Table of Contents
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IMAGES FROM TV |
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IMAGES FROM FILM |
VIDEOGAMES |
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TOBACCO PRODUCT PLACEMENT |
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SPORTS AND ADVERTISING |
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NASCAR |
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 RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & WEBSITES |
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LINKS TO PRODUCT PLACEMENT FIRMS |
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RECOMMENDED TEXTS |
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Product Placement in Television & Film |
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Written
by Frank Baker ©2004
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Key Facts & Quotes:
| According to the
Nielsen Company,
product placements on broadcast television increased
39 percent during the first quarter of 2008. All told,
there were 117,976 brand occurrences on cable and
broadcast networks in the first three months of the
year. The show with the most product placements was
NBC's "The Biggest Loser," followed by "American Idol"
on Fox, "The Apprentice" on NBC, "Deal or No Deal" on
NBC, and "Extreme Makeover Home Edition" on ABC. On
cable television, the leaders were "American Chopper,"
"Project Runway," "L.A. Ink," "Real World Road Rules
Challenge," and "Making The Band 4." (May 2008 as report by CMD's The Weekly Spin) |
In 2006 the product placement industry in film was worth
$3.6 billion and should reach $9 billion by the end of the
decade.
(Prof Matt Soar quoted
here)
"Seamless brand integration" means that books, cartoons,
video games and even television shows are now the hottest
vehicles for advertisers to get their products in front of a
target audience.
(from Washington Post
news story)
"It's
deceptive advertising, it's dishonest advertising, it sneaks by
our critical faculties and plants its messages in our brains
when we are paying less attention." (Gary Ruskin, Commercial
Alert, quoted in
CBS News Story about TV stealth product placement)
"We're not trying to make a two-hour commercial, but
rather cast our products in an entertaining environment,"
said Dave Rooney, director of Chrysler brand marketing. (Commenting
on inclusion of 300C auto in new Harrison Ford pic
"Firewall")
Introduction
One of the areas of advertising that has exploded in growth
is known as "product placement."
What is product placement?
PRODUCT PLACEMENT is the process which integrates an advertiser's product into movies and
TV shows for clear, on-screen visibility. It is part of the rapidly expanding
entertainment industry reaching millions of people daily through movies, television, and
video. (Source: MMI Product Placement)
With the advent of new technologies, which allow home TV
viewers, to zap (erase) commercials, advertisers have invented
new ways of integrating their product into the plot of programs.
Product placement is a big business. Although it is rumored that product placement began in
1982 with Reese's Pieces in E.T., the truth is that it had been a growing
practice decades before. The film ET with all its product placements, almost
2 dozen different brands in all, helped bring awareness and discussion of
the practice to the public. There are many companies
whose sole responsibility it is to link products with TV and
films.
This website is designed to create awareness on the part of
educators and students to this increasingly important
advertising vehicle.
Good starting point for teachers/students:
How
Stuff Works: Product Placement
(background article, examples and links for further discovery and
exploration)
Writer's Guild Web Site
Searchable database of products in film
Student activity: track
product placement
Another good resource is Commercial
Alert's website
New website
tracks product placement in films
Product
placement news
Site updated on:
02/12/2009