December 4th, 2008
RCS-362-01
Blog # 12
883875655
EXTRA POINTS
Product placement appears in plays, film, television series, music videos, video games and books. Product placement occurs with the inclusion of a brand's logo in shot, or a favorable mention or appearance of a product in shot. It is done without disclosure, is a natural part of the work. Today most major movie releases contain product placements. The most common form is movie and television placements and more recently computer and video games.
The first example that I found about product placement was in the movie “Men In Black II.” In this movie, we can see how at the beginning there is a magazine in which it appears a Victoria’s Secret’s two-page ad. Then, we can see a woman in a pizzeria that is carrying some soft drink cans which are green, after few seconds, we can observe that they are Mountain Dew cans. Then there is also a scene in which it seems to be the airport and we can see how the camera is focusing the Sprint Store, Burger King, etc. Here is the link of this example>
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qCcn8prSVdo
The second example that I found was in the movie “You’ve got mail.” The scene that really caught my attention was the one in which Tom Hanks is in Starbucks waiting for his coffee, and after he got it, the Starbucks logo appears behind him. He leaves the place, and after that it also appears Meg Ryan waiting for her coffee too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UI2hwCwPVY
The third example that I found was in the movie “Superman II”. Superman is fighting with a guy and he throws him away. The guy fells in what seems to be a truck, it is a Marlboro truck. After that, Superman throws him again and he crashes in a huge Coca-Cola ad.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5815L9lv3k
Product placement in television and movies has been around for a while. Seeing a real life product in a movie helps to give that movie a more realistic sense. Product placement in movies and TV is becoming more and more pervasive and when the main character in a movie or a TV show touches, eats or uses a product, companies expect maximum returns. However, few countries, notably the United Kingdom, do not permit product placement in domestically produced films.
