Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Shameless product placement in DAYS OF OUR LIVES

Saw this and just had to share.  Soap operas are never known for their subtlety, but holy shit!  This is ridiculous.  At least when Danny Thomas waxed poetic about Maxwell House coffee it was in the tag.  Thanks to friend-of-the-blog Jonathan E. for alerting me to this. 

23 comments :

maybemaximetalbot said...

It's bizarre, but I now have this strange mysterious desire for Cheerios of all things. Weird.

Roger Owen Green said...

Justin's right. Some whole oat, cholesterol-fighting goodness sounds good about now.

Ian said...

Ho ho ho! Welcome to the brave new world of television! Thanks to the DVR, so many people are equipped to fast-forward through commercials that producers are forced to incorporate them right into the programming. At least this time it was subtle - a little like passing a kidney stone. I barely noticed the product placement at all!
*
A couple of other comments: First, I would SOOOO like to help that girl study for her biology exam (insert cheap joke here). Second, the acting is atrocious - and the actors themselves seem to know it. Finally, did anyone else catch the guy saying "SO gay" after he did his bit with the English accent? Not sure if he was commenting on his acting or trying to out himself...
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YEKIMI said...

Being a soap opera, you'd think they'd be dishing about the joy of Joy, the delights of Dawn, the pleasure of Palmolive....not some cereal.

RCP said...

Corn Flakes would be a more appropriate dish.

Anonymous said...

That acting is brillant compared to some other actors on DOOL such as this girl:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEV8r3dJAmQ

Simon H. said...

My wife says this has been going on for years on DOOL. There's an even worse example of product integration for two reason here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPJpgjfFJpc

1) Because it's a somewhat serious scene and
2) There's no earthly reason why she would have it in that particular setting.

Anonymous said...

"Chuck" is starting to get obvious too. Last night's episode had shamelessly obvious plugs for Subway.

Greg Ehrbar said...

"Darling, there's something you should know...

"These Cheerios aren't really yours. They're, they're, your best friend's. I was at a party, I lost my head, had too much milk to drink. He had Cheerios and I wanted them. Wanted them bad. I have needs.

"I, I, I felt so high-fiber inside, yet so heart-smart, but I should have told you. You should know what floats in your milky bowl. Just know that they meant nothing to me, they're just Cheerios, toasty, oaty-good, but you really matter to me. Please, please know that!"

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!"

Diane said...

This one is my favorite, also from Days of our Lives but for Midol...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2CuhtuwV2o

Debby G said...

Does Cheerios turn you into a bad actor, or do bad actors eat Cheerios?

Also, Farrah Fawcett cerca 1977called. She wants her hair back.

Mike said...

I actually would have no problem with product placement if they'd do it well (something has to pay this bills - especially in shows that are probably recorded more than most due to many fans who must work during the day) -- but jeez... and I say this as somebody who probably respects the soap opera genre more than most... you really have to try to make dialogue, in a show that is often forced to have more exposition than any other type, stilted.

MattA said...

And will the Midol help her to enjoy the vibrating cell phone more, Diane?

Tallulah Morehead said...

Cheerios are not just for breakfast anymore? You mean you want crappy meals only fit for a horse any time of the day or night?

It's chocolate and vodka that are not just for breakfast anymore.

Tim W. said...

I didn't notice it. What was the product?

Andy Ihnatko said...

On the other end of the scale: all of those shows where characters drink cans of "BEER" and "DIET COLA" and say things like "I was so depressed after my blind date last night that I ate a whole box of commercially-baked individually-packaged yellow spongecake snacks with creamy filling."

VP81955 said...

This is when one wishes folks like Don Wilson, Bill Goodwin or Harlow Wilcox (all three announcers on shows during the golden age of network radio) were still around. They could seamlessly work the sponsor's product into the program -- whether it be Jell-O, Maxwell House or Johnson Glo-Coat -- without getting anyone riled, which is why shows such as Jack Benny, Burns & Allen and Fibber McGee & Molly still hold up so well today, nearly three-quarters of a century after they were broadcast.

wv: "crucked" -- what happens to an egg if you have a thick southern accent.

Megalion said...

This week's Castle had a VERY BLATANT Windows Phone/Bing placement.

Castle goes "oh I can look that up" and scene cuts to a close up of the phone in his hand held just like you'd see in a commercial so we can see the screen. It goes from the Windows "cell" screen to Bing.com.

For a second, I thought we'd gone to commercial abruptly.

Was very jarring because Windows Phone commercials were of course showing during this episode as well.

James said...

I wish I was pretty.

Then I wouldn't have to have talent.

Brian Phillips said...

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Brian Phillips said...

To VP81955: One of the early masters of this was Ed Wynn. He helped break sponsors' stiffness about being kidded on the air, assuming, rightfully, that a mention was a mention, regardless of whether it was written by them. He was sponsored by Texaco and one of his on-air jibes was mentioning that "...my salary must be soaked in Texaco gasoline, because I never saw money go so fast in all my life!"

Anonymous said...

This will happen with movies too, with all the illegal downloading going on.

Anonymous said...

she left the box facing the wrong way for a while there.. somebody is mysteriously going into a coma very soon

and I thought they were exaggerating on The Truman Show