Comments on: Cinematic Product Placement: A Growing Epidemic

By: harrysmallman

harrysmallman — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:12:33 +0000

i agree with all of you

By: Gary Wexler

Gary Wexler — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:23:14 +0000

I just saw "Twilight" I was sort of disgusted by the incredible obvious placement of a new Chevy Aveo in the scene where the girls are trying on prom dresses. The whole scene the girls are placed on either side of the store window, obviously not blocking the view to the street. Outside, in the sunlight is a slightly out of focus, new Chevy Aveo. And it wasn't just for a second.
Reminded me of the scene in Dr. No, where the camera focuses on Seiko watch for like 5 seconds!
They are insulting us when they do this… and besides… who the $#@& wants to purchase a Chevy Aveo???

By: Gary Wexler

Gary Wexler — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 07:23:00 +0000

By: David Scott Aubrey

David Scott Aubrey — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:13:08 +0000

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!

By: David Scott Aubrey

David Scott Aubrey — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 08:13:00 +0000

PS – This is a really cool site and I’m glad I just discovered it!

By: Cody

Cody — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:20:05 +0000

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.

By: Cody

Cody — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 08:20:00 +0000

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.

By: Robert Fure

Robert Fure — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:44:36 +0000

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.

By: Robert Fure

Robert Fure — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 02:44:00 +0000

Nokia cell phone sales went ballistic after The Matrix, so did Blinde Sunglasses, sold at Sunglass Hut, despite being $180 a pair.

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.

By: JMoney

JMoney — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:14:56 +0000

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

By: JMoney

JMoney — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:14:00 +0000

By: Johnny Boy

Johnny Boy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:05:06 +0000

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

By: Johnny Boy

Johnny Boy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 01:05:00 +0000

Definitely… â€œHey, lets grab a Pepsiâ€ 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.

By: Nish

Nish — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:32:14 +0000

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.

By: Nish

Nish — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 23:32:00 +0000

By: Brian Rodden

Brian Rodden — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:58:01 +0000

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.

By: mudywaters

mudywaters — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:58:00 +0000

By: Maggie Van Ostrand

Maggie Van Ostrand — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:27:13 +0000

I’m wondering if the cigars were purposely placed in The Incredible Hulk.

Does anyone know?

By: Maggie Van Ostrand

Maggie Van Ostrand — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 22:27:00 +0000

I’m wondering if the cigars were purposely placed in The Incredible Hulk.

Does anyone know?

By: Johnny Boy

Johnny Boy — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 21:58:01 +0000

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.