll all be living in the United States of Google.
At this point I must sheepishly admit that I too have succumbed to this trend. I’m not proud of myself but since it’s available and we are in a bit of a recession, I have accepted a generous offer from a leading manufacturer. And so from now until 2014 (when I have the option to renegotiate) my daughter, Annie will be known as Dow Chemical Levine.
What a windfall! And just think, all this extra income because people no longer want to see the Geiko gecko. God bless, Janitor In A Drum’s America!
In fact, while people *can* eliminate spots completely, only 50% of spots are actually *cut* by DVR owners.
ReplyDeleteI don't have detailed enough data on the distribution to know how many people cut most spots, and how many don't bother at all... but you have to assume that *some* spots are ringing some people's chimes.
Sis and I fit that profile, so we assume some other people have to.
And those Progressive commercials? They've made that girl a minor local hero in Atlanta...
ovess: I dunno what this is, but it *has* to have something to do with girly parts.
I can't wait for the day when wardrobe has to embed product placement ads on the clothes worn by actors on TV and in film... Nude scenes will require product placement tattoos...
ReplyDeletePretty soon when the cable companies all own the networks and studios we'll all have to sign exclusive product sponsorship contracts before we can write or act or direct in TV or movies.
30 ROCK handled gratuitous product-placement best, IMO:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGx3PBdb4f8
I've been listening to a lot of old radio shows lately, and I like the way they handled it. Often, the announcer was a character in the show, and would show up to do the middle commercial in a scene that either was involved in the plot, or was so funny you enjoyed hearing it. I think a modern version of that might work.
ReplyDeleteThe 30 Rock bit was clever, but I don't think you could do it that way every week.
I've always kinda liked product placement, in that I actually find it less distracting than the alternative. I mean, who goes into their fridge and comes out with a can marked "Cola"? Likewise, if you were going to run down to the 7-Eleven to pick up something, you'd likely say just that, and not "I'll run to the convenience store." Of course, if you just use the product in a casual, throwaway instance such as that, it's doubtful the sponsor will want to pony up too much money. But you don't want to devote so much attention to a particular product you sacrifice the scene. (Seinfeld, of course, would have entire episodes where a brand-name product figured largely in the plot, but with Seinfeld, it was written so well, you didn't really mind.) So I can understand how it's a delicate issue to balance.
ReplyDeleteIs that Pamelyn Ferdin in that Pepsi still?
ReplyDeleteI agree, Mike, that the sponsor won't want to pay for a short mention, especially if the character is running down to the 7/11 to rob it.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, White Collar did a blatant product plug in the dialogue. It was jarring, but I got over it. I suppose that the more they did it, the more I would get used to it. Of course, wouldn't that mean the plugs were losing their effectiveness?
Bring back Stan Freburg! He actually made commercials that were more entertaining than the TV shows that they were advertising on.
ReplyDeleteCharlotte: WRONG.
ReplyDeleteThe best handled product placement in comedic television, movie or radio goes to Wayne's World.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VsjU6SUVudw
I actually like the Geico gecko. It's those annoying, stupid "caveman" commercials I can't stand.
ReplyDeleteWV inglern: Newspeak for your literature class.
So if there is a scale to go by, Family Guy is one end, somewhere at "brazen" (in the last Star Wars parody, a whole sequence for Wrigleys that can be cut out into a stand alone commercial) and 30 rock being more "ironic" of course lies somewhere in the middle, but what should be the other end of the scale anymore? What I wonder is how stupid are those execs for cutting such desperate deals as embedded placements (those you can't extricate from a scene)? It means FREE ads in the long run, which is where the real profit is. For re-runs and syndication - for eternity over internet. Why would an advertiser, later, want to place ads around a show, that has some competitor ads IN the show? And then, from a few years ago, so essentialy, free? And what about when those legacy ads - the future AOL-TimeWarners look ridiculous?
ReplyDeleteI was watching an old Dick Cavett show with Hitchcock on it, and he literally has to hold up a product ON the show before the commercial segue. Now the dead product is on DVD and internet distribution. Makes alot of sense?
In terms of the tv economy, I can understand having seperate, stand-alone segments made (as Family Guy feels more like) where ads are designed to compliment the show, but then the segment can be cut out for any future screening. It could even be creative, and spawn it's own format later, of mini-scenarios for ads from different tv shows or so on. I just think it's economically short-sighted to populate the scenes themelves with infinite product advertisment.
Mike Schryver said...
ReplyDeleteI've been listening to a lot of old radio shows lately, and I like the way they handled it. Often, the announcer was a character in the show, and would show up to do the middle commercial in a scene that either was involved in the plot, or was so funny you enjoyed hearing it. I think a modern version of that might work.
So now we need to search for the Bill Goodwin of the 21st century (he came to mind because he did just that in a Burns & Allen episode I heard the other night).
wv: "merst" -- something that sounds like it should be the name of a product, probably some laundry booster.
Ref said...
ReplyDeleteI actually like the Geico gecko. It's those annoying, stupid "caveman" commercials I can't stand.
Amen! Those caveman make me want to drive without insurance.
I was watching a rerun of Burn Notice where Bruce Campbell was drinking a beer and folding clothes. He set the beer bottle down by his folded clothes and the camera zoomed in on the Miller beer. It was just way to obvious.
ReplyDeleteTo a Friday question - I know a bit early but I'll forget it by the time Friday rolls around. Regarding music used in TV programs. Often DVD's are released of programs with different music because they could not get the releases (WKRP comes to mind). Or DVD's are held up for release for the same reason. My question is if the studio obtained the release to use a popular song that actually fit the scene in the first place why is there an issue with the DVD since the release for the music was originally obtained?
What this means is that companies might have to resort to distinguishing their products from the competition by, you know, actually giving them unique and better features.
ReplyDeleteI don't know what's the more obsessive compulsive, that you went to the trouble of looking up who actually received the Nobel Prize in chemistry, or that I did just to see if you did? Actually I guess I do know the answer.
ReplyDeleteBut what? The third winner, Venkatraman Ramakrishnan is chopped liver? Just because the place he's from, Nadu Tamil, was probably product placement-named by Mork?
Don't you run into this as well when you call baseball and the 4th pitch in the 5th inning is sponsored by Calamity Jane's Pie Shop? "Because when you think pie, we want you to think Calamity"
ReplyDeleteIs digital product placement in old media really happening?
ReplyDeleteI can echo "Baylink's" sentiments. Watching on dvr, you can easily forget that your not watching live or you can get intrigued by a well done spot.
ReplyDeleteWhy is my word verification "royalcrowncola"?
ReplyDeleteActually, if you watch "Top Gun", pay attention to the scene where the air traffic controller storms out of Viper's office. He runs into a steward and dumps the tray full of coffee. The tray says "Pepsi" and has their old 1980s logo.
ReplyDeleteChad asked: Is digital product placement in old media really happening?
ReplyDeleteChad, I recall hearing that Coke products were being digitally inserted in off network "Law and Order" re-runs.
My family and I watch less and less network TV each year (although we do watch GLEE and did follow PUSHING DAISIES), and perhaps this is because of the urge to actively avoid products that are relentlessly advertised - on the basis that their producers should have put the money into improving the product itself.
ReplyDeleteI would never, for example, buy insurance from Geico, and I'm trying to stop drinking Diet Coke. Also, our two big purchases (new cars in '99 and '03) were excellent deals on cars that were essentially never advertised but have given great service: a Chevy Prizm (a product of NUMMI, the now-moribund GM-Toyota joint venture in Torrance, CA) and a Subaru Legacy (the tarted-up version of which was featured in their ads - i.e., the Outback).
I would not go so far as to say that any non-advertised product is meritorious by definition, but we have taught our girls (successfully, I think) not to be swayed by TV ads.
Matt A said:
ReplyDelete"Of course, wouldn't that mean the plugs were losing their effectiveness?
Actually no.
The "plugs" don't necessarily work on your conscious, they very effectively influence your SUBconscious.
The more you hear the word "Coke," the more likely you are to choose that brand when you want a cola, and eventually the more likely you are to want a cola when you're "thirsty." It's not necessarily a conscious decision ("cravings" usually aren't), it's just what you reach for when you open the cooler.
There was a blind study done recently in which participants were shown pictures that had a name brand bottle of water subtly inserted into them. Those who consciously noticed the bottles were disqualified.
When they were given a break and there were two different bottles of water available, most of them chose the one that had been in the pictures.
It's the "getting used to it" part that scares me most. Once you don't notice it anymore, you may as well be controlled by remote.
There are going to be problems with actors too. Can you imagine the conflicts when product placement is everywhere? "We need a top actor with no soft drink conflicts and no car conflicts!" "Sorry boss. No one is available until next year. We can get a second level actor, but only without the car conflict."
ReplyDeleteThere's a marvelous product placement joke in an otherwise pretty forgettable film called "...And God Spoke," in which Soupy Sales, as Moses, delivers to the people of Israel the Ten Commandments... and a refreshing beverage.
ReplyDeleteOf course, the classic recent example of this is in that 90210 episode from last year in which the kids brought a cooler full of Dr. Pepper along on a road trip. Sample dialogue: "We're on a road trip! Drinking Dr. Pepper is practically a requirement."
ReplyDeleteThe show really captures how kids talk these days.
A few of the Bud Light spots are funnier than the shows. Like the girlfriend using a staple gun to attach a man's buttiniere.
ReplyDeleteIn TV advertising, less is more. The commercial breaks are now so long, each segment of program should begin with "the story so far." There's more than enough time to wash the dishes, fold the laundry, etc., and not miss a thing. At this point,I will watch any mediocre movie presented without interruptions over a MASH episode as stuffed with ads as a Strasbourg goose. Sad.
ReplyDeleteVW: spockbyi. Mr. Spock's name, before he went into show business.
In his novel "Infinite Jest" (aka "Infinite Novel") the late David Foster Wallace proposed sponsored time - each year, instead of a sequential number, now had a corporate sponsored name.
ReplyDeleteThomas Beck...
ReplyDeleteIf you remember, in Fight Club they speculated that once we started going out into space it would be the corporations that named everything, like "Planet Starbucks."
Also, the movie "Baseketball" touched pretty hard on the same thing, showing such places as the "Tampax Stadium" (and blimp).
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ReplyDeleteBest wishes