It's a Britney Pitch!

Full disclosure: when was just a young lad I had a major crush on Britney Spears. I thought she was

"I"ll never tell, tell on myself, but I hope she buys my perfume." :)

awesome. Very attractive, and I was about 15 when she came on the scene. I was going to marry that girl. Unfortunately a few people beat me to the punch. I still love Britney. She is no stranger to endorsements. When I was 16 and could drive I went to 7-11 with my friend Shawn Haynes to get the official Britney Spears World Tour Poster and Cup Brought to you by Pepsi…for those who think young. In fact I still have that poster in my closet along with all of my Britney memorabilia. I’d never admit this on my professional blog, but you can still catch me jamming to Ms. Spears on my iPod whilst driving to work. I don’t really watch videos anymore. Unless someone has mounted a wrecking ball I probably won’t watch it. I come from a time when Carson Daily would tell me what videos to watch. Since that channel sticks to teen pregnancy now, I’ll just listen to music instead of watching. However, a recent Buzzfeed article opened my eyes to a fairly recent video by Ms. Spears. Let’s just say it’s a bit of a “circus.”

The article showed scenes from every video in which Britney used perfume. As her song “Perfume” was stuck in my head that day..and every day since then, I thought I’d give it a click. The number one gif on that list was from “Hold it Against Me.” A great song. I downloaded it legally through me on my iPhone and really enjoy it. The video as a whole is a neat concept. It has everything: Britney fighting evil Britney, Technicolor Dream Coats, and Ms. Spears dancing in front of a wall of former Britney videos. Oh, it also has a metric ton of product placement. Let’s examine what is seen in this video.

First of all you see Britney with a bottle of her signature perfume. Not a problem right? I want Britney to wear her signature scent…that way I can buy for my girlfriend and play make believe. But…holy super zoom Batman! We get an extreme close up of that bottle. A little unnecessary, but ok. We need to be able to see the name so as to purchase it later at Macy’s. This really sets the tone for the rest of the video. There are extreme close ups of several other products. I was not sure at one point if I was watching a video or a very long over-produced commercial…with lots of paint.

The next product is some kind of makeup. I don’t know much about makeup. It looks like something for your eyes. I did not see a brand on it, but I still think its product placement. It could be from her line, or Lorea’l, but I don’t think she endorses them anymore.  All I know is we got an extreme close up. So yay unidentified makeup product.

I am writing this blog on a Toshiba laptop. “The official unofficial technology partner of Label Out.” I am surprised I was able to watch the “Hold it Against Me” video though. The reason is simple. Sony computers and televisions appear at least 20 times in this thing. That includes the extreme close up you see to the left. That picture is from the actual video. I did not crop it or zoom. A little in your face Britney Jean. While I have some issues with how blatant these logos appear in the video, it is acceptable because Britney is an RCA Recording Artist. RCA Records is owned by Sony-BMG, and they would not put any other TV, computer or camera in their video.

The worst party foul comes from a little dating site that is in this video. No not Christian Mingle, but

rather Plenty of Fish. Here is the thing. This website appears in the video so many times that its ridiculous. I mean season nine of “The Office” ridiculous! But she uses a Sony computer to access the site.  First of all it’s CANADIAN! Second of all, let’s pretend Britney Spears uses a dating site…do you think she would use the RC Cola of dating sites? Probably not. Also, why would Britney use a dating site? Also, look at her past. Hey girl, if you go on Plenty of Fish you can such winners as KFed. And that poor fella she married and divorced quicker than it took me to watch season 2 of “Orange is the New Black.” Overall the video is a cool concept executed poorly by some questionable product placement.

In her second video ever, Britney appeared next to a BMW that had a blacked out logo. Oh if young Britney could look into the future and see what has occurred in almost two decades? I still Love Ms. Spears. I grew up with her music. (I am honest enough to admit that.) I simply prefer a video lie “Everytime” that is much more honest.

Jurassic World knocks product placement out of the "park."

Because Hummers are so 2002!

If you read my very first post on this blog, then you know that when I was a wee lad the film Jurassic Park is what made me first start noticing product placement in films. While I still don’t own that Ford Explorer, my love for product place is still strong. While a lot of people are concerned with the plot of the films, the dinosaurs that are appearing, and even the cast, I am more concerned with what products are going to be destroyed by a T-Rex who is having a bad day. Well, Pics of Jurassic World are starting to surface, and this young fella has a lot to look forward too.

The most important aspect to any product placement is the car tie-in. The first Jurassic Park had two versions of this placed in the film. The Ford Explorer as we know was prominent in the film as well as the Jeep Wrangler. Both were executed well. In the second film we saw the debut of the Mercedes-Benz M-Class. While it was a pretty

cool car, it was not really practical for the film. The third film had no vehicle placement and was thus awful. In this new installment we are visited by an old friend, Pics have surfaced of the original Jeep Wrangler being used in this film. Rumor has it the characters go back to the original visitor’s center at some point. So, cool, the Wrangler is back. However, a former brand partner comes back in like a wrecking ball in the form of a Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon, and the “beyond ridiculous” Mercedes-Benz G63 6x6. The G-Wagon is a classic SUV from the German automaker. It’s classy and cool. The 6x6 however is what happens when a car is inspired by overcompensation.   While both cars are pretty cool, it really does not make sense that they are in the film. The G Wagon is about $100,000. The 6x6 is about $400.000. Now the plot of this film is that the park is now functional but struggling to keep its doors open. Perhaps they could save some money by not buying company cars that are nearly half a million bucks. So, I would count this as a loss for the product placement scale.

I do wonder what is under that tape.

Last night pics surfaced of the Jurassic World brochure that guests would receive upon entering the park. From what I can tell there are no fewer than four brands represented on this brochure. Those brands include FedEx Office, Coca-Cola, Samsung, and Starbucks. Wow, product placement overload. Let’s quickly examine these brand partners.

Coke: Honestly this makes the most sense. This is a theme park after all. Any realistic tourist venue, especially a theme park, would have an official soft drink partner. If you've

ever been to a place like Six Flags, or even a football stadium, you see their logos everywhere. Thankfully

Coke is the partner here, and not those skanks from Pepsi. (Just kidding.)

Starbucks: It makes sense. Pretentious people go to theme parks too, and they crave overpriced coffee. Recently I was at a NASCAR race and they so much more than just beer and hot dogs. So this once again makes sense that a Starbucks would be in the park.

Samsung: A technology partner at a futuristic theme park where dinosaurs escape seems logical to me. I like the choice of Samsung over Apple as I personally have a Galaxy Note 3. It’s the unofficial official phone of this blog.

FedEx Office: I will call this one a bit of a stretch. The front of the brochure reads “Printed at FedEx Office.” I love FedEx, and have not been in an Office

Starbucks, so Raptors can write bad movies. 

store since they were Kinko’s, but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t handle the industrial type of printing required for a massive theme park. I may be wrong though.
Note: There may be a brand partner in the form of a atv side by side, but I could not tell from the photos. I was not able to make out any logos, but it may be a Polaris. If so, it would be pretty fetch. The vehicle looks awesome.

I’m willing to bet this is just the surface of the Jurassic World brand partners. (Maybe I should say just the “Galaxy Tab” of brand partners as Microsoft makes the surface.) Anyway, expect at least a fast food chain, my guess is McDonalds, but Burger King did the Lost World after McDonalds was with the first. I’d also guess that someone like Under Armour or Nike would be in this film. It would work as a park uniform or something along those lines. After all, Chris Pratt did not lose all that weight for nothing.

Overall I am really excited for the film, and all of the official products I can buy in just under a year. 

Z is for Zombie, P is for Pepsi; the Product Placement of World War Z

It’s been way too long since I wrote about my favorite subject, so I do apologize. However, I have

seen so many films in the past several weeks that I should have a ton of material to talk about. Tonight I am going to discuss the product placement in World War Z.

First of all, I, like every other nerd in America, love the zombie genre. This Brad Pitt film was one summer blockbuster I had on my list all year long. I can honestly say that the film, as a whole, was good. However, that is not what this blog is about. So what about the product placement? (There will be no spoilers in this post.)

Overall, the film does not blow you away with its brand partners. This is a sharp contrast to the last film I viewed in theaters, Man of Steel, which, for the second time in one, made me overdose on product placement. Man of Steel will be the next film I discuss and the blog after that will discuss Last Stand. Both were just plain ridiculous. Stay tuned for those in the weeks to come. Getting back on track, the product placement started early in World War Z. If you have seen any trailer for the film, you know that the excitement starts in the family station wagon…a Volvo. Surprisingly enough, I don’t believe this was product placement. The reasons are a plenty. First of all, it is not a new Volvo. Volvo North America has not made a new station wagon in this country for several years. This is of course with the exception of the XC70, and the vehicle featured was not an XC70. Also, the car is involved in an accident, and only two airbags deploy. The car was hit from multiple angles. Volvo was among the first to offer side impact and side curtain

airbags because they pride themselves on safety. If Volvo had paid to be in this film, they would not have allowed this happen. The final way we can rule Volvo out as a brand partner is that there were several other vehicles displayed throughout the film.

A company that actually was involved as a partner was Capital One. They have a history of advertising with the dead. (I am sure you have all seen Alec Baldwin do their commercials before.) This time it was done well. They simply appeared on the top of a cab during a scene on the streets of Philadelphia. I would never walk down the streets of Philly, but I am sure if I did, I could see a cab with this on it.

When product placement is done well, it can help enhance a film by replicating real life. We all have products we like, and we all see advertisements in our everyday lives. If you were to go into a bar, there is a good chance you would buy a Budweiser. Though I do not frequent clubs often, I am pretty sure I have never seen a can with the word “beer” on it. There is usually a brand name on it…even if it is Natural Light. A situation like this occurs in World War Z. A soldier hands Brad Pitt a beer, and it is a Budweiser. Seems like it could happen in real life. Though I doubt Angelina Jolie allows him to drink regular beer. Because of, you know, all of those empty calories.

Now, I stated earlier that this film did product placement well, for the most part. There was one thing I took issue with, and it was committed by one of my favorite companies, Pepsi. I recall that Pepsi, and it’s other brands, occur three times in the film, with two of the instances occurring in crucial parts of the film. The first situation takes place onboard an aircraft carrier. The leader of the UN is talking to Brad Pitt via satellite phone. The UN guy is on the carrier and behind him you can see huge cases of Aquafina. For those of you who may not know, Aquafina is the water brand for Pepsi. On the outside of the cases are big full color signs that feature the Aquafina logo…in full color. This would never happen in real life. As a former grocery store employee, I know that companies do not ship their products with full color labels. These would never be seen by customers in real life, and they would cost way too much to make. Further, I believe these logos were added digitally after the film had shot principal photography. (This kind of thing happens a lot now.) The reason I believe this is that the logos were really out of place, they would be easy to add, and at one point in the film, the characters on board the ship are drinking water from the onboard water supply. One character even comments that it tastes like jet fuel. If there were cases of Aquafina on board, wouldn’t they be drinking that instead of the jet fuel water?

I have to be brief about the other two instances because of the role they play in the film. At one point, when they characters are supposed to be quiet, a gentleman kicks a can of Mountain Dew, and it slowly rolls across the floor. The camera focuses on this for a short period, and then when the can hits the salad bar, it stops label out…perfectly showing the Mountain Dew logo.

With less than 5 minutes to go in the film, Brad Pitt goes through the same cafeteria as before and stops by a Pepsi machine, which was opened for some reason, grabs a refreshing can, and releases the others from captivity so as to generate noise. Once again the camera focuses on this for more than enough time. It was a bit much to take.

Once again, the film as a whole is good, and the product placement wasn’t too bad. If you like zombies it will hold you over until the new season of The Walking Dead starts this fall.

*It was not until I started looking for photos for the blog that I remembered Royal Purple being placed in this film. There is a scene that takes place in supermarket in New Jersey. Brad Pitt is involved in a shootout the store and he just happens to be standing in front of a makeshift rack of Royal Purple motor oil. This is not a huge oil company when compared to Pennzoil or Valvoline. There is a slim chance this product would be carried in a grocery store, and I find it very hard to believe it would take up as much space as the Nabisco section in a store. Royal Purple has been doing this a lot lately. Here is a link to a case study that shows the return on investment after they appeared in a music video. I'll stick with Peak. Because when you Peak, you win.

On a side note, I was drinking a nice refreshing Pepsi cola during this film. The cup was red white and blue, featuring gigantic Pepsi globes and the Pepsi name was prominent on it. If my life were a movie it would look pretty blatant. However, it was real life. It’s not all bad.

Kill a Bunch of Zombies and Drive Off In a Hyundai; How The Walking Dead Does Product Placement Right!

Me and My Buddy!

Hi, my name is Jon, and I am a Walking Dead fan. I have watched the show since episode 1, debate “what if” situations with my best friend Jeremy for hours, and I will pretty much buy anything Walking Dead related. (From a boy who writes blogs about product placement, that really shouldn’t surprise anyone.) Today’s blog will focus on my favorite character. Many people will assume my favorite character is Daryl. I will admit I am a huge fan boy of his, even met Norman Reedus at a Con, but he is not number 1 in my book. Oh, so it must be Andrea, the former Civil Rights Attorney with more daddy issues than an orphanage. Nope. I love the character, but it’s not her. Shane maybe? I am drawn to his bad boy personality and how the only rules he plays by are his own, but he’s dead now, so it’s not him either. My favorite character is the 2011 Metallic Green Hyundai Tucson! Yup, it’s a car, it is product placement, and I love it!

Why hello ladies!

As a fan of product placement, I am always paying attention to the cars in a show or movie. Hyundai and The Walking Dead have made it very clear that the placement of the Tucson is intentional. When I first saw this little green crossover utility vehicle in episode one of season 2, I was skeptical. I thought to myself, “here we go.” But I have been proven wrong. Hyundai and the producers of the Walking Dead have not made this car blatant. The only time I rolled my eyes was when the character of Dale says to Shane “You got that nice new car…” since then the dialogue hasn’t been about the car. Just like they never refer to walkers as Zombies, they never call the car a Hyundai.

We can admit that the show handles the car well, but is it right for me to call the Tucson a character. While it never has any dialoged (the last car I saw talking was Lightning McQueen,) the car does play a vital part in the series. The Tucson is where Shane and Andrea first did naughty things, it’s the vehicle that saved Maggie and Glen from the farm and it’s been involved in several zombie murders. It is the main form of transport during the show, and many key scenes take place in this little car. In fact, almost every character has had a scene in which they were driving it, or riding in it in the past two seasons. It is a part of the show.

 

The Tucson has an update coming. This likely means that it will be written out of the show soon. If this day comes I will be sadder then when Merle Dixon was killed this season. Ask the people I watch the show with, I love seeing that car on screen. If it does not appear in an episode I get upset, if it is involved in an action scene I get worried. It is no General Lee or KITT, but this car makes the show more fun for me. I like this product placement so much; I made a parody video of it! (See it here.) I hope Hot Wheels makes a version of it soon. Until then I get a little excited every time I see one on the road, an if it’s green, I check to see if there is a sheriff behind the wheel.

Hyundai and The Walking Dead prove that product placement can be done properly. I hope more people follow their lead.

 

I Better Not Lose My Rav-4 Over This!

I dreamed a dream in time gone by...

When I was in high school I wanted a Dodge Viper more than anything else in this world. It was fast, stylish and exotic….kind of like Sofia Vergara but the Viper isn’t as loud. I found that most kids my age also wanted exotic cars like that, especially if you were a male. Girls on the other hand wanted Volkswagen Beetles, and Mitsubishi Eclipses. At that age, teenagers don’t want practical vehicles. They want cool cars, fun cars, stuff that looks good. Though it has been 10 years since I was in high school, I don’t think things have changed much.

Imagine my surprise when I was watching “Hart of Dixie” last week and-maybe I should explain why I was watching “Hart of Dixie.” Last week I was watching “Talking Dead” and Scott Porter formerly of “Friday Night Lights” was the guest. He is an uber nerd and a “man crush” may or may not have developed. But mostly did. He was talking about being on this show, and that’s when I decided to check it out. Turns out it is nothing like the Walking Dead. There is not one Zombie in the entire show! But what I did like in the show was the blatant product placement.

Is it a Rav-4 or a Rava?

In this particular episode two of the young female characters are trying to get their father to break up with his new young fling. To throw the youngest one off the father and the harlot buy her an all-new 2014 Toyota Rav-4! It is center screen for a short while and she is even seen making a phone call from the hands free Bluetooth device. When she finished the call, she hangs up, they focus on the dash and the character says “neat” in a squeaky voice. That’s not a standard feature so they must really want to buy her love. Later on the other daughter finds out, gets upset, and decides to-you know what, it’s not important. I actually quit paying attention at this point. But, what brought me back was the mention of the Rav-4 later on in the episode. The daughter who received it said to the other “I better not lose my Rav-4 over this…you can order movie tickets right form the dash!”

You may be put off by the dialogue, or the fact that they were openly selling a car to young idiots, but these things didn’t bother me. What put me off was the type of car being sold, and this brings us to the Spurlock Effect.

The Spurlock Effect refers to those products placed in a film or TV Show that don’t fit the character or the audience in which the show intends to reach. In his 2011 film “Pom Wonderful Presents the Greatest Movie Ever Sold,” Morgan Spurlock discusses the product that inspired his film. In the show Heroes, one of the main characters was given a Nissan Rouge as a gift. Once again this is a teenage girl being given an older persons car. That’s not fair to older people; no one really wants a Rouge. Even Sarah Palin, who made a life of “goin rouge”, thinks they are pretentious. So, why would teenagers, who are concerned with image, want a car that is intended for people with families?

To better understand the “Spurlock Effect,” Consider these fictional examples: one would never expect to see the Golden Girls drinking Monster Energy Drinks. We also wouldn’t expect to Justin Bieber to “pimp” ensure in his latest video.

I understand that Toyota has a new car, and they need to get the word out. The Rav-4 is a great car and I have no problem with it being placed in the show. (After all, I love product placement.)The problem is that because of how absurd this is, it takes away from the show. Why not give this young girl a Scion FR-S? After all, Scion is Toyota’s youth brand. The FR-S is a fun four cylinder sports car that would be a lot more in touch with a shallow teenager. (That is how she is described in the show, not my words.) I also understand that the Rav-4 is the newest model from Toyota, so why not give it to the father, or one of the older members of the cast. Remember, people like that are the ones who buy the Rav-4.

The Spurlock Effect shows us that improper product placement can ruin a show. At the end of the day, the Nissan Rouge inspired an entire film from Morgan Spurlock. The Rav-4 inspired me to write this blog. Neither one of us can probably tell you anything else about the episodes we watched. (I do recall that I thought Scott Porter was definitely ready for leading man roles and that if Rachel Bilson and Valerie Bertinelli were in the room I may be incapacitated.)

Product placement can work, but either the writers, or Toyota, did not care of enough to try harder to make this work. Product placement works because it reflects real life. Little girls aren’t given Rav-4’s; they are given teal Pontiac Sunfires because their parents want them to experience disappointment at an early age. When the product placement takes away from the show, it takes away from real life and thus takes away from the suspension of disbelief. I’m just a simple boy from West Virginia and I know that.

So, I'll Be Able to Buy a New Oldsmobile in 2032?

This a supplement to the blog I wrote last night in which I talked about how much trouble Demolition Man had securing a brand partner because of their violent film. Since Demolition Man is such a great film, I wanted to examine a few of the things they didn’t get right.



One Please!

First of all, General Motors was a huge brand partner with this film. The General provided a lot of futuristic cars for this film. The Ultralite which is pictured here was a concept car for GM, and was featured in several other films, including Bicentennial Man. At the time, the General had several brands that aren’t around today. Keeping in mind that this film takes place in 2032, or the future if you will, there was something they definitely got wrong. At one point in the film, in the underground society, three of the main characters find a mint condition 1970 Oldsmobile 442. (One of my favorite cars ever!) Through use of some sort of makeshift elevator, the Classic Olds is thrust through the floor of an all new Oldsmobile dealership. The Oldsmobile brand was shutdown in 2004. That is 28 years before this movie takes place. I wish they weren’t wrong about the brand in the future, they had some great models.



Who has more rubber, Sly or the car?

Of course, the Filmmakers couldn’t really see the brand shutting down a decade after the film was made. Of course they should have suspected something when all Oldsmobile cars shared platforms and body styles with 5 other makes. However, the one thing the filmmakers should have realized is that there is no way Taco Bell would be the only restaurant in the future. At the time Demolition Man was made, Taco Bell was owned by Tricon Global (Now Yum Brands). Tricon global also owned KFC and Pizza Hut. If Taco Bell is the only restaurant to survive the Franchise Wars wouldn’t their parent companies other brands have survived as well? And honestly, out of the three brands Tricon Global Owned, I’m pretty sure Pizza Hut or KFC would have fared a little better than Taco Bell. In fact, in international versions of the film, Pizza hut is used as opposed to Taco Bell because at the time, there were fewer international Taco bell locations.

Anyway, this was all in fun. Just a few little observations about this film I love so dear. Maybe I am wrong and Oldsmobile is brought back from the dead. (It happened to Family Guy.) If so, I better start saving money now for my all new 2032 Olds 442.

"I'm Shameless; the Shameless attempt to validate Shameless product placement in Showtime's Shameless."



Taco Bell Logo from Demolition Man

The coolest thing happened at work the other day; I found someone who likes Demolition Man as much as I do! That is rare! For those of you who don’t know, Demolition Man is a 1993 action film starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, and Sandra Bullock. The film takes place 30 years after 1996 in a newly formed utopian society in the area formerly known as Los Angeles. The film is very campy and fun for all of the wrong reasons, but it also extremely violent. The film is rated R for violence language and sexual situations. Anyone who has seen the film can tell you one of the most memorable parts of the film is that Taco Bell is the only restaurant to survive the “franchise wars” in the future. In other words, every restaurant in the future is a Taco Bell…even the fancy ones. Product placement in its finest form. Though I will say it is kind of subtle. Anyway, what many people do not realize is that Taco Bell almost pulled out of being a brand partner in this film because they did not want to be associated with such a violent film. In the director’s commentary, he speaks about how Yum Brands (Tricon Global at the time) was very upset about the R rating. My how things have changed since 1993.

It’s now 2013 and while we are only 10 years away from that utopian society that Demolition Man promised us, we are seeing a lot more product placement in controversial entertainment. No place is this more evident the Viacom’s little sin bucket Showtime. What Viacom lacks in quality on CBS, they more than make up for it by producing great shows on Showtime. Shameless, Dexter, and Nurse Jackie, are all shows that I love, and will be discussing over a series of blogs. All three of them make Demolition Man seem like The Sound of Music as far as sex, violence, or drugs is concerned.

Shameless is actually a really great show. However, I understand that a lot of people may not like it because of the crass content and extreme language nudity and situations. At the end of the day it is really about family loyalty and being there for each other, just like Full House was, except Danny Tanner never pretended his dead mother was alive so that he could continue getting her government checks. But, what Shameless does have that Full House didn’t is product placement. General mills has been there quite regularly, but while researching this blog (i.e. watching the show) I saw placement that made me laugh too much. When the main characters love interest is trying to convince her to leave her brothers and sisters for a life of luxury, we see a bottle of snuggle in the background. Irony if I have ever seen it. Snuggle is owned by Sun Products which also makes Wisk laundry detergent. This is also visible in the series. This appears to be a deliberate product placement as all of the other labels in this scene are turned around. Let’s now look at one that might not be deliberate.

Later in this same episode we see one of the main characters and his boyfriend sneaking around a convenience store in which they work so that they may engage in intercourse in a manner in which the security cameras cannot view them. As the two characters mate if you will, they are not on screen instead the camera pans across the aisle in front of them showing a bunch of products we can’t make out, and one that we can; Luzianne Tea. In fact the camera stays on this product as the characters make whoopee. The Luzianne Website, which was not accessible during the writing of this blog, claims that they are “family owned since 1902.” Chances are that a company that has a slogan that involves the word “family” would not want to be placed in this show. Especially in the scene I described above. It is possible that the director decided to use this product to show the contrast of what traditional family values are compared to that of our modern society, but I am probably reading too much into this. It is also a possibility that this was just a practical location and that is just what happened to be on the shelf. I do plan on contacting the company when their website is back up and seeing what they have to say.

Overall, it is interesting that companies are willing to become brand partners with these shows, but it may just work. I’m not here to say if it’s good or bad, but it does make you think. As a supplement to this blog, I am going to write a small piece tomorrow about the things Demolition Man got wrong. The next official blog post will be this Sunday and it will be titled “This better not affect my Rav4; examining the Spurlock effect in the Hart of Dixie.” Just a warning, it will be long. Thanks for reading. I’m going to end this night by watching Nashville and getting and ice cold (insert soda name here.)