About product placement

Product placement is a growing advertising strategy in television shows, video games, and movies. The key reason is that it allows commercials to be advanced without the use of traditional advertisements. Product placement does not require an advertisement because it is an advertisement in and of itself. There have been various instances of product placement in films. "Wayne's World" is the most common illustration of such a predicament (Myers, Royne, & Deitz, 2014). The two protagonists ironically bemoan the issue of product placement, emphasizing that they would never allow corporate sponsors to urge them to perform advertisements, and throughout the entire talk, the two consume Pizza Hut straight from the box and smile at the camera. Another example is the film “Josie and the Pussycats,” as it takes product placement to a whole new level by ridiculing brand saturation by concentrating their play with brands (Myers et al., 2014). The trailer alone incorporates more than 24 brands captured in two minutes. The number of these brands is far too high for such a short period of time.

This new mode of designing commercial advertisements has its positive and negative sides. It does not depend on numerous adverts which most viewers do not bother to watch. Manufacturers can incorporate their products into the medium itself to positively influence sales of their commodities (Rowe-Cernevicius, 2011). Additionally, the whole advertising experience is interactive; the player, reader, or viewer is concentrated on the TV show, movie, or video game, and at a particular stage an advert is brought forth in product placement format. On the negative part, if the product placement is poorly done, the movie or TV show may feel like a long commercial show and may receive a lot of criticism for selling out. Also, the product being marketed must flawlessly fit into the program; otherwise the intended purpose may not be achieved (Rowe-Cernevicius, 2011).

References

Myers, S. D., Royne, M. B., & Deitz, G. (2014). Programme-ad congruence: Integrating advertising and entertainment. International Journal of Advertising, 33(1), 61-90.

Rowe-Cernevicius, B. (2011). As seen on TV: Brand placement and its influence on the identity of emerging adults (Doctoral dissertation, Bowling Green State University).