Movie Marketing
Cinematic Product Placement: A Growing Epidemic
Posted by Joe Ngo (joe@filmschoolrejects.com) on June 17, 2008
Advertising has become a huge source of income for the entertainment industry, and that trend is only going to go up. From that wisely placed bottle of soda to the types of cameras used or even clothes in a movie, advertising brings in big bucks to the film industry. Just this past year, advertising revenue jumped up 18.5%, to 539.5 million dollars. That is an insane amount of money.
There is of course, a breakdown, with a majority of the money coming from off screen promotions, and a small amount coming from on screen promotion such as product placement, but I won’t bore you with the details of that. What I will tell you, is that according to the Cinema Advertising Council, which contributes a majority of the money towards cinema advertising, the trend will only continue to go up, at least for the next few years. The slumping economy in the United States has not hurt the amount of money companies will put out for advertising, especially packaged goods and retail companies.
“More advertisers are embracing the value proposition of cinema advertising — such as high recall and engagement — more regularly,” he said. “They used to see it more of a once-a-year tentpole event.”
What does this mean to me and you? Well, you’ll be seeing plenty of Pepsi cans and bottles, Gap clothing, and those stylish cell phones in a majority of the movies that are coming out. It’s going to be more than ever before, and I hope that film doesn’t become like Nascar, an industry that is as known for its advertising as it is for its racing. I think we’ve seen enough commercialism in movies, and while it doesn’t seem to be slowing down, I hope it’s done tastefully…
Sound Off: How do you feel about increased product placement in movies?
Read more articles by Joe Ngo
9 Comments
June 17th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
We see products in real life all the time so why should it really
matter if it’s the same within a film? As long as it doesn’t
interfere with the story, who cares? The Matrix used Nokia cell
phones but I’m sure no one really cared.
June 17th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
I’m wondering if the cigars were purposely placed in The Incredible Hulk.
Does anyone know?
June 17th, 2008 at 6:58 pm
Interesting point Johnny Boy. We do see products everywhere but if the product is distracting to the story, like you said, it must be taken out. I understand that the advertisements might help fund/get the movie made, but I have a problem if someone, an actor, says, “Hey, lets grab a Pepsi” in the movie.
June 17th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
I’ve never really seen an advert on TV thats made me want to go and buy something. As for movies, its pretty much the same (although a friend did once say he wanted to go to a McDonalds after seeing Van Helsing). However I did like the story behind the Burger King product placement in Iron Man, the saved his life after one of thier greasy dirty burgers made him realise life can be better than taking drugs.
June 17th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
Definitely… “Hey, lets grab a Pepsi” would be awful! it becomes like a commercial. I
think the main thing would be how the product is placed… If there’s an important scene
where a character goes to a restaurant to meet another character, and the waiter brings
him a pepsi can…. I’m sure that no one have a problem with that. I think the most
important thing is that if the product is treated as a prop within a scene and not as something to sell.
Also, some companies and products are so well known, even if they didn’t advertise
audiences would be reminded of them… For example a scene at a coffee shop would
remind people of Starbucks, and Starbucks is pretty much everywhere, so I don’t think a
product placement would be problematic
June 17th, 2008 at 9:14 pm
i agree it all depends on the placement. James Bond movies are notorious for the cars, and the Italian Job im sure helped launch the Mini Cooper. but if it gets to the point where its like music videos where for example, they take 10 secs to focus on missy elliot’s or fergies phone, then it will start to ruin the movie, for me anyway
June 17th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
Nokia cell phone sales went ballistic after The Matrix, so did Blinde Sunglasses, sold at Sunglass Hut, despite being $180 a pair.
The things we see in movies inspire us to buy, period. I dont mind if its just there, but sometimes the placement is far too obvious. In Casino Royale when he checks the map on his phone, the framing was very careful to highlight the brand of phone.
Interesting side note about this:
Bad Guys - PCs
Good Guys - Macs
Nerds - Alienware
Families - Dells
Happens more than you’d guess. Take notice next time.
June 18th, 2008 at 4:20 am
My favorite is the amount of old people who don’t know how to use a normal cell phone but in the movies use an iphone.
Classic scene from The Happening (now in theaters)
Old lady whips out an iphone to show a video to Mark Wahlberg, In real life it would never happen, but incredibly obvious.
June 19th, 2008 at 4:13 am
Product placement in movies has been happening for a long time. It’s fine when it’s not intefering in the movie itself (or - like Mike Myers above - is parodied), but when it’s so obvious it sort of ’shakes you out’ of your willing suspension of disbelief (like Cody mentions above with the iPhone), you’ve gotta wonder.
But what about the ‘product placement’ before the movie?!? I don’t know if they do it anywhere else, but over here (Australia), before the Incredible Hulk, I found myself sitting through fifteen minutes of TV commercials … all strung together … before I even saw a preview of another movie! And I mean TV commercials! Gah! Not what I wanna see at the cinema!
PS - This is a really cool site and I’m glad I just discovered it!