Product Placement Ads in TV Shows

[WayneG]

Is it just me or have you noticed more product placement ads in TV shows this season? In a recent Hawaii Five-O episode they used their smartphone to do a search and instead of saying "Google It" ,like most of us would say, they said "Bing It". Then they proceeded to show the Bing search engine on the phone.

And I think I heard Mike say, on a recent Mike & Molly episode, that he got his gallon sized shampoo at Sam's Club instead of some generic name like "Mega Market".

So it seems that the networks and their advertisers are concerned enough about DVR users skipping commercials that are trying new ways to have products seen & heard by everyone watching.

 

[Bobby]

Product placement on TV and in movies has been around long before DVRs. It's just another way for the producers to make some money.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

And there are ipads in more and more shows. The whole cast of criminal minds got them. Henry on bleep my dad says got one.

 

[WayneG]

Yeah, I do remember the iPads being used. Oh, another one I remember is all the Chevy vehicles in the first Transformers movie.

Oh, this will be my 100th posting. Do you get a prize, especially considering it took me over 7 years to do it?

 

[Bobby]

:clap There's your prize... Congratulations on 100!

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Congrats WayneG! Now lets see if you can cut that time in half for the next 100.

 

[WayneG]

Thanks guys! I'll do better now that I have DSL at home.

 

[Foxbat]

I'm noticing that iPhone 4s are being used in ways that show off their features (Jake tells Uncle Charlie that "payback's a bitch" via FaceTime, Castle use the camera on his iPhone to see under a door to photograph the kidnapper and victim so Beckett knows where to aim before breaking in the door). But I especially like the huge Windows logos slapped on the back of the LCD monitors on Smallville and The Mentalist.

And who owns the iMac sitting by the window in Sheldon & Lenard's apartment on the Big Bang Theory? We always see the guys using their Dell XPS or Alienware PCs, so it seems like a weird product-placement.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

I'm noticing that iPhone 4s are being used in ways that show off their features (Jake tells Uncle Charlie that "payback's a bitch" via FaceTime, Castle use the camera on his iPhone to see under a door to photograph the kidnapper and victim so Beckett knows where to aim before breaking in the door). But I especially like the huge Windows logos slapped on the back of the LCD monitors on Smallville and The Mentalist.

And who owns the iMac sitting by the window in Sheldon & Lenard's apartment on the Big Bang Theory? We always see the guys using their Dell XPS or Alienware PCs, so it seems like a weird product-placement.

Yeah, the Big Bang guys don't strike me as iphone or mac users. There have been Droid sightings on several tv shows as well.

And of course, Sheldon doesn't like Steve Jobs.

Sheldon: You're 15th favorite technological visionary.
Steve Wozniak: Only fifteenth?
Sheldon: It's still six spots above Steve Jobs. I care neither for turtlenecks nor showmanship.

 

[Foxbat]

Yeah, the Big Bang guys don't strike me as iphone or mac users.

I think Raj uses a MacBook Pro to skype with his parents in India. And whatever computer Howard uses better have a washable keyboard/screen...

There have been Droid sightings on several tv shows as well.

I think it's like cars. Whatever make and model you bought, you tend not to notice other marques on the road. Drive an Audi A4, say, and it seems you suddenly see Audis everywhere. Since I couldn't tell a Droid from a lot of the non-Droid smartphones, I'm not keyed in to see them. I'll see a character on TV use a smartphone, but is it Droid, or a Nokia N95, or a BB Storm? I couldn't tell you. Since you have the Droid, you know all the subtle clues that say, "Hey, they're using my phone!"

And of course, Sheldon doesn't like Steve Jobs.

That was one of the better episodes.

 

[TNGTony]

Product placement has been a staple of broadcasting since the very beginning.
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In both radio and TV it was expected that the commercial would be weaved in to the story somewhere. The Maxwell House Coffee Time with George and Gracie Allen was masterfully done. Gracie would offer a guest or George coffee and it would run into a live free-form commercial. The Commercial would be woven into the comedy bit. When you listen to the "old time" radio shows most of this has been hacked out.

Product placement was so bold as to have brand names plastered on the TV news sets. Here in Cinti, Al Shottlekotte sat in front of a giant "Zenith" TV sign for years. up until the late 60s.

The product placement never went away completely, but it lost some of its appeal for producers due to the emergence of syndication and many independent TV stations looking for material to re-air. They wanted to sell their own ads and the original sponsors weren't going to pay to have their commercials reaired.

Now many new shows using product placement on network TV and even theatrical movies shoot two versions of a product placement scene. One for the original air/theatrical release and maybe the network re-run and another generic version for syndication or home sales. DVRs are not the cause of the so-called return of the product placement ad.

[youtube]3ogcR441Yqg[/youtube] look on the curtain during the wide shots

 

[Steve Mehs]

I love product placements, they make the shows much more realistic. As noted, Big Bang Theory is good at product placement and mentioning products and companies by name. I can’t say I’ve seen an Android based phone on any TV show I watch, yet, unfortunately I do notice lots of iPhones though. Every Nextel phone I’ve ever owned I’ve seen on various TV shows though, I’ve seen my crappy Verizon work phone on an episode of FlashForward. The PDA I own was on an episode of CSI last year, my old 22” HP monitor was in one of the crime labs in one the CSIs. I have yet to see my car on any TV show, hell I usually don’t even see another car like mine on the road at any point.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

Castle has featured a Droid, X, I believe.

 

[TNGTony]

Simpsons had a funny one... Bart says, "I've never seen stores like this before." as they drive by a 7-11 and a McDonalds.

 

[Brian Cowen]

Hello guys...!
It seems like about half of the shows on tv have a subway commercial written into the show. Personally I'm sick of it. Anyone else? I have decided to boycott subway and if the shows that I watch continue this trend...I will have to boycott them as well.Thanks in advance.

 

[Pepper]

The guys on Hawaii Five-O, who said "Bing(tm) that" followed by a quick web search that found exactly the non public info that they were looking for, used to all have iPhone 4.

Guess Microsoft made a better offer. I bet even McGarrett's iPhone getting tossed off the deck of the USS Missouri in the previous episode was stipulated in the MS contract.

 

[rockymtnhigh]

The guys on Hawaii Five-O, who said "Bing(tm) that" followed by a quick web search that found exactly the non public info that they were looking for, used to all have iPhone 4.

Guess Microsoft made a better offer. I bet even McGarrett's iPhone getting tossed off the deck of the USS Missouri in the previous episode was stipulated in the MS contract.

Yeah as if anyone says bing that. In Microsoft's dreams....

 

[TheForce]

Hello guys...!
It seems like about half of the shows on tv have a subway commercial written into the show. Personally I'm sick of it. Anyone else? I have decided to boycott subway and if the shows that I watch continue this trend...I will have to boycott them as well.Thanks in advance.

Here's what we know in the ad business that you don't. For every one like you, there are tens of thousands of viewers who will think "Subway" the next time they are in the mood to grab a quick lunch of this type. Product placement works and creates a subconscious mind awareness that is positive for the product. If it didn't work, we wouldn't use it.


Mike- The Bing placement is to create future awareness, not a proclamation on the popularity of Bing today. Will it work? Personally, I doubt it because Google is too well established. What they need to do is show what advantage Bing has ( if any) . Bing is still in the education phase, so to try and make it an icon of search now is misguided advertising strategy, IMO. Unfortunately, much of what Microsoft has done in the past 10 years is misguided strategy. It's a result of a company that has become too big for one man to run.

 

[cave1376]

If tv shows have product placements, then the channel showing the program should cut back on commercials during the program. Think of it, a program has a Subway placement, then the channel advertises a Subway commercial during the program. With less commercials, less viewers would not ff or change the channel.

 

[Ira Lacher]

And of course, does everyone remember Marty McFly's "Give me a Pepsi Free" bit in Back to the Future?