Imbedded Commercials

My kids drew me in to the American Idol auditions this week, which was a ratings bonanza for Fox. Mostly the show revolved around very bad singers who cried or threw temper tantrums after being told they had no talent. It all seemed very genuine, unless you noticed the large red Coca Cola cups on the nearly-bare table in front of the judges. Coca Cola paid American Idol for that cup placement, carefully positioned to have the logo showing in the camera shot.

Advertisers spent $1.5 billion on product placement in 2006, according to PQ Media. Although product placement has a long and deep history in advertising, few consumers assume that products they see in the show are actually advertisements. Apple and Ford paid for product placement on the hit show “24″. Reeses Pieces were featured in the movie “ET”. According to BusinessWeek, demand for the beer “Red Stripe” skyrocketed in the US after product placement in the movie “The Firm”. Even famous songs help sell products, like the reference to Cracker Jacks in “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”.

Not everyone loves product placement. The Writers Guild and Screen Actors Guild urged shows to make product placements clear in the beginning of the show. Writers and producers regularly grumble about the constraints product placement imposes on the creative process.

Advocacy organizations can use the product placement craze to their advantage. Planned Parenthood signs and condoms have been found on sets like the Gilmore Girls and the West Wing. Later this year you’ll see Carnegie Mellon University featured prominently in the movie “Smart People”, which is exposure the University traded for use of the campus for filming.

It’s easy to stumble, however. Chef Jamie Oliver took money from Heinz for product placement, a move that challenged his brand as an independent chef focused on healthy food. Oliver told the Independent, “I should have been brighter”.